Newbie considering a Prius

my votes for the fusion, very nice cars, plus i bleed ford blue.
but being as this is a prius site Im sure opinons will vary.

 

I am not a patent lawyer, (I am a network consultant) and more importantly I am not your patent lawyer, but while I can imagine a judge requiring Toyota to pay royalties to build any more new cars, I can't imagine any scenario where the judge would forbid Toyota from making repair parts. (Your opinion of judges may vary, do not consider justice before swimming)

 

True enough. To date, Ford has not stood in line to suck on the taxpayer teat. That's a huge plus in my book

 

Ford should be hitting a home run with the Fusion Hybrid. It is getting excellent reviews. It is more refined than a Prius. Ford has already proved its hybrid system with the Escape, so the Fusion hybrid is already well wrung-out as it enters the market.

The Fusion Hybrid is a good choice for people who want:
(1) a sedan, not a hatchback;
(2) more power than a Prius, and willing to give up some MPG;
(3) a higher price/performance point in the market than Prius;
(4) a hybrid with an American label.

I am biased towards Ford, coming from an all-Ford family before moving to a different region and getting jerked around by nasty dealers and shops -- kinda like the Chevy shops in my hometown. That experience led me to Honda, and I haven't looked back. But I still believe that Ford is America's only hope in the auto market.

The only thing I hold against the Fusion is that for its price and exterior size, it doesn't have any more interior space than the Prius. Everything else about it is very good, just not what I wanted.

If it weren't for the smak-fest, I'd point to some Fusion reviews elsewhere. But I don't dare take the risk of having them polluted too.

 

For my personal priorities, I rate the above as follows:
1) 0 (neutral)
2) -1 (won't give up MPG, don't need the power)
3) -1 (base model is too expensive for my budget)
4) +1

For the time being, the Prius wins. Fix 2&3 (esp. 3) and I'll reconsider.

 

Correct, their Financing division borrowed, as they always do, to help losers who work part time shoveling shit somewhere to buy a brand new vehicle they so richly "deserve"

Toyota Borrows From Japan-Owned Bank to Finance U.S. Car Sales - Bloomberg.com

Toyota Seeking Government Bailout in Japan - Auto - FOXNews.com

With the continuing severe global recession, the only way these companies can hope to survive is to shed the majority of their workforce

 

Paice is somewhat obscure, but here is more information about it

About Paice

The original suit was settled and Toyota agreed to pay $25 for every hybrid model it sold

Toyota loses $4.3 million patent appeal for hybrid technology | Southeast Texas Record

As similar technology is used by Ford, one wonders what will happen to the Ford Escape Hybrid and Ford Fusion Hybrid

 

Not yet. Given that the Toyota Prius outsells the Ford Fusions by about 10x, it makes sense to go after the big dogs first, then the smaller players if that works out.

Not that I'm putting down the FFH. If it was on the marketplace when I was looking for a car, I would definitely have given it consideration, but since the Prius was the only 4-door car with >40 mpg at the time, the choice was pretty clear for me. I've definitely been happy with the Prius, although something with a shape that didn't stand out so much would've been nice. I still think the FEH is the best large hybrid, even though it hasn't sold very well.

 

Make that 1 model year, 2010 only, on the market about 8 months.