Would you guys help me with a school project?

1. Rank these features in order of most important to least important (make 11 the most important, and 1 the least important):

4. Acceleration
11. Fuel Economy
5. Ride Quality
3. Steering/Handling/Braking
1. Quietness
7. Controls (Instruments)
2. Details (Trim)
6. Room/Comfort
9. Cargo Room
8. Value within Class
10. Safety

2. Tell me about your decision to purchase a Toyota Prius (a few sentences is fine).
My husband and I have joined the "green" bandwagon. Due to fuel economy, the Prius was our first choice. We also have high confidence in Toyota, Honda, and Nissan brands (basically, Japanese cars).

3. Tell me about the actual purchase. Exactly where and how did you purchase the Prius? Was it a positive or negative experience?
We started our purchase process online 6 months ago. After not being able to find the exact car we wanted, we moved our buying process to a dealership in our area about 2 weeks ago. We also went to other dealerships (Honda and Ford) to compare their hybrids to the Prius. After not being able to meet halfway on price, we took our sales process back to the internet. We then purchased a car yesterday, after several internet salesmen competed for our business. The dealer and salesman we eventually went with did not have the best price (he was off by $200), but because of his outstanding reputation and our experience with him, we decided to buy from him. Overall, the entire buying experience was positive.

4. Who had an influence on your decision to purchase the Prius, and how did they impact your decision?
The marketing of the Gen III Prius is what initially caught our eye - the TV ads and magazine spreads. The advertised fuel economy was the persuasive argument. Next, word of mouth (especially from forums such as this one) during this "Toyota Hysteria" helped seal the deal. Finally, the actual test drive and comparison of features against other hybrid models cemented our decision.

5. Who did you look to for guidance or advice on the Toyota Prius? Why?
Long before the actual sale - we did our own research and used our own instincts in the decision. Because our sales cycle was several months long, we used this chat forum for guidance on the safety features of the Prius during the hysteria. We also leveraged the expertise of the original Toyota salesman to help us understand the features we were buying.

 

I'm just using my iPhone, so I can't write a very long answer right now, but I studied social science in school, and I think your questions are not capturing the range of factors which make up a car buying decision. The emotional appeal and the price are the two biggest factors, within the constraints of someone's transportation requirements.

We bought our Honda Odyssey minivan because we had three children in car seats. Every part of the decision after that was purely based on quality factors: At the time, Odyssey was the best.

Prius was different: Financially, a Corolla offers the same size, probably greater reliability, and overall better economy than Prius. Ask youself (or others) this: Why Prius, and not Corolla? Why Prius, and not Camry? And I think at that point, you will see an emotional component at play. Can you quantify this? That is the trick: While your professor may argue that non-quantifiable data is irrelevant, this is not so, for what is the value of quantifiable data if it produces an innacurate model? At the end of the day, data like yours can help a car company decide what to build. Ignoring emotional appeal, simply because it is difficult to quantify, is a mistake.

If you dig deeper, you should be able to better model and characterize the emotional factors.

For example, some buy Prous because it is the greenest car. I don't doubt that, but what does that mean to them? Is it emotionally satisfying, does it impart a sense of status, or is it a more objective moral belief?

My last sedan was a BMW; a car which imparts a sense of status. Perhaps you are young and you think this is silly, but switching to a Corolla would send a message that I make less money and I am unsuccessful. Prius, however, is the car of Wozniak. People buy them just to get a commuter lane sticker. It's a way to connote a certain sense of socioeconomic status at a lower cost. While this played into my decision (though I am naturally loathe to admit to such vanity), the sheer practicality and technological appeal of the car made an emotional connection. I nearly bought a Camry, because it seemed much more practical (especially with 0% financing), but Camry wasn't exciting or interesting. Prius just seems cool and fun.

I hope that helps.

 

dkokelley -

No offense intended here. I'm just a little curious about your motives--this smells a bit like a "focus group" type of thing--i.e., ways Toyota might improve their product, beat the competition, etc. Before i answer, would you consider telling us what school you're doing this for, your major or program, etc.? Why the Prius in particular, or are you interviewing other owners as well? Perhaps you don't want to skew the answers by providing this kind of info up front--I understand. OTOH, knowing a bit more about what your ultimate goal is might help me with some of the more open-ended questions. (You might want to add an "any additional comments" question, although you'll probably be swamped as it is). Do you intend to do any statistical analysis? How do you plan to present the results?

Again, just curious. I'm happy to help, and I'll answer it to the best of my abilities when I have some time.

Good luck on your project, and keep us posted.

Cheers,
Tim

 

Question 1:

11. Ride Quality
10. Safety
9. Fuel Economy
8. Steering/Handling/Braking
7. Controls (Instruments)
6. Acceleration
5. Quietness
4. Room/Comfort
3. Details (Trim)
2. Cargo Room
1. Value within Class

Question 2:

I bought my original Toyota Prius because I saw it as a really neat and trendy car. It was the first generation Prius, and I saw it on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" with Larry David.

Question 3:

Every Prius purchase has gone fine for me. I have had a 1st gen, in which the purchase went smooth. Then I bought my first 2nd gen, and that purchase went fine though I had anxiety waiting for it to come in. It took longer than expected to come in, and there were lines at the time. I paid full price for that car. On my 2nd gen II, Everything was great as far as the Prius was concerned, but the Buick I was trading in had a horrible resale value and that ruined the experience for me. Then I bought a gen III prius, and even though I paid full price for it, I got a good deal on my trade in! They had the car waiting for me on the showroom floor, and I got to drive it out of their new showroom!

Question 4:

Really, nobody influenced me. I was slightly influenced by Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" but after that I just fell in love with the Prius as a brand. I do have to admit that after I traded in my lastest car, a BMW 3 series, all of my friends said the Prius suited me better.

Question 5:

I look to Priuschat in general for advice and information on the Prius. There isn't a whole lot left that I do not know. I also sometimes look to "John1701a" because he has an excellent website, and has taken lots of his personal time to make explanations and guides for new Prius owners. As of lately though, I met someone special on here, and kind of hit it off with him. So now I look to him for the small trivial Prius facts because he literally has an encyclopedic memory of everything Prius!

Bonus: Prius seems to have brought me the love of my life too! It was that common interest that brought us together.

 

1. Rank these features in order of most important to least important
Why not?
(make 11 the most important, and 1 the least important):

2. Acceleration
10. Fuel Economy
3. Ride Quality
7. Steering/Handling/Braking
8. Quietness
4. Controls (Instruments)
1. Details (Trim)
9. Room/Comfort
5. Cargo Room
6. Value within Class
11. Safety


2. Tell me about your decision to purchase a Toyota Prius (a few sentences is fine).
I needed a vehicle and the Prius was a good environmental alternative to a gas only car.

3. Tell me about the actual purchase. Exactly where and how did you purchase the Prius? Was it a positive or negative experience?
I went to the dealer and bought it the same day. After a little negiotiating and the dealer retracting part of the negiotiation (annoying) I left with the car.

4. Who had an influence on your decision to purchase the Prius, and how did they impact your decision?
I liked the Prius and my husband thought we should purchase new.


5. Who did you look to for guidance or advice on the Toyota Prius? Why?
Internet and sites concerning the new Prius (too many to remember).

 

I have to be honest, I'm pretty short on time these days although I always enjoy a chance to help out a fellow student. Have you considered using survey monkey to create an easier way for people to respond? I'd happily run through a survey if it took me less than five minutes.

 

Yeah, what he said!!!
Me too!!!

 

Actually there is another phenomena, the hybrid skeptics, who as soon as we buy the car, are ready to tell us why it was a bad decision. I bought my first Prius in October 2005 and have had to put up with their unsolicited, ignorance ever since and it continues to this day. For example, there was a long commercial during the Super Bowl, "

" in which the 'product' shows up in the last 10 seconds, ~15%, of the commercial timeline budget. Audi/VW spent 85% of that commercial erecting a strawman, "The Green Police." ... So what competing car would that be?

Understand that paranoia is too easy but sometimes, even paranoids have enemies. The constant stream of lies, half-truths, and pure fabrications has engendered a low threshold for hybrid-skeptics. Sometimes it leads to challenges that were best left unsaid. But I had four younger brothers and learned there is a difference between ignorance and malice.

Let me suggest that after your team turns in the report, post a copy here either with or without instructor feedback. You will find many eyes to offer 'letters from the Prius world.'

If you have a chance, ask your instructor to what extent anti-product activities lead to an opposite reaction. Rather than peeling off customers, opposition ads can harden the heart and engenders product loyalty beyond what the anti-ad attempted.

Bob Wilson

 

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."

This quote has gotten me through more than one bad day at work.

 

10 Acceleration
2 Fuel Economy
4 Ride Quality
9 Steering/Handling/Braking
8 Quietness
5 Controls (Instruments)
6 Details (Trim)
7 Room/Comfort
4 Cargo Room
3 Value within Class
1 Safety

 

1-11:

To stick it to the OPEC terrorists.

 

11. Acceleration
10. Value within class
9. Cargo Room
8. Controls (Instruments)
7. Steering/Handling/Braking
6. Quietness
5. Ride Quality
4. Safety
3. Fuel Economy
2. Room/Comfort
1. Details (Trim)


2. Tell me about your decision to purchase a Toyota Prius (a few sentences is fine).

When Toyota came out with the new body style I just really liked the added features and look to the vehicle. I had a TDI VW Beetle that was getting around 40 mpg, but I wanted something with a little more room in the back seat so that people could actually go places with us that were of normal height. In the VW, if you're very tall at all, your head would hit the back glass, plenty of room in the front seats though. We also are planning on having a child, and I wanted something eco-friendly, cool, and still not anything large to have to drive around.

3. Tell me about the actual purchase. Exactly where and how did you purchase the Prius? Was it a positive or negative experience?
My husband found that a local dealership had a package 5 in pearl white that he knew would be the only choice for me, so we went and looked, drove it, and then thought about it over night. I went back the next day and bought it. We bought ours at Toyota on Nicholasville in Nicholasville, KY. We had a positive experience.

4. Who had an influence on your decision to purchase the Prius, and how did they impact your decision?
No one really other than myself & my husband, we just really liked the car. After we drove it we liked it even more.

5. Who did you look to for guidance or advice on the Toyota Prius? Why?
Prius Chat was frequented about 3-4 days before looking at a Prius because it seems like any question I had, someone else had already asked. For instance, I knew about the possibility of a little feeling of delay in my brakes while driving on uneven road surfaces, and just to press the brake down harder so ABS could kick in from PriusChat, not the dealership. If the dealership would have simply told all Prius buyers that this could happen, it would have probably saved a huge recall or at least had a lot of owners saying "We already knew this could happen, but sure, if you want to shorten that delay that will be fine."

 

This bears repeating:

We've only had a couple of Toyota dealers or Toyota resellers visit PriusChat and I can understand that. They work killing hours at thin margins and when the get home, rest and relief is important. But I've long felt that a long term project to encourage local or regional Prius clubs would be a good thing for both dealers and customers.

We've only had a little "Team Prius" presence yet it has paid big dividends in good will in the Prius community. Folks like "DeadPhish" and other dealers have also provided valuable resources. I can only speak for myself but their presence and timely, accurate contributions have made it easier to carry 'word of mouth' support Toyota and the Prius generations.

Thanks to them and the OP,
Bob Wilson

 

3. Acceleration
11. Fuel Economy
8. Ride Quality
7. Steering/Handling/Braking
6. Quietness
5. Controls (Instruments)
4. Details (Trim)
9. Room/Comfort
2. Cargo Room
1. Value within Class
10. Safety

2. Tell me about your decision to purchase a Toyota Prius (a few sentences is fine).
I picked up a new job with a 75-mile each way commute so needed something with better fuel economy than my Nissan Titan. I was down to the Prius and the Jetta TDI, and the Prius enabled me to use the HOV lanes in N. VA.

3. Tell me about the actual purchase. Exactly where and how did you purchase the Prius? Was it a positive or negative experience?
The purchase experience was excellent, the service after has been just short of dismal -- mechanics don't seem to be what they used to, or warranty work is too much hassle for them.

4. Who had an influence on your decision to purchase the Prius, and how did they impact your decision?
No real outside influence on the decision. My 15-year old still says I should have bought the "vroom" in the Jetta TDI.

5. Who did you look to for guidance or advice on the Toyota Prius? Why?
Scoured the Internet, magazines, and PriusChat (yes, I know it's on the Internet, but is a great source of info so I listed it separately).

 

1. Rank these features in order of most important to least important (make 11 the most important, and 1 the least important):

1) Acceleration
10) Fuel Economy
9) Ride Quality
6) Steering/Handling/Braking
3) Quietness
4) Controls (Instruments)
2) Details (Trim)
7) Room/Comfort
8) Cargo Room
11) Value within Class
5) Safety

2. Tell me about your decision to purchase a Toyota Prius (a few sentences is fine).

I had been following EV's and hybrids for some time and realized that an EV with the range I needed was not going to happen anytime soon. C4C came along and I needed to replace a 1996 Jeep GC with 197K miles and 16 mpg. Looked at Ford Fusion hybrid, Honda Insight and Prius. Prius met all of my needs by a wide margin.

3. Tell me about the actual purchase. Exactly where and how did you purchase the Prius? Was it a positive or negative experience?

Rick Hendrick Toyota in Fayetteville, NC. It was a very positive experience and they did an excellent job of explaining all of the electronic features prior to leaving the dealership.


4. Who had an influence on your decision to purchase the Prius, and how did they impact your decision?

Friends that had purchased the Prius and their impressions, PriusChat, Consumer Reports. They reinforced the information I was reading.


5. Who did you look to for guidance or advice on the Toyota Prius? Why?

My dealership in Wilmington, the Toyota TIS website and PriusChat.

 

hey dkokelley, do we all get $100 for contributing to this product evaluating research?

It's like those 3-4 page automotive study screening mailers I get on occasion in the mail.

 

2 Acceleration
11 Fuel Economy
3 Ride Quality
8 Steering/Handling/Braking
5 Quietness
9 Controls (Instruments)
1 Details (Trim)
7 Room/Comfort
4 Cargo Room
10 Value within Class
6 Safety


2. Tell me about your decision to purchase a Toyota Prius (a few sentences is fine).
I've wanted one since they first came out. It's the most technologically advanced car in production. The low emissions were a factor high in my list but not yours.

3. Tell me about the actual purchase. Exactly where and how did you purchase the Prius? Was it a positive or negative experience?
I bought it from Palm Beach Toyota, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA. Generally positive - the salesman was straightforward and didn't try to upsell or confuse me.

4. Who had an influence on your decision to purchase the Prius, and how did they impact your decision?
A friend has one he bought in 2002 and let me test drive it.

5. Who did you look to for guidance or advice on the Toyota Prius? Why?
Nobody. Because I didn't know about this forum