sanctimonious: Feigning piety or righteousness:

If a Yaris works for you, then yeah, I can see where you have trouble justifying spending more. But they are not equals by any means. If you're looking for a high quality family car that's great on gas, I'm not aware of a better choice than a Prius.

As for the display, it's very handy to learn better driving techniques, among other things. It gives you instant feedback, and will encourage you not to stick your foot in to it quite so firmly. You can always turn it off once you've mastered the skills, or any time it's a distraction.

 

I have the opportunity to sit in many different types of vehicles at my other job and as such I can say there is a big difference between a Prius and say an Aevo or Yaris. Granted it's not like comparing the Yaris to a BMW/Audi but in terms of features and quality of components it is definately in a different class than the less expensive "econoboxes". To put it simply, it is a different car and should not be classed with those other ones. If you've ever sat in a Yaris hatchback and turned around to look out the back window and had your hand touch the back seat headrest you'd know what I mean. LOL

 

Ideally, we'd all live where we could walk to work/shop/recreation.
Then, maybe take a bicycle to get places.
Next, have public transit available (like in Canada. Wow.) for all those needs.
Then, get an EV, and use the sun to power it (Hi Daryll!)
Get an EV, use off-peak power to charge it.
Get an EV, use regular power to charge it.
Get a very fuel efficient vehicle, such as a Hybrid, and use it rarely, due to the above reasons (Hi Hyo!)
And so on...

Of course, interpersed in there, is: grow your own food, make your own clothing, recycle every scrap of anything that you can't do without/reuse; buy only organics from someone that lives within walking distance...

We all do the best we can, with what we have.

 

No you're not. At one point I made a little demo of how the relationships between the motors and engine work (here) and came across someone using CAN-view and a Mac Mini in their car. I souped up the graphics and made a realtime display in Flash that worked with CAN-bus data. The new graphics I thought were a start... not perfect, but at least it was fun to see that it was possible to work something else in there. I never got as far as making it work in my car though... too much $$ to install the hardware necessary!

My new display had a large PSD in the middle, with meters for battery SoC, MPG, RPMs and some other things, so it was both more distracting and more useful.

 

I fully agree with you: Prius vs. For Explorer (or Acura MDX) is a much closer comparison that Prius vs. Yaris.

 

Tweev, if you are going to reference a comparison based on the cars you checked out, then my comparison of a Lexus IS250 and the Prius is just as valid.
The Prius saves me about $10000 AND gets double the gas mileage.
No comparison, Prius wins hands down

 

OK, this will probably get me flamed pretty badly but I was on the edge to buy a Prius ($1000 below invoice in Feb) but I decided against it. Not for the reasons I outline below but it just wasn't the right time.

To give some context of where I'm coming from. Just so people don't think I drive a hummer. - I'm mid-30's; made living choices so I don't have to buy a car; and am in the conservation biology field (ie tree-hugging enviroweiny) Good for you. I'm an accountant- something people need too, even if they want to be "environmentally friendly".

I've been reading the current prices of Prius's and I don't understand why there is such a high demand for Prius's. You don't save any money over the life time of a prius is you spend 3 grand over MSRP. Bravo for the dealers getting that much (ironically I see Priuschat users cheer each other when they get below MSRP but scream bloody murder if a dealer dares ask for more than MSRP - Why is it OK for buyers to take advantage of a dealers need to make end-of-month quotas but not OK for dealers to exploit high demand times -- seems a little hypocritical). I seriously doubt that paying $1000 under MSRP cuts that far into a dealer's profits- or they wouldn't sign up for programs (like fleet or costco programs) that require the discount. As for charging over MSRP- that's also their choice, but my personal feeling is that the dealers doing this are taking advantage of the current gas situation to make extra profits. That is what I personally find offensive.

1) Cost saving of a Prius: Borderline at current gas prices and assuming you buy it at MSRP. I think the most comparable vehicle to a Prius is not the Camry as most people say but more a Honda Fit or a Yaris. I think Fits costs about 10K less than a Prius -- that's a lot of gas - about 2500 gallons over the life time of the car - or basically free 75 000 miles of distance. Your logic is flawed. If you are going to buy a car that costs what the Prius costs (and there are MANY of them) over the life of the car you will pay less for gas. You cannot compare the price for a Prius and the price for a Yaris because the cars are not even in the same classification, so you are comparing apples and oranges.

2) Environmental benefits: Slight. Sure they get about 50% better milage than the Fit or Yaris but really, lets be a little honest here... it's like someone boasting that they hit their wife with an open hand rather than a closed fist and saying they are doing them a favour.
The real environmental heros are the people who:
1) Don't have kids;
2) Are vegetarians;
3) live in high density housing;
4) Bike/walk to work;
5) Use transit
etc...
Buying a hybrid vehicle is so far down the list of pro-enviro list it's rediculous. It's like someone patting themselves on the back for recycling 80% of their cans and looking down on people who only recycle 60%. Someone who drives 20000 miles a year in a Hummer but didn't have kids has such a massively less overall carbon footprint than a Prius owner with two kids. I mean C'mon! Look, most people are going to have kids. If no one had kids the human race would die out. Having kids is NOT a bad thing. I'm happy there are those that decide to live in high density housing and bike or walk to work (or use transit) and are vegetarians. I'm vegetarian myself. But I live in a regular house and have to drive to work when I can't catch the carpool, because public transit takes 90 minutes to get from near my house to near my office (as opposed to a 25 minute drive). Sucks, but thats the breaks. What I sense here is a person 15+ years my junior that is dissing my life choices which were made years before this current crisis situation came up- and that's not going to win you any points with me.I'm making the changes I can as I can, but you're the one with the overtly sanctimonious attitude and like I said, not gonna make you any points in my book.

Anyway, I don't mean to be rude but I really don't get it . Basically, I think the prius crowd is the same as the iphone crowd. Both are techy-fun indulgences and that's about it. That's OK. I'm buying an iPhone, they're cool but I not going to proclaim that I'm saving the planet by doing so. A little less sanctamony and self-congradulatory back patting would be a little more honest. None of us are claiming we're saving the planet...just doing what we can to help out.

Another thing, what's with the circa 1980 graphics on the display?? - I hope they update that for the Gen 3. That needs a serious over haul.

 

sanctimonious: Feigning piety or righteousness:

Heck, I thought I bought a car that fit my needs, at the time I needed a car. I had a lot of choices, as we all do in life. Am I trying to save the planet by buying a Prius? No! Am I helping? Who knows, one can not get the straight facts from any source. Am I prolonging my lifestyle by not spending so much on gas and maintenance, maybe. Am I in denial of what is needed to "SAVE the Earth"? Is that even possible, as one person? Such lofty debates here!
Heck, I thought I was buying a car that fit my needs.........

 

Yes, we feign righteousness while you embody it. Congrats.

Where is this guy from, originally?

 

I think that is one of the real problems right now. Its pretty sad that the most fuel efficient vehicle on the market is a mid-size. It sets up a situation where someone who really only needs a small car has to consider buying a larger one just to get better mileage. That kind of sucks. If a Yaris would fit your needs, CR does say it will cost you about $1750 less over 5 years (AT), and still about $1250 less over 8 years. The Prius will use about 151 fewer gallons of fuel per year, and put out ~1.8 tons less CO2/year, and has smog emissions ~2-4 time lower. If you don't need the space of the Prius, the question becomes what if any monetary value do you equate to those environmental and energy conservation befenits? Is that worth $156 per year to you?

The center display, while not particularly flashy, is very educational. By learning to drive in certain modes, I've been able to complete my urban commute at 65mpg round trip without driving in a manner that bothers the cars around me. It eventually becomes just another instrument that you glance at occasionally to make sure the car is doing what you want it to. Without doing so, I'd probably get about the EPA city 48mpg.

Rob

 

A nice thing about the ignore feature is that I can be spared any of the OP's drivel, and still read from people I accept. When are you folks going to accept that this guy is just a troll?

 

Have to agree with you Sheepdog! I think this person is lonely and is looking for conversation to pass the time.

 

Honestly I don't see him as acting in a trollish manner. I'm usually the first to throw up the troll and ban him sign but instead of just posting rediculous pictures or throwing out slams left and right, the OP is invoking thought and being polite considering the title of this thread. He's not making racist comments or threatening anyone with bodily harm nor is he acting in the typical troll manner. *shrug* If you don't like what he has to say then put him on ignore or don't open the thread. I just don't see where he is causing a problem.

You guys know me by now, if I smell a troll I'd be the first to report him or make him feel stupid. If Tweev is a troll then he is being a good troll and I don't feel he requires a ban or harsh words.

 

He's not a troll.

 

The 'bigger is better' idea has been a great boon to businesses of all sorts. Someday that will change, hopefully soon.
That said, I would have bought a Yaris or Fit IF they had better gas mileage. As the Prius got better gas mileage that is what I bought

 

It has a bit, hasn't it?

See, you should have stopped right there. That would have been a good place to stop.

Because as a fix to the current gas crisis, there are a great car. In the '70s, when gas prices jumped, loads of people got smaller cars, because they wanted to save money. The environment was low on the list then.

But for me, as far as I am concerned, I don't care about the money saved, or lost. To me, with any car, you can lose money as soon you drive off the lot. And in the case with some cars, over time, they can rise far beyond their initial value; see the 1965 Ford Mustang.

No. Tons. To use a concept that is simple, but elegant: By itself, one penny is nothing, but together with ninety nine more, you have a dollar. It all adds up, in other words. So the more people driving hybrids, the less pollution for the planet. It's that simple to me.

Yeah me! I don't have brats, er, kids. Never will. I'm childish enough, thank you.

Oh oh. I'm a meatatarian. Scratch that off the list for me.

Look, I'm pretty dense; why would I need to be high to live in housing?

Or, work out of your home like I do...

Now, I would if I could, but here where I live? Not so much transit around.

And what, pray tell, is 'rediculous'? As for me, it was not so far down on the list. Maybe fifth or sixth. Definably in the top ten.

On the internets, anything can be 'rude'. Look! Someone just farted! That is rude. But since we are on the internets, you can't smell it, so, it's not as rude now, is it?

Yeah, but I can download free apps for my iPhone, like 'MORE COWBELL', that makes the iPhone fun. Can't do that as of yet with my Prius.

Eh, so what if people want to pat backs, and all. In the overall scheme of things, it means little to most people, and let's face it, I would rather someone pat backs then shoot backs.
Just saying.

Now that I agree with. And the ability to download apps and then, then my Prius could have MORE COWBELL, and then, everything would be okay with the world.

 

I was in the Navy. I served so others did not have to. I volunteered. So I see that point.

Well, actually, it does. Now, you don't have to agree with it, but it does give him that right.

From the Constitution:

No where in that amendment does it say we have to be responsible with free speech.

And any word can be used as a weapon on the internets. Like POW!

See, there you are, exercising your free speech. Ain't America great?