WSJ: Toyota's Prius Pays Price for Cheap Gasoline

because taxes?

 

Probably increased the percentage to adjust for inflation.

 

I wished Toyota would have dropped that drivetrain into the Venza. Now THAT would have been a great hwy car!

I wonder how many Euro's buy a car specifically for autobahn speed capabilities yet rarely travel on it?

 

This year it's looking like 10, maybe 12 times total. I have three more trips already scheduled, I'm sure at least one more will pop up. I can and do fly commercially sometimes but that puts me 200 - 250 miles away then renting a car. It's expensive to fly into Montana, so in general it's just cheaper to drive. Also the flight from Denver to Montana will often involve an entire west coast tour so depending on where exactly I'm going it is sometimes faster to drive (south eastern MT for example). Normally the decision is dependent on turn around time, the importance of the trip and road vs weather conditions. If I catch a sale on the flight I will fly, but if it's middle of summer with a couple days turn around I'll drive. I've had flights cancelled for everything from weather to plane issues to "we don't have a flight crew." I do have a Cessna 170, but I don't think you meant fly myself. But either way, I've done that as well and it shortens the time considerably. But being forced down at the nearest airport in the middle of no where due to weather really sucks and can throw off your schedule quite a bit.

 

...passed thru your neck a few months back and had lunch at the Burger King with some apparent ranchers...it's a whole different CA

 

It would of course never fly in today's world, but I would like to see a raise in gas taxes to fix/improve/upgrade the roads.

 

Aye, since the Suez crisis and petrol ration tickets were issued in 1973/4, when it were 38p (0.38 UK£) a gallon.

 

You know they say that about men, but I never thought about women in big SUV's having itty bitty ones.

 

Pakitt, I find your logic and rationale impeccable, it mirrors my own thinking on this and most all things Prius.

 

Not only they lose in sales, but the fact Toyota was squeezing every bit of MPG and did not include a spare tire in the highest trims made many people (including myself) buy lower trim. Therefore minus several grands for Toyota. But how could they know the oil would take a dive when they first designed the car? As Mark Twain once said: Prophecy is very difficult, especially when it comes to the future

 

How exactly can anyone here know why someone drives any size car?
There are a lot of vehicles out there on the road of all types and sizes but unless you actually know someones situation how can you judge their motives for driving what you might consider a guzzler?
And who cares what you think anyway?

I have several cars and just added a Prius to the mix but I need a huge truck or van every day for work and I drive what I need to as I need to and I am lucky to be able to have a choice too.
I got the Prius because it is an interesting vehicle and I am intrigued and I also found one that I just could not pass up but it is hardly the Holy Grail of all cars for all things to me.

My Daily Driver is an 05 Sprinter Diesel and I make no apologies for it at all and actually I get almost 30 mpg in it and it has been utterly reliable as well.It is a huge smelly beast and a tank on the road and sometimes I need a tank on the road like every day I am working for one.

I tow with a Tundra 4wd PU and get around 10 mpg or less with the big honking V8 and when I need to tow I do.
When I need to drive a long distance during 12 or more hours a day I drive the Tundra as it is the most comfortable and least fatiguing vehicle that I own and when on the Highway with it at speed I never feel like I need more vehicle like I often can in a small car.

I have a Honda Fit as well and it is more in league I guess with the Prius in a lot of ways but despite the "Tiny Car" size the Fit can hold a crapload of gear when needed,so far a lot more than the Prius too. The Fit is just a blast to drive,sort of like being in a Go Cart but is not real comfy on long drives or in sure footed in bad weather and so I use it mainly around town really.

I guess my point is why judge others habits about this unless you are sure you understand their needs?
Or does the Prius put you in some super-class of environmental snobbery by virtue of its identity as your ride?

I do get a sure sense of disdain from other drivers when I am in the Prius and maybe this is one reason for it?

 

So your go on this long tirade about people stereotyping other people that drive certain types of vehicles, and then you turn around and do the same??

I always have supported the idea of using the right tool for the right job.
However, I also see lots of people that don't haul, or tow stuff getting ridiculously oversized vehicles.
Do I assume everyone who has a large vehicle doesn't really need it? No.
Likewise, I don't assume that there are no people that buy a large vehicle simply to try to impress, or compensate.

 

easy, dog. no one cares what we think, it's just a chatroom. don't take it personally. do you really think all the drivers around you are reading priuschat?

 

Funny everyone is buying suv's and pickups so that they can just trade them back in for cars and hybrids when gas prices go up? Seems fixed to me to some extent.

 

Screw the closed minded snobs. If I could figure out a way to get it out of the neighborhood without pissing off my wife I'd have a cool truck, like a M37, and fit a Detroit 2 stroke under the hood. About the only use I have for something like that is commuting, but I would be grinning from ear to ear the entire way. Sure someone, probably from this board, would make a comment about compensating but I wouldn't be able to hear the idiots over the sweet music of a 3-53 at full-song. Whatever makes you happy, haters gonna hate.

 

Fiat Chrysler banked quite a bit on gas prices staying low in the US for... I'm pretty sure Sergio Marchionne (CEO of Fiat Chrysler) said basically forever. They are shifting production away from small and mid-sized cars and instead are retooling those lines for SUVs and trucks. Last I read the plan was for the shift to be completed by 2018. Now I'm certainly not smart, but I believe Sergio is. So either he's right and we're all the fools for buying a hybrid that will have very little resale value, or we can expect Fiat Chrysler to go out of business when US gas prices jump in the near future as people on this board keep expecting.

 

I spent $400 in a year worth of gas on my Gen 3 and expect to pay even less on my Gen 4. Resale value? I'll take 5 years worth of huge gas savings. 600+ miles on a $20 full tank .....priceless. An SUV or regular can't get close to that...respectfully. Plus wait until the EV's come out in full force.

 

And they devalue your investment even more

 

When are fuel prices going to rise - I don't think anyone is able to predict, one US president candidate has talked about "reducing ... oil consumption by a third through cleaner fuels and more efficient cars" - not sure what the others are saying. The (increasingly more volatile) middle-east isn't going to allow low oil prices forever.

Personally I suspect it will be sooner rather than later. At which point, resale on trucks and SUVs will drop and demand for BEV, PHEV, Hybrid will resurge.

 

Very much so.