Statement

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vadercar @ Jul 5 2007, 11:56 AM) [snapback]473584[/snapback]</div>

You could also have a license plate holder that says "My other car ISN'T a Hummer"!!!!!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vadercar @ Jul 5 2007, 12:05 PM) [snapback]473592[/snapback]</div>

I've heard of a Cheney, but what's a Voldemort?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vadercar @ Jul 5 2007, 12:05 PM) [snapback]473592[/snapback]</div>

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

a prius parked next to us in a parking lot once with the sticker "my other car is a hummer" and a little gas pump drawing on it. we laughed.

 

When I first started thinking of a replacement to my leased vehicle, and was test driving new cars (gas Civic, gas Accord, hybrid Civic & finally Prius), I hated that whenever I brought up hybrids with a sales rep, at both companies, almost universally the first comment was, "Well, you know you'll probably never save enough money on gas, in the long term, to "cover" the cost of the hybrid."---Thus assuming that saving money on my fuel bill was my only priority, and was perhaps the main reason people looked at hybrids.

Now, I'd appreciate a salesman trying to be honest, warning customers that the car will not "pay for itself" in miraculous gasoline savings anytime soon... But it dawned on me later, that these comments really bugged me because I knew I wasn't looking to justify a hybrid's 'extra cost' by seeing huge savings at the pump, even if I could calculate the "extra cost" of a hybrid Prius, over a full-gas Pruis; I definitely looked forward to fewer fillups, sure. (And it appears the Prius will cut my number of fillups by a little more than half, just based on going from an average 22mpg to an average 45-50mpg, assuming the same annual driving patterns.)

But I was really drawn to that idea of FEWER ACTUAL fillups... meaning, consuming less gas, regardless of price/gallon, meaning contributing (albeit, microscopically) to a lower US demand for oil. And I liked the idea of saying to manufacturers, through the checkbook, "I support your efforts to develop more efficient vehicles." And I felt good about lowering my contribution to pollution, coming off a bigger 6-cyl engine. (Not to mention, I know that 6-cyl/240hp made me a more aggressive driver over the past 5 years, and I was looking forward to a car that would steer me back to more sensible driving.)

If all that makes a statement to other drivers (or hopefully, the auto industry) on the road seeing me in my Prius, then I'm happy to own up to that as my statement. (And really, all choice is statement; a car, very visibly so.) I certainly feel "better" as a consumer driving this car, than any of my past cars, and that probably leads to me making more verbal statements to those who ask about it, than I would have before.

At lunch today, a few coworkers were pressuring me to consider vanity plates... tossing around things like "50 MPG" and "HYR MPG" and "OPECSUX" etc.---we'll see---that further ups the statement-making part!

 

The only statement I was making was to myself. I decided it would be a good thing for the environment if I got a hybrid, there was a hybrid available that I could reasonably expect to be a reliable car that would do everything I need a car to do, and I could afford it. Don't much care what other people think when they see me driving it. I guess it's okay if they think, "what a nice color green that car is."

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(subarutoo @ Jul 5 2007, 03:07 PM) [snapback]473593[/snapback]</div>

Cheney's twin brother! :blink:


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vadercar @ Jul 5 2007, 02:56 PM) [snapback]473584[/snapback]</div>

Well, I was (mis) quoted in that article and my picture is on Page A11 in there. The completely left off any statements that I made about the economic factors about me buying the car and only mentioned that our daughter was proud to have such environmentally conscious parents!

BTW: We put 33,000/year on our primary car - the payback for the Prius for us is 18 months!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(subarutoo @ Jul 5 2007, 12:07 PM) [snapback]473593[/snapback]</div>

Embodiment of pure evil... the antagonist of the Harry Potter book series.

I've seen the "Republicans for Voldemort" bumpersticker, and it made me laugh

 

I strongly suspect that in the early days, it was mostly environmentalists who bought the Prius, as John Q Public (believing propaganda from GM) saw it as "new" and "unreliable" technology. Now that it's shown itself to be as reliable as any other Toyota (which is to say ten times more reliable than anything coming out of Detroit) and fuel-efficient besides, I think most Prius buyers are just buying it because it's an excellent car.

On the other hand, I didn't buy mine to make a statement, and that was January of 2004. I bought it because I wanted the cool technology, capable of driving on electric power. And for the same reason, I bought my Xebra, and now the Prius sits in the garage.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vadercar @ Jul 5 2007, 12:05 PM) [snapback]473592[/snapback]</div>

Awesome!


Anyways, this may be coming from the lower end of the prius socio-economic scale but I think that anyone spending the kind of money it takes to own a prius is making a pretty big statement of some kind. It may not be intentional but tying up that percentage of your net worth in transportation speaks loudly. What it says probably varies from person to person but 22,000+ on a way to get from point A to point B probably means that the person cares about SOME aspect of their commute. It could be comfort, it could be image, it could be fuel economy, it could be guilt over no longer being able to cut it as a bike commuter but it's certainly something. The only folks not making a statement with their vehicles are the ones with old used cars that cover the bare minimum requirements for their transportation needs. Even then I suppose they're saying that they don't care.

The phrase "make a statement" is generally used to indicate some futile and impotent gesture designed to aid in some sort of posing, however if you detatch the pop media baggage from the phrase I think you'll find it accurately describes what any consumer does when he spends a significant amount of capitol on a highly visible product.

 

The Prius is the most economically sound car investment. I think it's also cool it doesn't pollute the environment. And I also think it's cool that it is a statement.

It was a small part of the decision.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ystasino @ Jul 5 2007, 06:19 PM) [snapback]473707[/snapback]</div>

What he said.

I'll add:

Gadgets. Show me a car for $30K with this many gadgets/techy toys.
Design. Almost everything about the car was designed for a function. I heart the shape of it because it looks that way for a reason, for example.
Reliability. The car's at the top of the list for that.

If it wasn't a hybrid and fuel economy was 25city, 33highway I bet it would still sell very well.

 

:lol: I drive a Prius and an H3 Hummer !
Sometimes I want to be a "tree hugger" other times I want to go go a trail ride. (when I feel rich-and full of gas)
I guess I should change my plates to say my other car is a "Hummer"

 

All the talk about buying a Prius is about making a statement makes me think of the South Park episod (season 10, episode 2) where everyone in South Park byus a hybrid. I want a sticker saying "I emit SMUG".

As for my reason to order a Prius: The gadget feel! The design. The space. Of course FE and environment, but not on the top of my list.


Regards,
Stein Tore

 

As DHANCOCK above, I was interviewed for the article but I "didn't make the cut". I shared numerous reasons why buying a Prius just has no downside.....in addtion to the obvious re. fuel economy and pollution, fostering greater American oil independence, etc......I was surprised at how peppy the hybid electric makes that small engine and with the interior room based on what I expected seeing only the exterior. I also shared that it's had an impact on a large number of curious friends who are now considering options they hadn't seriously considered before. I think it's unavoidable that doing sometihng not "mainstream" is a statement of sorts...but that doesn't mean it's a primary motivation. At any rate, it wasn't for me.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vadercar @ Jul 5 2007, 02:56 PM) [snapback]473584[/snapback]</div>

I got custom graphics to broadcast my wish for a better future for humanity. I drive a car that brings a smile to people's faces.

Let them think I am crazy. I am old enough not to care.

 

Hay Doc, I'm trying to read the graphic in your avitar.... "United Federation of Planets' ?? sorry, i must be older than you are, as my eyesight is apparently failing..... I like it though...