"Ahh, you drive a Prius, right? Tell me about it....

This.

 

Yes, gas prices are at a record high, crude oil is at a record high.

 

You must work with more open-minded people than I do. I haven't gotten a comment like that in the 15 months I have had the car - from anyone.

 

A former coworker who had a Classic Prius and a BMW motorcycle once told me that he got better mileage with the Prius by about 2 mpg on the same commute.

 

I only own my Prius 2 days, already been asked about the car.
- Is it run on electric?
- 70 MPG?
- does it need plug -in ?

I dont expect i will be asked so soon, and expect people know better in NYC . I expect people will ask me what in the MFD that show the car with multi-color arrow

 

I have only had mine for two days, and I have given 4 test drives to co-workers, jaws drop!

 

3 other guys in my work group and I went to a shopping mall for our meal break so I drove them in my Prius. This was the first time I drove it to work.
One has a Supra with twin turbo and one has a turbo Mazda MX5 SE (Miata) the last, my boss drives a Forerunner. As I drove up the hill I heard the Supra owner say to the MX5 owner, "it goes pretty good" then the reply "yeah".

They give me a hard time about owning a Prius but I know what they really think.

Oh, and the Forerunner owner's partner bought herself a Prius since.

People often ask about it at parties, I have taken quite a few people out for a drive during a barbecue.

 

I've taken several co-workers for drives.

 

I have a 200cc scooter:


Needless to say that I find it hard to get 47 mpg. 55 is routine on the Prius.

 

I gave a fellow engineer a ride to pick up his SUV at a repair shop, and was explaining the Scangage functions to him, H20 temp, Intake temp, Voltage, and RPM. I said, "Oh there is no RPM right now, because the engine is off". (We were going close to 40 mph on a slight downhill).

He said, "What do you mean the engine is off?"
I explained how the engine only runs when you need it, not all the time.

He was amazed.
He said, that's maybe why his Explorer was in the shop, and mine wasn't.

I told him thats also how it sneaks past gas stations.

 

My Explorer's engine stays off for weeks at a time while it is parked in the driveway.

 

Got my first, "but the battery cost $8000 and needs to be changed frequently" comment this morning. I tried explaining that it is a misconception, but this lady just wasn't listening to me.

 

I have had my Maggie for over 2 months now. I had people call me names when I first got her. I mean names that I won't repeat here. Now, three of the name callers own a Prius. It starts with name calling, then it switches to curiosity, and theeeeennnnnn people get themselves one. We are currently buying our second. My wife has come over from the dark side after I drove around for 2 weeks and only put 6 gallons of gas in Maggie. I paid under $25 bucks and she paid $68 bucks for one week in our Infinity FX 35. She is a believer now!

 

Well, the big battery is warranted for at least 100k miles (I think it's 150k where I live), so that's usually my answer to those people. That keeps them quiet. If they keep complaining about battery replacement then I ask them what they've spent replacing clutches and starter motors and transmissions on their own cars.

I've given a few test rides and it's funny how before people have been inside a (2nd gen) Prius they talk about what a small car it is, but they don't seem to mention that after the ride.

 

umm, Doc? Care to share the key to 72mpg? My best so far at 2600 miles on the odometer is 53.1 and I thought that was pretty decent. You put me to shame!

 

re. Got my first, "but the battery cost $8000 and needs to be changed frequently" comment this morning.

I had a colleague who kept going on about how much it would cost to replace the battery. I pointed out that the battery had a 100,000 mile / 8 year warranty on it.

So he changed tack and said, "OK, so how much will it cost you to replace the battery when it dies at 100,000 miles / 8 years?" I told him that, using his logic, I'd be more worried about the cost of changing the engine when it died at reaching the end of its 60,000 mile / 3 year warranty.

He shut up.

 

A couple of months ago I took my boss for a ride at his request. He's a Lexus guy so I figured he might be underwhelmed. Long story short, he now drives a loaded 2008 Magnetic Gray with leather and after-market heated seats.

Nice response. You could also point out that it will probably cost less than replacing the transmission that is going to crap the bed in their GM at 100k/mi.