Can't Imagine I Will Ever Go Back...

Hopefully in the future it'll be the norm and not carry a 5-10k premium.

 

I know what you mean. I do enjoy top-down sporting about in my 1993 Mazda Miata. It gets 30-31 MPG WORT (Without Really Trying) and I drive the poop out of it! But in the future, a little two seater electric would be even nicer!

 

Even with my "old" Gen II I know what you mean. In the last year I've driven the Prius over 15,000 miles. My 01 Blazer has been driven less than 1800 miles (and that mostly on snowy days- not that my Prius couldn't get around, but I feared "the other drivers" and what they might do to my baby).

When it is time to replace the Blazer, it may well be another Prius... but it will be a hybrid.

 

If you mean Prius has 5 - 10k premium, I don't see that now.

Consider

2009 Matrix base, 132 HP, low $19k MSRP

2010 Prius II , 134 net HP, $22,750 w/floor mats

both are hatchbacks. similar HP and weight

so ~ $3,500 difference, yet the Prius has many attractive features the Matrix does not have, plus nearly double the average FE.

 

To the OP,

I don't think I'd purchase a conventional car again. It would seem a little foolish to buy a car whose engine idles away in the worst of traffic.

Won't soon forget being stuck on 92W to Half Moon Bay. Solid 45 min. in 'no go' traffic. Prius takes it in stride. The engine maybe came on once during that 45 minutes briefly.

Prius could creep up the hill in the traffic on battery alone. This is where the HSD really blows conventionals away.

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I still have a '88 pickup and sometimes drive a '92 Mazda 626. Both feel like 'jalopies' compared to the Prius.

 

I can't imagine going back either. And not just because of the money saved (altho that's certainly a ++) I just believe that this is right direction for engineering cars. Why wouldn't someone want to reduce their consumption of gas and lower their emissions? In the years to come I hope we can figure out how to get higher performance from hybrids and win over others in the car pool.

 

There comes a point where a Prius owner says: "Why in the world aren't all cars built this way? It just makes so much more sense to use less gas." This usually happens fairly early in ownership and, most often, is an epiphany (of sorts) that occurs at a particularly long stop light. The Prius driver is surrounded by many cars whose engines keep pluggin' away for no apparent reason.

Too often, though, this new awareness so motivates the Prius owner that he or she actually talks about it. DANGER: Prius Smugness! I believe this is the number one cause of the public perception of Prius owners as smug. (Well, that and saying: "My green machine gets 60MPG, what's that gas hog spew?")

I gave a ride to my 83 year-old uncle just a couple of weeks ago. He then drove my 2010 for about 30 minutes. He could not stop talking about it. I think he was looking to open a Toyota dealership! He said: "Why don't they advertise this car? I imagined this kind of thing would happen one day, but not in my lifetime!"

(I find this particularly interesting, because all of this happened in Iowa -- home to the OP!)

 

When I travel for work now, I will often try to rent a Prius. After purchasing our 2009, it's just hard to drive anything else!

The smoothness and quietness of the Prius are almost addictive. That and all the tech goodies ("What! I have to actually use a key to start this rental car?") are really great. Oh yes, and the great gas mileage!

 

I am really hooked. After getting only between 17 and 18 mpg in my minivan (combined city and highway) I am excited about driving my 2010 Prius IV SR. For the first month and 2000 miles I am averageeing 55.2 mpg. I am keeping the mini van for times when we have a large crowd or I am driving my mother in law who has a pace maker. The prius brochure said smart key might interfer with pace maker. Wouldn't want to hurt mother in law? No really wouldn't want to hurt mother in law

 

I'm almost 9 years into the ownership now. At this point, I don't have to say a darn thing. There simply no need to even do compares anymore. Everyone around me knows the Prius has stood the trials of time and came through shining. Oh shiny!
.

 

OT but I really needed to ask, what's the chances of this happening? Is it just lawyer talk or is there a real possibility that smart key could actually create a problem?

 

I think I can add a slightly different perspective.

I've been in the market for a new car, I can tell you The Prius is addictive even just in the consideration phase.

Originally I was looking at Honda Fit. Nice car. Good gas mileage. However, I found that once I got one equipped comfortably, the price edged towards $19,000-$20,000. At that point, I'm thinking why not look at the Prius? For a few grand more, I get a bigger more comfortable automobile, not to mention the 50mpg. Plus the base model Prius comes automatically with many of the additions I was paying extra for on the Fit. Plus the Prius has features not available on any car, anywhere. That's what kind of led me into the Prius World.

But I can say it's kind of scary how addictive The Prius can be. Once you get used to the expectation of 50mpg, then looking at any other car becomes difficult. When the salesman say's "It get's great gas mileage, you can get up to 27 mpg in the city" somewhere in the back of my mind now, I instantly compare to The Prius. So silently in the back of my mind I'm going, geesh...only 27mpg?

I know it's probably unfair and it's comparing ICE Apples to Hybrid Oranges but it still get's lodged in your psyche. It's either the wave of now and the future OR it's the most brilliant product/marketing in automotive history.

 

You get the premium back when in resell value,
and,
hybrids are now common knowledge that the require less maintenance to run.

So it actually works out to be equal in the first five years.

 

Not necessarily the Prius, but luxury cars across all manufacturers.

 

As far as daily drivers go, I can't imagine ever going back to a non-hybrid (unless EVs become more affordable in the future), but on the same token, life without my 13mpg weekend toy would be pretty tough to get used to. (I'm a drag strip junkie.)

 

I have it even worse! 2 years ago I was visiting family in Oregon, rented a Prius after I saw them in the lot and went back to the desk to swap.

Why won't it start? WHAT? I have to put the fob in the slot? AND I have to take it OUT??? At least that is not an issue with the base 2010s I get a nervous twitch when I'm in a car that doesn't shut off at stops. I just want it to STOP running for no reason!!!!

 

Yeah and how much gas do you use at the strip? Better MPG than an H2 and not much worse than an H3 will average. And I bet you drive a LOT fewer miles at the strip than on the road.

Actually, I wish people like you were the norm for 'hot rodders'. Most buy cars that are WAY overpowered for public roads, many drive like they are on a NASCAR track. Those that don't just get lousy mileage commuting in their 'toy'. What we need are mini Indy go cart tracks everywhere. Better to rip around the track with their butt almost on the ground to get the 'speed thrill' now and then than endangering the public and/or wasting a lot of fuel every mile they drive 'off track'.

 

"How about you? Will you ever buy a "gas engine only" car again?"


We made the switch in 2001 and haven't bought a new pure gas car since.