Did not buy for environmental reasons?

Don't expect any Christmas cards from this group.

My motives were the essentially same when I bought... everything else is just gravy. I think the GenIII appeals to a lot wider group now.

 

There have been polls and long threads created on this subject. I would suggest tying to do a search on the subject. I think they were posted in Fred's House of Pancakes. I'd try to find them for you but the search feature doesn't work on my phone.

It Would be good to revive the older polls so newbies can add to it.

I bought mine for human health and environmental reasons. If I did purely for economics I would have bought a new used Yaris or similar car.

 

The gen3 Prius is less of a compromize that the previous ones - imho.

It now looks like a proper car, performs like a proper car AND gets amazing fuel economy. Even over here in Europe where diesel is King, the Prius still gets better mpg's than virtually all other options. I think the Smart Eco Diesel gets slightly better mpgs which is ok if you want to drive round in a two seat shoe box.

People buy cars for many reasons. I might buy another Prius but if something better comes along I might buy that instead, though I think I'd have a hard job getting something as good allround as the Prius.

 

I think each of us buys a car for different reasons. I listed mine here.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...502-2010-prius-school-project.html#post979468

Will they be the same as yours? No, but they make me happy every day I am driving, 62,000 miles so far.

 

Prius is simply the best car ever made, that's what I tell people. It's a handy mini-SUV that gets 50-MPG. One-million now on the US roads has got to be making a huge difference. It is single-handedly the near-total-solution to stopping smog (bladder gas tank - no less) and the waste of valuable energy resources. Toyota does net get enough credit for their vision, hard R&D work, and monumental engineering accomplishment. Prius leads the way more so than any automobile in years. The only negative is it's an import so that takes the shine off for some. They also have a great web-site called Prius-chat that really helps solve any maintenance or modification issues.

PS- only 35 MPG with the canoe on top

 

Welcome to the forum.

My observation has been that a Priuss have become more mainstream, their drivers have as well. Early gen 1s we mostly driven by people who were either uber green or very techie. Gen 2s began to be driven by greenish normal people. Gen 3s seem to b very much mainstream, which is, in my opinion, a very good thing for the environment.

When "green(er)" technology becomes mainstream everyone benefits.

My intuition tends to be reinforced by the calibre of the postings other environmental and political theads on this forum, coming from gen three owners. These posts and posters seem to be a bit older, somewhat less green over all and politically more conservative.

Icarus

 

I would point out that the difference between being "financial" and being "green" is a lot less than you infer. If you can get you electricity from the roof of your house instead of paying the power company....are you being green or financially forward thinking? If you power your electric car from your own home power system....are you helping the planet or yourself?

Few would buy a Prius if there was not a real payoff to being "green". Likewise, a lot of bystanders are going to think that you are knowledgable about sustainable decisions. Are you?

 

If my reasoning was purely environmental, I would not have bought a car.

 

My ethics are green so I advocate conservation, but the practical side of me recognizes that in a free market environmentalism is doomed unless it is price competitive. The idiots I cannot tolerate are the ones who demand that environmental choices be *more* cost savings than the dirty route. I personally bought a Prius when it became clear that the lifetime cost of the car would likely be no more than a conventional car.

To my way of thinking, no (or minimal) cost penalty for a more sustainable choice is a no-brainer.

 

I wanted to buy the highest MPG car I could afford (gas prices are no longer predictable), it had to seat at least 4, I love the technology, and I am concerned with national security issues surrounding foreign oil consumption. The fact that the car is so clean emission wise had nothing to do with my decision. I see it as icing on the cake. BC, you're not alone and as others have mentioned the car has really become mainstream, though more so in some areas than others. If I remember correctly, a poll here on political leanings were 60/40 D/R. I think the owner base is probably very different now from what it was in the beginning.

 

I did it for economic reasons. I am predicting $3/gallon is going to be the min we'll see outside of extraordinary circumstances. When we hadn't fully recovered from the recession and gas prices were already fairly high, I made a few calculations and decided to jump ship to a Prius. Not a moment too soon, apparently, because this was before the more recent price hikes. I wanted to get rid of my current car because its manual transmision limited who could drive it.

However, my wife's a big greenie and certainly enjoys having it, too. I consider her happiness the icing on the cake.

 

I wanted a Prius in 06, but chose a Yaris instead because it seemed more economical and didn't use a whole lot more gas. But the financial and MPG situation has changed, and the Prius seemed like a sound decision. That's mostly why i got it.

I also consider myself an environmentalist, and definitely a technology freak. I knew if I bought a different car, I would forever regret it.

 

1. Coolness (high tech, rear camera, etc)
2. Fuel efficiency (good for me and the environment both)
3. Roominess (seats our family of 2 adults & 3 kids)
4. Price ($25k was price point we had in mind)

Those were my main reasons, not necessarily in that order. Only after I bought one did I learn about the Prius' many other attributes and hidden benefits, such as changing one's driving style or habit for the better.

I feel sympathy for those who, like me in my pre-Prius life, don't know what they're missing.

 

No, but compared to my 3/4 ton I save a lot of "green".

 

Exactly.

I wanted to buy a car purely for going on road trips. This is my first car, ever. I had heard of hybrids, so thought of researching. Had never heard of the Prius in May 2006, and I owned one in Aug 2006. I started browsing PC in July/Aug 2006.

I still take the bus to work, and use the car only once a week to get to places the bus doesn't go, plus shopping. I have done a 5000 mile road trip ($250 gas total!), a 4000 mile trip and more than ten 1000+ mile trips. So my first reason to buy a Prius was for environmental reasons, but I didn't know about the Prius when I started looking for one that fits that goal. It is not the only reason. It is from Toyota, so I was sure of the reliability. Had so much cargo space, I was impressed. I spent more than my yearly stipend as a graduate student to buy the car (mostly in cash), so it was a pretty big investment. It is probably the best financial investment I have made in my life so far.

 

I bought for lowest gas consumption. Based on the 20k miles per year we do in our main car the Prius is the best I can do. If it were just about the money then given the desire for a new car a compact would probably have saved money over a 10 year period, since I can quite easily hypermile the Civic to 44mpg. As others, ideally I wouldn't have a car and I didn't have one until 2007 when I moved to a place with no public transportation. Previously I'd commuted on foot, bicycle, bus and train.