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Now I KNOW the Prius has gone Mainstream!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by efusco, Dec 13, 2011.

  1. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    10:30 PM on a modestly traveled road on my way to work I stopped at a light. A total of 4 vehicles in sight as the roads were mostly deserted--as they are wont to be at 10:30pm in Springfield, Missouri (aka BFE). 3 of those vehicles including mine were Gen II Prii all stopped and within spitting distance of each other--Heck, I think I have some Copenhagen spittle to wash off today even!

    It just wasn't that long ago that I was one of but a couple hands full of Prii in the entire region.

    I know this is small beans to all you big city folk and West Coasters with HOV lanes and your big tax breaks, but here in F150 central where horse power rules this is pretty significant. It's not that the Prius is rare, but to see more than one other anywhere in your vicinity at any time of day is noteworthy, 3 on a lonely road at the same intersection late at night--pretty much calls for a celebration. :cheer2:
     
    #1 efusco, Dec 13, 2011
  2. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

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    It may not be as bad in Wilmington, NC as in Springfield, Missouri but I experienced something similar the other morning.

    I pulled up to a stop light left turning lane right out of my neighborhood and looked in the rear view mirror. There were two other Gen III's right behind me. Three Prii in a row. I jumped out to take a picture with the cell phone but the light changed before I could do it.

    The other two drivers waved and smiled realizing how unusual this used to be.
     
    #2 jdcollins5, Dec 13, 2011
  3. Michgal007

    Michgal007 Senior Member

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    May be all the Prius owners were doing some shady stuff late at night. Remember the 'at least he drives a Prius' ad? :cheer2:
     
    #3 Michgal007, Dec 13, 2011
  4. ItsNotAboutTheMoney

    ItsNotAboutTheMoney EditProfOptInfoCustomUser Title

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    I can understand your shock. I drove across Canada from Maine to Niagara Falls and saw 6, yes 6 Prius and 1 of those was from New Hampshire.

    I went on vacation to visit family in the UK and I think I saw 2, one of which was a Gen 2. I also spotted 1 Auris Hybrid, although due to invisibility there might have been more.

    Around here there are plenty of Priuses. In fact, I think about a month after buying our Prius (so end Jan/early Feb 2010) we drove down to Brunswick, ME to eat a (now sadly defunct) restaurant and I parked my red Gen 3 next to another red Gen 3 that was parked right in front of the restaurant. One summer Saturday evening in that town I'd swear there must have been a hybrid club meetup because there was a row of cars parked with more hybrids than ICEVs.
     
    #4 ItsNotAboutTheMoney, Dec 13, 2011
  5. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    Just about any time I'm sitting in a Tim Hortons (coffee and doughnut shop) or other restaurant, in sight of a window, and my friends mention or discuss the Prius, I'll look outside and see one go by.
    In a similar region to yours - pickup/SUV territory.

    But this afternoon I get to drive the FJ Cruiser! I'm down on my fuel quota - gotta burn more. ;)
     
    #5 David Beale, Dec 13, 2011
  6. Eoin

    Eoin Active Member

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    Priuses are almost as common as Camrys on Long Island.
     
    #6 Eoin, Dec 13, 2011
  7. Flaninacupboard

    Flaninacupboard Senior Member

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    I'm just glad for the people who had a gen1, then 2, then 3, and now ordered a PHV, that's whats allowing them to invade into new territory! :)
     
    #7 Flaninacupboard, Dec 13, 2011
  8. gramps

    gramps Member

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    I once counted 7 Prii at a major (4 way) intersection in San Diego. I was able to count because I had the red light. I might have 'seen' more at another time but wasn't able to count them all because I had the green light and was driving.
     
    #8 gramps, Dec 13, 2011
  9. a_gray_prius

    a_gray_prius Rare Non-Old-Blowhard Priuschat Member

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    I get "I get to drive the [STi/Type-R/Corvette/SRT/Koenigsegg] today!" but I can't imagine getting to drive a SLOW,over-large, poor-handling, sloppy,SLOW truck to be a highlight of my day. Did I mention SLOW?
     
    #9 a_gray_prius, Dec 13, 2011
  10. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Moving from Prius capital (close anyway) to F150 territory, I share your sentiments. In the area I frequent, I almost never seen a Prius. I've seen maybe five in 3 years, not counting the same Gen 2 Prius taxi lol. Three Gen 3s and two Gen 2s. There's a CR-Z in the neighbourhood, first one I've seen on the road.
     
    #10 Tideland Prius, Dec 16, 2011
  11. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Yay!
    Hmm... well, actually for CA, our yellow HOV stickers (that regular Priueses qualified for) expired on 7/1/11. :( IIRC, they stopped issuing them in early 07 when they hit 85K stickers. My sticker # was 49K or so and I got mine in January 06. WA state never had any sort of hybrid HOV sticker benefit.

    Us Californians never got any CA specific hybrid tax breaks. In WA state, they didn't need to pay sales tax on hybrids at one point, but that went away awhile ago (12/31/10 or earlier)...

    But yeah, there are lots of Priuses here and I'd been seeing more Leafs lately. Since I had to travel in rush hour recently, I'd seen a bunch of Leafs w/their white HOV stickers blow by me...
     
    #11 cwerdna, Dec 16, 2011
  12. DBaum

    DBaum Junior Member

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    I can't drive anywhere without seeing at least 2+ Prius's here in PA. They are everywhere and I love it !!
     
    #12 DBaum, Dec 16, 2011
  13. 2sk21

    2sk21 Member

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    My story is a little different. I work at a big tech company and my office is north of New York City. Priuses are hardly rare in this area but just yesterday I saw something that just boggled me in my company parking lot:
    There were 11 Priuses in an unbroken line!! Mostly gen 2 and 3 but my Prius v is still unique though!
     
    #13 2sk21, Dec 16, 2011
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