Prius Haters.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(slumbum\";p=\"40258)</div>

Yes, they fold down.

Without that ability, the hatchback wouldn't serve much of a purpose.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jfschultz\";p=\"40177)</div>

One of my colleagues at school considers himself very conservative, but he hates the Prius and everything it stands for. I don't get it. I have tried to explain to him that it is not a good idea to keep giving our money to our "enemies" in the Arab world for all the oil we use, but he just can't see it. He doesn't understand why we just don't take over Iraq and have all the oil we want.

Isn't it interesting how people can have such different opinions on things. We get along very well and he is a very nice guy, but our political views couldn't be further apart.

 

and he's in the education system, that's the scariest thing I've read here in a long time. It's nice to see your political views couldn't be further apart.

 

The education system has been out of whack since the 1960s...its unfortunate that a vehicle has to have a "hatred" ...um...i dont see a bunch of people hating a mini-cooper, or a VW spud.,or the "new" scaled down impala that the PD uses...the political agendas in this country and world have gotten out of hand...a car should have nothing to do with politics...its not the govts role to tell you what you can drive...i choose to drive a prius, not for a political agenda, only because 1...i like the style, 2, i do it for economics 3, because i choose to whether the masses like it or not...

 

I am in my early thirty and I have a couple of very good friends who I grew up with and who are sports car fanatics. They look at my Prius and say it's just not fast enough for them. One of them is looking at buying the brand new, redesigned, Corvette. I laugh and told him, "do you know that my Prius is actually more aerodynamic than your Corvette? why don't you go and check the numbers." He said no way that was true. He was shocked to find that it was true that the Prius is actually more aerodynamic (Coefficient of drag). From that day forward, he seldom say anything negative about my Prius.

 

I was late for work one day last week and someone asked if it was because my extension cord wasn't long enough. It was said in jest because that person is quite impressed with the car.

When I first got the car, 3 or 4 people crinkled their faces and wondered why I would get such a funny looking and tiny and no power car. They clearly had no idea what a Prius was, but they knew they were supposed to hate it so they responded to their programming.

However, I've made it a point to give those naysayers a ride and then they changed their criticism to "there is too much to break down on this car". So then I mentioned all the warrantees and how numerous corporations are buying them as fleet cars as a smart business move. They usually shut up after that. I think some of them went into a Microsoft Windows "freeze up" because they couldn't deal with all the input that was conflicting with prior programming. I hope they re-boot and come out of it.

I work in a hospital and I'm all over this building. People are asking me about the car wherever I go and there is no doubt there is now a lot of positive buzz about this car where I work. And most of that buzz is coming from those people who saw and rode in my car. It clearly it did not all come from me directly.

I must say that I myself had severe misgivings about this car last January, back when I knew nothing about it. But based upon what I've read and seen and experienced, I'm convinced that there will truly be an avalanche of interest once the Lexus, Highlander and Volta come on board. Every single one of the myths that are out there on anything remotely electric or alternative will totally collapse.

The Prius is not the answer to the worlds energy problems or to global waming. But it is the greatest first step to solving those problems in history. IMHO

 

I thought the Prius was "just another Toyota" when my friend got one for a rental. He told me the sales pitches, grate MPG.... it isn't slow... yada yada... I didn't believe it.

But then he took me for a ride for 5 mins. Just around the block. The keyless entry and start was the first thing I noticed. Then the energy screen, the electronic ebrake, the legroom in the cabin. Basically, I was sold on it before we even left the driveway.

two days later I ordered one and I’m waiting for it now.

 

ahh Tony shame on you...taking advantage of a person's natural tendency towards "Prius Envy"

 

The complaints I've heard about my Prius totally lame:

My friend's mom said that it looks like "a pinched-off turd"

One of my highschool classmates said "the tires are too small"

One of the salesman at the VW dealership I worked at said, " You know you gotta be careful, you might electrocute yourself if you step out of the car when it's raining"

Another VW salesman said: "You know, the Jetta TDI would smoke that thing out in the slalom!"
-- I responded, "Literally!" ---- he didn't get it.

The criticisms usually stem from ignorance.

When I got the car, I thought, "I shouldn't be prissy keeping the car to myself, I should think of it as an educational tool and let people resolve their misconceptions by driving it"--- I let as many people drive it as I could.
After that, the complaints turned into glowing eyed praise!
My favorite comment:

Holy f****** s***, your car's a genius!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel\";p=\"40253)</div>

Well, let's get out there and refute that misinformation right away!

(Sounds like a good idea for a PriusChat poll...)

 

sex???

well if volunteers are needed, i am as always, ready to lend my services....

PLEASE!!!

 

i think the tires are too small too... and i'm the guy who loves the prius the most (trust me, i hug one in the parking lot when i see one. and i've gotten wet from one because it rained). It's not the actual 15" size of the tire that is too small, its the proportion of the tire to the rest of the car. It just looks dwarfed in comparison. If you look at the Euro prius or ones with 17", they look better because the rim makes the proportion look much better. Since black sucks away color, it usually evades the human eye, therefore, black tires make the rim look small and not proportional to the rest of the body.

 

I just thought it was interesting that the first thing the fundy had on his mind was sex. But even he thinks the car is amazing.

What does he hate about it? Presumably he does not hate the technology or the efficiency. Maybe he hates it for being an import? (Provides jobs for Japanese instead of Americans.) Or maybe he still hates the Japanese for Pearl Harbor? When people suggest I should buy American, I reply that American auto makers should build a car that's not a pile of crap. I bought an American-made car once, and I won't make that mistake again.

 

I haven't encounered too many Prius haters. What I encounter more of is those that are in ENVY. As John1701a said, it's many online attacks that we seem to have to fight off. One in particular from the biggest shmuck in the world is Wayne Gerdes (aka xcel). The guy is a TOTAL loser and the biggest of the Prius Envy folks

After having this car for nearly a year (delivered 11/8/03) I only have good things to say about it. Former vehicles I've owned recently (Audi allroad, Mercedes C320, Lexus RX300, Audi A4, Mercedes C280, Jeep Liberty). Guess which one I like the best? Yup... the Prius.

The car performs greater than I had ever expected. I drove 350 miles roundtrip yesterday in the remnants of Ivan from Long Island to Scranton, PA and the car performed flawlessly. My mileage was terrible (only got 46.3 going 65-70 in the moderate rain). I also can't forget last year's trip home from PA to Long Island in a snowstorm on covered snow pack. I only averaged 38 on the trip (obvious why). On a recent trip to Delaware I averaged 51.3 averaging 70 MPH for the entire Garden State Parkway.

What's my point? I have found a car that I thoroughly enjoy, has adequate power, great gadgets and I am not tired of it after a year. I STILL look forward to road trips. I don't DREAD my 20 mile commute to work. It's a keeper!!!

Funniest comment? Saw some old friends a few months ago. This guy in particular is your typical red blooded American. Won't buy anything Japanese. You know the type. Anyway.. he sees me drive up and says" hey ? is that one of those solar powered cars?"

My point is that 90% of Americans (probably more) are CLUELESS on how this car (or most cars) work. Take their silly comments with a grain of salt. Bottom line is that I LOVE my car.

 

Whenever I get the comment to "buy American" I say I buy the best, and when America makes the best, I'll buy it. What incentive is there for the big three to make the best if American's are going to buy it anyway?

Then if they still want to talk, I point out that American cars today are still good cars after about 8 years and 80,000 miles. I remind them that 25 years ago, American cars, as a group, were well on their way to being junk in 3 years or 30,000 miles. (Of course, Japanese cars are still pretty grea after 12 years or 200,000 miles.)

And that they have the Japanese to thank for that marked improvement. It's called free market capitalism, which I'm a strong supporter of. The American big three did not start making a better product until competition forced them to.

If they want more, I ask them do they know an American auto maker that doesn't buy Japanese or Korean? I don't.

 

Take Over Iraq

>He doesn't understand why we just don't take
>over Iraq and have all the oil we want.

Tell him if we took it over we'd still have to run the **** place. Besides, invading other countries so we can rob them is not what I thought america was about. I used to think we were better than that.

 

As Colin Powell said, "you break it, you own it."

 

djasonw:

i agree with you. i have occasion to commute about 50 miles to another site for work and i used to hate it despite the very generous mileage my company paid. now i volunteer to go and my boss is more than willing to let me (since he would have to go if i didnt... we used to take turns sort of...i sent went about 67% of the times) i cant tell you how good it feels to get paid an hourly wage plus $40 in gas allowance for driving my Prius!!

top it off with the fact that im spending less than $4 for gas makes it all that much sweeter!!

and yes, the bulk of attacks do come from online. because in a face to face confrontation, my only ammunition is

"lets go for a ride"

it has yet to fail me in converting naysayers.

 

A "conservative" thinks and acts "least cost, end use" or long-term. A "liberal" thinks and acts "least cost, first use" or short-term.

It is always cheaper and conservative to hold onto what we already have vs. "we will just go get more." Consult various papers with the Rocky Mountain Institute (www.rmi.org), World Watch, and the precautionary principle.

"When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established scientifically."

from the January 1998 Wingspread Statement on the Precautionary Principle For years, the environmental and public health movements have been struggling to find ways to protect health and the environment in the face of scientific uncertainty about cause and effect. The public has typically carried the burden of proving that a particular activity or substance is dangerous, while those undertaking potentially dangerous activities and the products of those activities are considered innocent until proven guilty. Chemicals, dangerous practices, and companies often seem to have more rights than citizens and the environment. This burden of scientific proof has posed a monumental barrier in the campaign to protect health and the environment. Actions to prevent harm are usually taken only after significant proof of harm is established, at which point it may be too late. Hazards are generally addressed by industry and government agencies one at a time.

A Prius embodies the precautionary principle. A lot of long-term thinking went into and continues to go into the design and use of a Prius. A Prius makes use of applied critial thinking. A Prius is not "thee" solution, but avoids many of the aspects typical of our lives where too often "the solution to a problem is to transfer the problem some where else."

A rational conservative does not knowingly transfer problems, but rather, seeks long-term constructive solutions.

 

While riding with my brother in law today, a financial analyist was blithely telling the listeners that a hybrid did not make a good financial choice. Buy it because you wear your environmentalism on your sleeve, it won't save you money. Then he goes on to explain why the Corolla is a better choice for economic reasons. Well if I was buying a standard vehicle, and was concerned with mileage only, it wouldn't be a Corolla. I have to put up with constant disparagng remarks by well meaning friends and relatives. It's my money, my car choice!