Prius - not the car for all occasions?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tscales @ May 14 2007, 05:19 AM) [snapback]441518[/snapback]</div>

I'm assuming they are using HOV lanes and the Prius is allowed in them with a tag.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jennjay @ May 14 2007, 06:34 AM) [snapback]441520[/snapback]</div>

That is no doubt the reason. I just talked to my cousin who lives in the Bay area...and his Prius, eligible for the HOV lane, saves him 30 minutes each way on a 50 mile commute. And costs less than his old car in the bargain (for gas, that is).
Jim

 

Cox, I completely know where you are coming from! I'm still in the midst of deciding to get a Prius, I currently have a dodge srt-4 and a chevy cobalt as my daily driver. I'm trying to work the miricle of all miricles and sell the cobalt to get a prius yet still be able to keep the srt-4 for my weekend driving.

Just by using the Pruis 90% of the time you're doing a wonderful thing for the environment (and your wallet!)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Cox @ May 12 2007, 02:06 AM) [snapback]440454[/snapback]</div>

Cox, your situation is almost similar to mine as well.

Last October I bought an 07 Prius for my wife to replace her 2004 Acura. I really love the car, but she never warmed up to it since then. Evertime she had an opportunity to complain about it she would and I now know that is no way to spend one's life.

So, a few weeks ago we decided to sell the 07 Prius and buy another HCH-II for my wife. She's now driving my HCH-2 until the new one arrives by the end of the month (build date is set for May 17). While I will sorely miss the car and its versatility, I am wisely looking forward to a more agreeable and satisfying feedback from my wife instead.


Cheers;

MSantos

 

Not so much from a luxury car to a Prius here, but from a pickup to a Prius.

I will still keep the pickup, even with its low MPG, as the truck is paid off, and can tow a trailer or carry horribly dirty or heavy things around town. It will become more of a worktruck then. The Prius will become my daily driver.

 

have you driven the camry hybrid? i didn't drive it far, (and only in town) but it seems much more refined and quiet than the prius.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Cox @ May 12 2007, 01:34 PM) [snapback]440612[/snapback]</div>

I find it interesting that you asked for people's opinion and get annoyed if someone doesn't agree with your decision. I'm not trying to slam you for your decision, is is ultimately your choice. Getting upset because someone doesn't know everything about you is hardly their fault. If you had thought it was important for people to know about other aspects, then you should have included it in your posts. You admitted in your first post that you are a bit of a badge snob. You stated you would be happy with a manual sporty Civic or something similar, but you didn't get that, you got a Porsche. So I guess all of this to say that getting upset that someone doesn't agree with your rationalizations just seems silly. Again, not trying to slam you or say that you are a wasteful resource hog or something, just some observations.

As far as the driving fun, I think F8L hit the nail on the head about a person's perception about what is driving fun. I used to think driving as fast as I could and weaving in and out of traffic was fun. Now trying to increase MPG, anticipating what will increase mileage or when I will gain another bar on the battery makes for a very fun driving experience. Not saying your perception of driving fun is wrong, just different than my driving fun.

I could see going from a luxury car to a Prius would be hard for many. It is like when an older cousin told me that when buying a house, you don't want to settle for less than what you had before. Sure there are some cases where it makes sense, but most of the time it just makes a person dissatisfied and unhappy. All in all, I'm glad you were able to find a compromise that worked for you.

 

I have always had relatively high performance cars, Mustang V8s, Eagle Talon Turbo, etc. If a car didn't have a racing or sporting heritage, it was of no use to me. My previous car, which I still have, is a 2000 Subaru Impreza RS, while not as cool as an M3, it is plenty fun for me. I changed jobs 3 years ago and was rewarded by a 90 mile daily RT commute, 99% LA freeway. My impreza was getting about 25 mpgs, but was up to 85,000 miles. I bought the Prius to save gas, but mostly as a "throw-away" commuter car to save miles on the Impreza, which I kept as a week-end auto-x car, and all around fun car. In the past year and half, I put over 33,000 miles on the Prius @ 50 or so mpg, and about 1,000 or so on the Impreza. I still really love the Impreza, but the Prius does 90% of what I need 90% of the time. I don't get the noise problem you complain about. Everybody who rides in my car comments how quiet it is, even at freeway speeds. I have the stock Integrities, which are only about 1/2 worn. The Prius is my first automatic, and my first 4 door "practical" car. It truly had that rental car feel at first, but I really appreciate the gadgets, phone access, ease of Ipod connection, and the streeo is fine for me. As you said, my bike fits in the back of the Prius, not so for the Subaru. The Prius grew on me, or better, I grew up to it. Different strokes, for different folks, but the Prius works for me. No regrets, except, coming from AWD, the traction OVER-control is annoying, and that's about it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(micheal @ May 14 2007, 02:46 PM) [snapback]441808[/snapback]</div>

I don't think he's shown any annoyance at having people disagree with him at all, what he did do what respond (and civilly and respectfully I might add) to a nastily written attack in which member clearview22 called him a snob, suggested that he was a fool for being "duped" by car advertisements, and told him to "try walking". Remember that when I read this post it too prompted me to respond to a thread that I otherwise wouldn't have responded to. I don't see how Cox could have been any more diplomatic. I wouldn't have been, nor have I been nearly as diplomatic when I've been attacked in much the same way.

A lot of people here are EXTREMELY narrow minded and intolerant of people who don't think the Prius is the greatest car on earth. There are people here who think the Prius is so great that people who don't care for it are pawns of the auto industry and that eventually one day all cars will be identical to the Prius since its such a terrificly marvelous automobile. Thats obviously ludicrous since there is such a varying array of different types of vehicles on the market.

Not everyone is like this, hence those who have posted in this thread and said that while they disagree they could see how Cox could feel this way, but a lot of the members here are extremely arrogant and self righteous about their Prius and you wouldn't recognize that unless you've posted opinions as far as the Prius' faults like I and others have.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jimnjo @ May 14 2007, 03:53 AM) [snapback]441522[/snapback]</div>

Yep, the HOV lane usage during commute hours saves me around 40-50minutes minimum a day. Also allows me more flexibility in terms of hours I can drive to work and back. Lots of HP doesn't help much if you are stuck behind slow moving traffic.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SW03ES @ May 14 2007, 09:37 PM) [snapback]442038[/snapback]</div>

Actually, the person he responded to never used the word snob or ever used the word fool. He did use the word dupe, which seemed accurate in the context. People are conditioned by the adversiters to think that we need that throaty v6 growl or that hip-hugging cornering to have a fun driving experience. Or that we have to man-up by buying a Hummer. Wake up and smell the roses, auto media is constantly convincing about what makes a car fun.

Can't say I am surprised that you saw nothing wrong in his response based on your response to me. Talk about being arrogant and self-righteous, have you looked in a mirror lately? Yea, people get annoyed when the Prius gets unfair criticism. Things like the engine is too loud or whatever when comparing it to a luxury vehicle is not a fair criticism. Plus it is always interesting to hear how other people are intolerant when they don't agree with you. Must be a lonely intolerant world much of the time. We read what we want to read. I personally think it is nice that not one car/vehicle type works for everyone, it makes the roads a little more interesting. I can't recall seeing any post over two years where a person stated that every car would be identical to a Prius, maybe at most that every car would be a hybrid.

BTW, I also stated in my response how I could see how those coming from a luxury car to a Prius would be hard for many...guess you missed that last paragraph.

Judging from what I have read of your previous posts, I would bet that a good portion of your 85 posts are on the faults of the Prius and/or Toyota. But of course in over 600 posts I couldn't possibly have said anything negative about the Prius. I guess I have to start now so I can be as humble and open eyed as yourself. I don't like the sloping instrument panel and would like more room in the front. The Prius cannot pull a 1000lb trailer or seat 7 people! It can only beat a handful of cars in a 0-60 race! It's not even the perfect automobile for everyone! Oh no, now I have to go wash out my mouth! I hope the mods can forgive me for my sin! Drive what you want, unless that is a Hummer of course!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(micheal @ May 15 2007, 12:37 AM) [snapback]442203[/snapback]</div>

I'm not an idiot, Cox is not an idiot, the implication was beyond obvious. Just because you disagree with us does not make us wrong and it does not make us fools. We simply disagree.

Have you?

I don't think comparing the Prius to other $22,000-$28,000 cars is unfair criticism. Again you ignore the fact that he said he would be satisfied with a Civic Si, hardly a luxury car. It is a simple and plain fact that the powertrain of the Prius is not nearly as refined as that of MANY different vehicles costing as much or less than the Prius does new. There are certainly tradeoffs in the form of economy, emissions, and cool factor but the powertrain of the car is drone-y and thrashy. It just is.

I completely agree with you that its great not one car or type of car works for everyone, thats why we have such a wide variety of options. It just so happens that a lot of the members here are intolerant of people who advocate other options as being better suited for them.

Just in this thread a member said the Prius was the future and the cars Cox liked were the past and he better get used to it. I recall the line "Why would anyone not drive a Prius", other hybrids that have a focus on performance get constantly slammed, I've been accused of being an eco-terrorist for driving a ULEV that gets 25MPG. There are several threads saying that the Lexus LS600hL is a waste of engineering dollars when they could have been designing cars that get even more impressive fuel economy. If you haven't seen these things, you need to actually read the forum. They are everywhere here.

I guess you missed the part of my response in which I never said anything about you or what you've written, only that I disagree that Cox has been unfair to anyone.

What do I get in response? An attack on me. Typical PriusChat. You made my point for me, thanks.

You'd bet wrong. For your information I am a huge Toyota fan, I own a Lexus myself and manage a Lexus enthusiast site. If you'd look at my posts you'd see that I am a huge proponent for Toyotas, and whenever I say anything negative about the Prius I always qualify it as being a subjective assessment and mention the fact that many other people obviously disagree with me.

I'd also suggest that you read someone's profile info before making a statement about them. Its right there, under my name and my Avatar. I have 553 posts, not 85 and I've been a member here longer than you.

Again, I never said that you had or hadn't said anything negative or positive about the Prius. In fact I never commented on you in any way shape or form other than by saying I disagreed with your assessment of Cox's demeanor.

One thing you'll learn about me real quick is that I am EXTREMELY stubborn. If you're going to try and paint me in some sort of way that I'm not, I will literally spend hours here typing just to prove you wrong and make you look foolish for trying in the first place. So, my suggestion is before you try and make assumptions about me or other people you meet on here or in life, be SURE you've got your facts straight.