Survey: Oddest question asked about your Prius?

"Too bad you can't drive it the rain, eh?"

"Don't you know you have to replace the batteries every year? - How could you be so stupid?"

:doh:

 

"So, you never have to change the oil?"

 

"How does it run?"

 

I haven't had odd questions about my Prius yet....I think the best one was a guy who had a really nice classic 50s car who was driving past us. While he reached me, he stopped to ask what my MPG was: I said it was an average 50MPG...he said he thought his was maybe 18. My passangers said "but still your car looks great"...I thought it was neat that we could both appreciate totally different cars.

As for the main exclaimations I've gotten is "Wow, this car is so much better then what I thought it would be like". The last person to have been in my car said that he had rented another previous generation Prius, but that mine had really good space. I was kind of hesitant to tell him my real mpg when that was his next question: as I knew the mpg/good use of space is the main point that places my car pretty high!

 

My oddest standard question is "You do know that you will have to replace the hybrid battery every few years at a cost of over $5,000 don't you ?"

And my favorite, why does the car have to be so ugly ?

 

Couple of questions I have gotten, "what happens if you're away from home and the battery runs down?" and "do you have to carry and extension cord with you?" I have also received some surprising comments when I let people drive the car. My brother was really impressed with how well it ran, he thought it would be a real dog. A friend who does the BMW thing, was surprised at the acceleration too and will replace his wife's Corolla because of the mpg and more room. I wasn't expecting it to be as smooth as it is, the seamless way it operates was a pleasant surprise for me, I'm not a speed demon anymore, but the acceleration even above 95 is a real kicker, a normal 4 cyl would have it's tongue hanging out by then.

 

I don't think I've ever gotten an "odd" question about the Prius. In the early days, before people knew what a hybrid is, I was asked if I had to plug it in. But rather than calling that an odd question, I'd call it normal, when the word "hybrid" was completely new in the context of a car. The reverse of that was that when hybrids became common, people would ask if my Zap Xebra was a hybrid, and I had to explain that it was pure electric, had to be plugged in, and never used any gas.

I have been asked about battery longevity (a reasonable question) but I've never been told by anyone that the battery would not last. In fact, I cannot remember ever receiving a negative comment about the Prius.

 

I never got asked that......I always got told that was the case.

Fortunately, every gas price spike unleashes rounds of more sensible questions.....and those hikes seem to be quite dependable.

 

Yes, now that there are over half dozen hybrid cars in the work parking lot now, and with each rise in gas prices, the questions do get more sensible as you say. Plus the fact that I take to time to explain the true facts to those that do take the time to comment or ask questions.

Also, now that they understand that the reason for the Prius looks is for aerodynamics and mpg the comments on the looks have decreased. Plus the fact that more and more cars are copying the Prius shape helps to reduce the comments on the looks.

 

I usually get, "The batteries those cars use are an environmental nightmare, they cause more damage than a Hummer."

 

^ I've read that comment here, but nobody has ever actually said that to me.