Why do people hate the Prius?

Yes. When I got my car in March I ran extensive TCO numbers, I guarantee more than 95-98% of people ever run and basically concluded that this year was the first time a Prius had a similar TCO to a non-hybrid similar vehicle. Thus I basically got it just for the heck of it and I liked the hybrid idea. My Prius was $22k, though, and a similarly equipped midsize, after considering gas, would have come out about the same with gas where it was in March.

 

I think the negative images comes from the stereotype that all Prius drivers are whiny, vegan, Birkenstock wearing greenies who hate cars, worship Al Gore, drive 55 in the fast lane, slow everyone down and yada yada yada.....

The stereotype certainly isn't true for everyone, certainly not me, but it started somewhere, and various shows, comedians, news/opinion personalities, movies, etc have all reinforced it, so that is what the sheeple believe.

I've found that it is a deeply misunderstood car, and most of the idiot comments I've received or heard about really stem from a place of ignorance, as opposed to malice.

Either way, it's annoying.

 

When I bought mine, gas was cheaper than it is now, at least here in overpriced CA, but there was the rush to get the additional 10,000 HOV stickers (allowing you to ride in the carpool lane solo) that the State Legislature authorized, among the BS tax deduction that was offered. Anyways, most dealers were trying to charge $5000 above sticker as a dealer premium for a popular car. I got one dealer to bargain down to $3000, but I'm willing to bet that I could've had it eliminated if I bargained more; oh well. So the total for the car with tax, title, license etc was $31.5K. The Jetta ended up being about $800 more than that, but it's fully loaded. The only thing I miss is the backup camera on the Prius, and the MFD is WAY more responsive than the Jetta (which honestly is the only major downpoint of the car).

I was told by the dealer I should've got about 200K miles out of it before any major parts would need to be replaced, but when I priced things out, yeah, my outlook changed. Now the smaller battery needs to be replaced, and I predict the hybrid battery will maybe last another year and a half at best, which would put the car out of the 150K mile battery warranty. I should run a spreadsheet and see what the actual TCO comes out to being between both vehicles.

And for what it's worth, I'm still breaking in the Jetta, but driving back from San Antonio to LA, I got about 39mpg on the highway with the outside temperature being about 40 degrees on average, with a cruising speed of 73-75 (which I find is also the sweet spot for the Prius). I tend to get about 37-40 on the Prius at the same conditions, with the trunk loaded with stuff and my 100 pound dog in the backseat.

 

No, that would be 1st gen Honda Insight owners.

There's a geology professor at my university with a Prius, but he has about 10 or 11 bumper stickers on his car proclaming his conservatism and the military (I'm told he's one of our few Republican professors and ex-military). There are exceptions, but most Prius owners I've met tend to be liberal. Just not as much as your first paragraph mentions, which is definitely the 1st gen Insight crowd.

But I have yet to see any Bush/Cheney or McCain/Palin stickers on a Prius. I usually see those on luxury vehicles or diesels.

 

YESYESYES. I STILL hear from educated people about the battery, they are worried that it's going to die in a few years and be hugely expensive to replace. I tell them its warranty is something like 8 years and a hundred thousand miles and it's as if I'm talking Greek; it's just not compatible with what they thought they knew about it. Heck, I used to spout the same stuff from them so i get where they're coming from.

I think that if Toyota WANTED to it could change the image of this easily. Show some old Priuses running on original battery, show a UFC cage fighter who drives to his matches in his Prius. Even if they could, though, I am not sure they want to. The image attracts hate but also does attract people who see themselves as the greenie birkenstock wearing folk you referred to.

 

I don't understand the TCO issue. If people only purchased cars based on TCO, there would be no option or luxury packages, and BMW, Mercedes, Lexus wouldn't sell a single car.

 

TCO clearly does not apply much when you're trying to decide on whether or not you're going to buy a Prius, or a Pickemup truck, or a Corvette...etc.
I've seen people warp the numbers so badly that you'd be an idiot not to buy a Prius, and I've seen some of the same numbers bent 180-degrees the other way as to make Prius ownership seem to be outrageously expensive. Whether or not a Prius makes economical, or ecological, or ergonomical sense to you is going to be largely determined between your own earlobes.
Mark Twain was right. Figures don't lie, but liars do figure---or, at least the quote is attributed to Mr. Clemons.

The truth is probably in the middle somewhere---and it really does not matter much in the end. The Cheerleaders are going to do their thing, and the bashers are going to do their thing.
I have just about enough intestinal fortitude to drive (or ride) whatever the heck I want to within my economic depth band.
As I've said before, if my job title were to suddenly change to "large trust fund recipient", or "welfare recipient"....I'd probably not be driving my Sierra or 'my' Prius.

Maybe a Tesla and a ZR-1, in the case of the former, and one of my motorcycles and/or a $500 beater in the case of the latter....

 

So true, imo, it all comes back to so many people thinking the only reason to buy a Prius is the MPG which is flat out untrue.

The GenIII Prius is a very competitive car in the midsize market, period.

 

I don't get the pre-disposition to dislike the car either. I told my friend I got one - he instantly started laughing.

I don't understand it at all. Its got a great warranty, great MPG, its quiet, it performs perfectly fine ...

I just don't get it. My first drive to work this morning gave me a CONST reading of 61.5 mpg. I will just start snickering to myself when I pull up to pretty much every other vehicle at the gas station as I watch them spend their money.

 

...they have issues.

They make all kinds of ASSumptions about Prius drivers that are frequently incorrect or worse, declarations of disturbed people motivated by their hatred.

To them, a car is not a tool to efficiently go from point A to point B, but their fine clothes, an extension of themselves.

Two-year old spoiled brats trapped in adult bodies, who call us smug because we choose not to drive immature like them.

 

If someone has that much money to spend on a car, I don't think TCO matters at that point, considering they're not looking for a fuel efficient vehicle.

 

Out of curiosity, what was the speed limit, and how fast were you going? I used to take surface streets for work about the second year of ownership, and doing about 48 in a 45mph zone, I was getting about 44-48mpg. The best I got was 53 and that was coming from Oregon back down to So Cal.

 

Speed limit was 40-45 except for the last 12 mins or around 8 miles - that's highway w/ the some stop lights and 50-55 mph.

My trip to work is largely hilly but downgrade so I get to coast or use the battery soley a lot. More info here: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-fuel-economy/88317-could-accurate.html

 

This is not a luxury car, so its image is of little "value" to somebody like me, hence dollars & cents.

As Hemingway once wrote "Haterz gonna hate."

You people getting ~60 mpg, though, you're obviously driving in such ideal conditions (speed and light throttle) that I bet you'd get much better than normal mileage in a typica vehicle, too. I think that the EPA of 51 city for this vehicle is quite optimistic and requires a lighter foot than most people have. Although that is likely the case for all EPA city ratings.

 

I wonder what my grandfather went through when he bought his first car? Bet it wasn't that different. "All that new fangled crap". Gonna bring trouble, right here in River City.

 

Actually---I thought the same thing some 4,000 miles ago. Yeah, you're probably not going to see 60 without over inflating your tires, blocking your grill, drafting, and driving like Ms Daisy's chauffeur.
However (comma) 51 city is not "quite optimistic" in the city. I've found that you can hit the EPA estimates quite easily driving like most normal (meaning: really normal, not PriusChat normal) folks.
Yeah, you're going to take a mileage ding in the winter.
My earth-killing pickemup truck gets 21 MPG during the summer and during the winter, for example---but even if you drive your Prius like a rental car, it will still probably return high 40's in the mileage department.

I'm a throttle-happy Earth First kinda guy...(we'll plunder the other planets when we get to them... ) and I'm knocking down 53 MPG lifetime in some 4,000 miles.
You can bash a Prius about a lot of things...and their owners for even more things, but I've found that my beloved Government's estimate for mileage is fairly accurate overall...

 

To be honest, I'm only really putting the car in the 'power' band of the eco guage when climbing a hill or merging into traffic. Or if I'm at a stop light and the road is a 55mph road. Otherwise, my car doesn't really touch that ooomph.

I'm driving like a granny. Probably good for the break in though.

 

The Prius is not a car for the penny pincher in the short run. Long term it will save you money. If you are a conservative and driving one you really are a closet liberal. If you really want a money saving car by an old beater.

 

I can only generate low or mid 50's driving more conservatively than I like and certainly far more than most people on the road. This means engine braking as much as possible (which means braking pretty early in a lot of cases to avoid hitting friction brakes) and relatively lethargic acceleration. I wouldn't call my wife an aggressive driver but all summer she was around the 48 mpg mark.

There's a long steep hill by my house and to go from regular speed to safe cornering speed by the time the turn at the bottom shows up I have to start braking REALLY early unless I want to get to friction brakes, and I assume this bothers some people behind me (not that I stop doing it!).

I bet that if the car could accept more aggressive braking from the regen braking its mileage would go up a good bit--maybe not for very gentle drivers but for those with a heavier foot the regen would be pretty meaningful.

 

Actually...a more accurate statement might be: "If you are a conservative and you buy one you really are a closet liberal." I drive a Prius almost every day. It's an arranged marriage...
Even that statement is flawed though.
I'm many things...but I'm certainly not a liberal, nor are more than a few Prius drivers that I've bumped into...at gun shows, church revivals, hunting camps, etc...
There's a lot of Priuses out there now.
Even real out-of-the-closet conservative conservatives have them.