Hello everyone! I just want to introduce myself. My real name is Lars - the PriusChat name "Eisbaer" just means "polar bear" in german language. I live in northern Germany and drive a Classic Prius. Although I am new in this forum, the "Prius-fever" is definetly not new to me! It already catched me in 2007, when I convinced my wife to sell our Opel (german brand of GM) and buy a Toyota instead. BTW: My wife works for Volkwagen; so it was not an easy task... So, since February 2007 we own our (previously owned) Classic Prius and already made over 62k mi. with it - in total it just broke the "100.000 mile barrier" a few weeks ago. Let's see if I can contribute to the Prius community with some "european hybrid experiences"
Welcome to PriusChat. Ah, Germany; a wonderful country. My family and I lived in the small town of Turkismuhle (Saarland) from '83 to '90. We loved every minute of it. I'm sure you'll learn much from the people here at PriusChat.
Welcome to PriusChat. Maybe you can confirm or deny this rumor: Chrysler/Fiat is going to introduce the Dodge pickup as the Rammstein.
Welcome to a fellow European. You'll love it here. They're a friendly lot and you will get a fast response to any post you make. Be good to see a pic or two of your pride n joy
Thanks bighouse - and to also the others - for the warm welcome! But to get this clear -> You drive a prius because of polar bears? Or because of PriusChat?
Well a_gray_prius, at this moment I cannont provide you with THAT! I just visited the Nürburgring and parked next to it. Hope this is sufficient at this time But I know someone from the german "Priusfreunde" (=Prius friends) forum, who has taken his Classic NHW11 for a round on this racetrack. We better do not talk about his MPG after that ride...
LOL :rockon: Believe it or not: Not EVERY german listens to Rammstein, although they are very popular - and apperently they are in the US. Consequently a Dodge "RAMmstein" would not boost sales at all. But also without that moniker there are already several RAMs on the street. Every time I see one, you can really hear and smell the SUV-juice running through its gas-guzzling big-block
Well F512M, that would be nice, but here in Germany (and some other european countries) we are in "Diesel-land". You have to take into account, that diesel fuel is "subsidized" with a 20 Euro-Cent lower taxation at the pump. Consequently a diesel - at least from a costing point of view with a higher annual milage - is more interesting. And about particualtes and NOx emissions most people do not care of. Also the german automotive industry is very good at reducing the discussion just to CO2-emissions... To make it short: - Back in 2003 only 1200 (!!!) Classic Prius have hit the streets in Germany. Current estimations talk about approx. 650 "survivors". And our blue NHW11 is one of them - Together with the gen. II and the new gen. III Prius we talk about 20.000 vehicles in Germany. Not that much. Marketshare can be described as a "homeopathic dose"...
Hi GrumpyCabbie, greetings "over the channel" to our european neighbours Well, let me dig in my archives. I will post some pics in the "Newbies - Let's see some pics" thread tomorrow!
Hi Eisbear - greets from Munich! I have seen a few of the 2010 (maybe 2-3), with drivers looking at me almost astonished there is another Prius driving by, and a few more (10-15) of the II gen. I might have seen a Gen I once. No Auris Hybrids either (with that non-existent trunk space...). If you do a search under my alias for posts, you should find a few threads I started with some feedback from EU about the 2010. You can also check my blog in the signature below. Ciao, P-
