Why did you buy a prius?

Unless you want to get somewhere using the least amount of the world's resources, then it beats any other car sold in the US.

 

Cool! Way to support your country, its national security, and its troops. Nothing cooler than wasting taxpayer money on excessive use of subsidized fuel. No go read my links and educated yourself.

 

Wow....those pictures disappeared fast... that's quite a collection (assuming it's yours). If it is, why are you here bothering us mere mortals? We own a car we like because it gets us from point A to point B without much fan-fair, and does so efficiently. A Lotus Exige, a Ferrari, a Corevette AND A F150? I mean, come on - you've got the makings of a racing league right there - all while wearing tight leather pants while you do it. I think that's enough hardware there to buy a house, two cars, and almost put the firstborn through college...

 

Haha- I knew this was going to happen! I apologize to anyone who may have been offended. My intentions were not malicious, of course. I meant it in a PG-13 crude humor type of way. I couldn't think of a better, more descriptive word.

 

The troll just likes to troll. So he posts outright lies and idiotic nonsense to get people angry. But the thread title is a good question, so I'll answer it:

I bought a Prius because:

1. I wanted a new car with the safety features that had entered the mainstream after my 1989 Honda Civic station wagon was built; mainly air bags, ABS brakes, and VSC. The OP is lying about safety.

2. Honda no longer made a Civic with the station wagon body style, which I prefer over a sedan for its flexible cargo capacity. If they had, I'd have bought one in 2002 and I would not have been in the market for a new car in '04.

3. I was fascinated by the technology, especially the comparison between the HCH and Prius, where the Prius can move without running the engine and the HCH (at least in 2004) could not. (Not sure whether that's still the case regarding the HCH.)

4. Being concerned about the environment, the AT PZEV rating.

5. The fuel economy. (The OP is lying on that front.)

6. The performance, which may be sluggish compared to a Corvette, but is powerful compared to my old '89 Civic.

7. I did not care about the looks. I actually agreed with the OP that it was ugly at the time, but I care about function, not style. Since then it's grown on me and I like the looks of my Prius, though I like the looks of my Xebra even more. That little three-legged clown car puts a smile on my face every time I drive it. If I'm in a bad mood, some group of little kids will wave and shout "Cool car!" and suddenly I forget what I was feeling grumpy about. But I digress. My point was that I don't care what a car looks like, I care what it does, and unless you need to tow a boat, the Prius is the best fossil-fuel-powered vehicle out there.

8. The OP may be happy to see Americans killed and crippled to keep the oil flowing, and obviously does not care that his gasoline dollars fund terrorism, but I do, so I try to burn less of it. During roughly the second half of the 1980s I worked in a homeless shelter, and by my own very informal estimate, around a quarter to a third of homeless men in the U.S. were Vietnam vets. I saw what being in a war can do to people, and I do not want that happening to human beings, just to fill the tank of an 8 mpg automobile. Not everybody will get the EPA numbers, but everybody will burn less gas in a Prius than in any other gas-powered car you can buy new today, though the HCH is very close.

So I bought the Prius because it was cool, clean, and efficient. If I had it to do over again, back in 2004, I'd buy it again. I would not buy a Prius today because the Leaf looks to me like the better choice. And because my Prius is probably good for another decade or two, as seldom as I drive it, and by then I probably won't be able to drive any more.

 

If there is one thing I hate, it's the "False Advertised".

Last time I ran into false advertised? I said, go get me a rained checked....

 

Hey no offense taken. i could think of more descriptive word but mods would not allow it.

 

plus, it holds a ton more stuff than an f150 and keeps it clean and dry!

 

While your facts seem a bit skewd, I'll bite. I got the Prius because my F350 only gets 20 MPG in the city and my Prius gets 58-62 MPG on the same route. Back in 2005, gas hit about $3.60 in my area which made this important.

I can drive on the freeway at 70 MPH and still get around 45 MPG. My wife's Honda Civic only got 30 MPG (27 if we drove 70 MPH) before we traded it in for another Pius.

I also like the fact that at the time 2005 it was one of the few cars with voice GPS, integrated Bluetooth, ABS, side and front air bags, keyless start/entry, and engine kill switch. Also, getting the Federal tax rebate was a nice benefit.

While the Honda Insight was a competitor it was not as versitile. For 70 MPG I could only have two passengers or 500 lbs.

I do not care much about the looks. It gets me from point A to point B. I spend the savings on my other hobbies. Although, the look is starting to grow on me. For looks and comfort I prefer my F350.

 

When I was at FPC Yankton, I had a roommate (we had rooms, not cells; it wasn't until I got to El Reno, OK, that I was in a prison with cells) who was in for real estate fraud, who said that people's minds are not changed by reason or argument; they are changed by feelings. "Big George" pointed out that Pepsi does not issue a white paper on why Pepsi is better than Coke. They hire Michael Jackson to sing about it. (This was before he dangled a baby off the balcony. Or was that someone else?)

The people who believe the Prius is less environmental than a Hummer or a Corvette are never going to be convinced by anything we say.

And when people ask honest questions, most of us give straightforward answers. But this guy was obviously a troll.

 

To continue my response -- for the best safety, you don't want a heavy truck. Midsize and heavy cars are better.

From the IIHS (www.iihs.org/sr/pdfs/sr4204.pdf), here are Driver death rates per million registered vehicles, for model years 2001-2004, during calendar years 2002-2005.

Note that this excludes passenger and non-occupant deaths, factors which also have major impacts on overall safety. The F150 made a major improvement in 2004, after it was very seriously shamed for a terrible fatality rate in a previous IIHS report. Unfortunately that did not ripple over to other truck models. (sorry for the terrible formatting.)

Prius was not called out in this report. I included the most common Toyota cars, plus some Honda and Subaru because that is what my household has driven. Lower scores = safer for the driver.

35 Accord 4 door
40 Legacy sedan
40 F150 2WD (2004 redesign)
50 Legacy wagon
50 F350 2WD
55 Camry
56 F250 2WD
58 F150 4WD (2004 redesign)
63 Accord 2 door
74 Civic 4 door
79 Corolla
82 Civic 2 door
103 F350 4WD
118 F150 4WD (heritage 2001-2004)
119 F150 2WD (heritage 2001-2004)
122 F250 4WD

Here as a table from the same report. Note that as a group, the safest truck category (4501-5000 pounds) rates the same as cars 1000 pounds lighter. All other truck weights are deadlier than all car weights over 3000 pounds.



Note that these figures are based on vehicle-years. Somewhere in my files are decade-old figures for deaths per 100,000,000 miles traveled, showing roughly similar results. I'll have to dig farther to get recent similar figures.

Prius was not listed in this report. Bob Wilson's figures from other sources shown that Prius has half the death rate of average vehicles. On the above list, 'average' is 79, which is the Corolla's score.

 

Part of the reason I bought my Prius in August of 2008 is the 'SMOG EMISSIONS INFO' sticker on the vehicle -

Prius Smog Index - 0.09

The Index of average new vehicle is 0.37

That was impressive. Although the car isn't powerful, it seemed to have adequate acceleration. I don't believe the garbage about some mine in Canada that happens to only make Nickel for Prius batteries. They would be making nickel for lots of things, so can't blame an old problem on Prius. I seek out authoritative information, not any garbage on the internet.

I have some experience with powerful vehicles - motorcycles. I've done 160 MPH indicated on a 2004 R1. I won't tell you where. I've ridden over 75,000 miles on 2 wheels much of them over the SL on backroads. I just happen to have some pics -

View attachment 27244

View attachment 27245

below was my last bike. good for day long rides. 130 HP, 500 lbs. Sold it July '10. Time to do other things.

View attachment 27246

Since you were bragging about racing a Z06, thought I'd brag too.

 

I heard that a lot of gay people drive F-150s, and I didn't want to be perceived as homosexual.

 

I drive a Prius so I can troll for trolls.

 

It's easier to spot in parking lots.

 

Your attachments don't work. Might want to fix that.

ound: Good one!

 

I've heard that too. In fact apparently F150 drivers are the biggest raging homosexuals out there. One time I was in the parking lot at the mall and some guy got out of his F150 and asked me "you wanna do it?" and I was like "WHAT...THE...HEEEL?!?!" And I took off faster in my Prius than I ever have. Yeah, I think I got like 40 mpg on that trip.

 

Originally Posted by EpicDewd
"Of note, occupants of the lightest cars have dramatically higher death rates"

Thats why you want to drive a heavier truck.




Following this it would be best to drive an Abrahams tank. Come on now, most of the time this thing only takes up space. Isn't a 5 person Prius big enuff? Most of the time these big trucks are used by 1 person, how about that for gas/per person...

As far as your other statements I suggest you not only read the biased fairytales you quoted. Think for yourself for a change.

 

I purchased my Prius because of the hatchback versatility, outstanding gas mileage, and reliability history.