Opposition to Prius - Why?

I had heard and read so many snide snotty negative things about the Prius that when my sister got one I thought she was foolish. I was so wrong. I love her car. We have traveled a lot in it very safely and comfortably, it is amazing on gas, lots of special features, handles wonderfully, great sound system. My only complaint is she got the wrong color She should have gotten a red one, but no one is perfect.

 

BOB64 has the right idea.

RENT ONE for a day or two.

I hate to admit that I purchased a 2010 Insight. I drove it 300 miles.
I had to tell my wife that I made the biggest mistake in my life. I was in a real pickle. I decided that I was not going to be unhappy driving that Insight for another moment.

I DID RENT THE PRIUS for a day. I took it overnight and that way I could see how the headlights worked. ie If I could see on the dark street and highway. I also filled the gas tank to the top. I could not get another drop in the tank. (( I did receive it with gas but I did not know for sure that tank was indeed topped off.))

I drove the Prius my normal routes to and from and I was delighted with the ride and comfort and the all the High Tech stuff. I must admit it has much much more than the Insight like room. I was not riding in a sardine can.

You make your decision. RENT one........ You make the decision.
I am sure that you will be on board with the gang here ....

P.S. Just before I returned the Prius to the rental agency, I topped the gas tank again till I could not get another drop in ..... I averaged 52 mpg.

The Insight would give me between 42 and 46mpg. On the highway. . . hang on because it was all over the place. especially when passed by a Semi Truck. I could talk for hours about that debacle.


Good luck,\
Keep us posted.

 

I would love to rent one.. can't find anyone around here (Louisiana) to rent me one!!!

 

Road trip!

I've actually looked into renting one for my wife to drive (she's not allowed in the company car) and they are a bit hard to find down here. The next time we travel I plan to look into renting one to let her get some time in the saddle---since I'll probably be buying one for my personal use in the next few years.

If I were going to plunk down 25-30K for a new car---I would (and have) spend a weekend in a comparable rental to get to know the car better beforehand. A 15-minute test drive just doesn't cut it for me.

One other thing. If you price shop your next car you'll might find that you can save a thousand or two if you buy your car out of state. Eggs may be cheaper in the country---but Priuses are (mostly) cheaper in large volume discount dealerships.
At least that's my experience!

Good Luck!

 

For what it's worth, I agree with your logic to buy the II and customize to your liking. Had I learned about and spent more time in this forum before buying my Prius V Techno, I would have done the same thing. And now I find out that owning a Prius V comes with a 6% mileage cost according to other posts in this group. Turns out that the only real advantage for me owning a V is the Adaptive Cruise Control, which wouldn't have been a big deal had I never used it. Rats! I could have used the money I would have saved on a trip to Maui (not to put any ideas in your head)

Aloha!

 

Some of the opposition to the Prius results from Dick Cheney era Republican-ism that "conservation doesn't work" (a quote from Cheney in 2002, and no, I'm not a democrat), which is related to the desire of Republicans to give outrageous profits to companies like Exxon Mobil or tax breaks to the wealthy.

Not that I have an opinion, of course.

 

LOL, first I thought it was a photoshop, but it made me curious enough to do a search. I found it here: Hummer vs. school bus. You don’t believe! The driver is alive! (5 photos) | FreakyMartin.com

The driver survived. If this was a small car, a driver would be decapitated. It happened to a friend of mine who drove a small Fiat (one of the smallest of them) into a bus. I hate SUVs, but this is the only scenario that they could save a life.

 

I'm a couple of weeks with ours now and I REALLY like it. I think there is a perception that the only reason to buy the Prius is the MPG and I think it's a shame that Toyota hasn't marketed it better. The Car has a lot going for it beyond stellar mpg. It's comfortable, tech-laden, drivew great, and imo looks awesome. It's every bit as good as any of the mainstream midsizers we looked at and a damn sight better in a lot of respects. I'm extremely happy with ours.

I'm only 2 fillups in, see the Fuelly badge in my sig. That's a car not broken in yet, on chunky, heavy snow tires, and in temps below zero. I see regular 100+ miles stints of 45 mpg already but those cold mornings really mess up the per-tank average right now.

 

School buses ought to have the underride guards, a.k.a. Mansfield bars, that are required on semi-trailers.

And the weak U.S. requirement for these guards should be upgraded to match European styles.

 

Yeah that's one of my favorite South Park episodes even though it is poking fun of Prius owners. Who cares, it's pretty hilarious! It's just a social commentary into stereotypes like the all the other episodes

 

#3 is what I get ALL THE TIME..

 

I used to have Subaru, they say a typical gay/lesbian car, then I bought RAV4, again apparently a gay/lesbian magnet, and now I'm driving Prius, apparently a queer car. Every time, I find out after the fact.

Great! ("not that there is anything wrong about that").

So much for those stereotypes.

 

Of course these stereotypes vary depending where you live. My area is the Subaru capital. Subaru cars have been common around here for decades, and as such, they have no stigma whatsoever.

Tom

 

I'm not very good at identifying a "gay car"

If I were to guess, it would be those trying to sodomize my rear bumper.

 

I have to admit...I've never heard anybody associate Prius with homosexuality before I started to frequent these hallowed halls.

Maybe it's because the Gulf Coast probably isn't the Gay Friendliest region in the United States---or maybe I just don't really give a crap what others think about what I drive, and I'm not overly sensitive to "gay comments." I don't hear any bad press about Subarus either---unless you consider the moniker "liberal's car" to be negative.
I drive a Prius nearly every day. Haven't heard the first ugly comment about this car from ANYBODY except the union hacks in my company who are still seething from the fact that Priuses are made in Aichi, Japan.
I've shown my car to all manner of family, friends, church members, strangers at gas stations, etc...and I've answered 10,000 questions on the car.
Not one negative comment.

As a matter of fact, I've encountered much more negative energy about trucks and SUV's on THIS site, than I'll probably ever encounter while driving my Prius.

 

What part of the "gulf south" are you from, ETC?

 

When you ask somebody in the South where they're from....it doesn't mean "Where did you grow up?"...or "Where do you live?"
It means "Where were you born?" In other words..."Are you a friggin $%#@! Yankee?" You see...if you're born in New York (for example) and they stuff you into an SR-71 and fly you straight down to LA (Lower Alabama) and you never EVER leave again...you're not from "the South."

I always tell people that I'm from a little town just north of Louisville, KY.
Since education levels in the US are sub-par, especially in geography, they ponder this and think..."Kentucky really ain't in the south...but he's not a $#@! Yankee.
Of course...the Ohio River is just north of Louisville, and Southern Indiana is just north of that.

I currently live on the Gulf Coast...a little east of you....FWIW.

 

I just got the "you have to buy new batteries every two years and they cost 7,000". I responded toyota warrantys them for 100,000 miles or 150,000 miles depending on what state you live in. He didn't believe me, and went on his way to watch some more fox news.

 

Funny, I was born in the south but don't consider myself a southerner...why? Both of my parents are from Boston and just happened to be stationed in FL when I was born. Since I lived in a yankee house it was never like being in the south anyways.

 

Ah... a rebel perhaps??? Great comment on the "where you from?" point... that is very true....
Although the media does it's best to make most of us Louisianians look purty dum... I still am very proud of my heritage..

Ah yes.. the battery life myth.. I had that one myself many years ago when I was first interested in the Prius...

Agree... You're a Yankee!!!