My Prius Rant

The undercoating I did was just the wheel wells. You can buy spray-on undercoating at most automotive stores. I got 4 cans of Professional Grade Duplicolor undercoating and did it that way. I removed each tire, cleaned the wheel well and then unloaded a can per well being careful not to get any on the finish. I laid old newspapers down so as to not get any overspray on the driveway.

 

Gets real windy here in the gorge but I find the 15" Yokohama S33(?) OEM tires do fine. They've done well in rain, wind, 70 mph daily commute. Seats are a bit uncomfortable but ride is typical small car and stable.

 

Not this "Prius III" garbage/nonsense again. I've asked you to stop at Prius III confusion | PriusChat and in other threads.

If you had proof that Toyota themselves refers to 2011+ 3rd generation Priuses as "Prius III"... The only "Prius III" is the 2010 Prius (model) III. But there are also the 2010 Prius II, IV and V.

 

Every vehicle is a compromise and every vehicle design organization has a budget, not just in terms of dollars but also in terms of weight, space, features, etc. The Prius provides the best mileage of any gasoline driven vehicle available in the US, it has excellent space utilization, and I would say that it's very reliable. But it does not and can not excel at everything. Unfortunately, it's very difficult for a potential customer to determine all of a vehicle's trade-offs prior to purchase. But it helps to realize that trade-offs have to exist.

 

I like my ride, the plastic in my opinion is the best I've seen with its own unique design. All small to midsize car's use cheap plastic now, how else are they going to get better mileage? You've bought the car for one purpose and that's to save money at the pumps. So enjoy it for what it is, the best fuel mileage rattle trap you can buy! This is the first time in my life that I can remember smiling or smirking when I drive past any gas station.

 

Is there expensive plastic? Are there any cars that don't have plastic dashboards and interior and exterior components? I don't notice much difference in the interior from my Escape hybrid to the Prius.

I bought it to use less gasoline and to pollute less. You would not buy a hybrid to save money since the premium you pay for the hybrid pretty much makes it a wash.

 

Yep. As one magazine put it (not these exact words, but something to this effect): Any car company can come up with a great car for $100K or $200K, but there are targets such as budget, price target, FE, size, etc. so they have to compromise.

Virtually every car, including expensive ones have to have some plastic, but there's a HUGE difference in quality of the plastics and other interior bits between say a current gen Nissan Versa (blech), Chevy Sonic and say a Lexus LS, BMW 7-series or Mercedes S-Class. Be sure to put your hands on the plastic surfaces, including the spot above the instrument cluster/behind the steering wheel.

Even between the lowest end cars I listed there and say the '12 Altima (haven't seen the '13 in person yet), there's a huge difference.

 

I leave it to the plastic connoisseurs to figure that out. I think it is more imagined than real..."But this is a $100K car, feel the plastic differences".

 

It isn't imagined. Seriously.

Best place to see for yourself is to go to an auto show and sit inside and feel cheapo cars vs. luxury cars or some of the ones I mentioned. No need to bother people at dealers, go to multiple dealers or face sales pressure.

Make sure you also feel the interior fabrics or leather and operate the controls, esp. HVAC.

 

Leather isn't plastic which shows how you are being influenced by other factors.

I'm sure people easily project the expensive car having better plastic parts confusing the plusher cushions for better plastic. I'm sure you'll find the chemical composition of Lexus plastic is the same as Corolla plastic.

 

It's not, but seriously, put your hands on the interior plastics. You want to see cheap plastics vs. not cheap w/o a huge price delta, check out an 02 Nissan Altima (sea of cheap plastic) vs. an 02 Nissan Maxima. I considered the Altima (02 was a big redesign) when I finally got an 02 Maxima. Also look at current gen Jettas vs. previous gen. The current gen IS a step backwards.

My former 04 350Z had a reasonably stylish interior but it also had a lot of cheap plastics as well.

A lot of cheap interiors have a huge amount of or virtually all hard plastics instead of soft touch surfaces.

Also look at interior build quality.

 

Please, please, please . . . don't use "hybrid" and "premium" together when talking about the Prius. Until there is a Prius offered with all of the same amenities, but it is offered with only a gasoline engine, there is no way to know what "premium" would be paid, if any, for a hybrid Prius.

Some people pay a "premium" for leather interior or a V-8 or sound systems. When I hear about a "hybrid premium" it always seems to be a derogatory or denegrating line suggesting the economics just don't make sense and the foolish buyer would be better off getting a car with only a gasoline engine. I don't hear the same about the foolish buyer spending money "needlessly" or "recklessly" on leather, V-8, sound, etc.

 

Prius with power seats is plush enough. But the premium was a financial term noting the extra cost for hybrid vs. a similar standard vehicle like a Corolla. Both have similar rides of smaller cars so the complaint that a Prius is any less a ride and interior than a similar small car is a complaint with no basis in fact.

If you want a hybrid with better ride, then upsize to a Camry or Lexus or Fusion.

 

I understand a fully-loaded Corolla will cost less than an entry-level Prius, but I fail to see the basis for comparison. The Prius has more interior room, more cargo space, offers more options AND gets rather significantly better gas mileage. What is the premium? You can't figure a "premium" comparing apples to oranges.

 

Money spent on the Prius that renders any savings on fuel a distant and insecure prospect such that no one buys a Prius for the savings on fuel, the fact you disputed above.

 

This seems a bit different approach than comparing the Prius to a Corolla, and given I've already stated my objection on that front, I'll have to agree your new statement certainly describes a logical approach for deciding whether a car is enough of a "fuel saver" to spend money on. Of course, if this were the case, then the only "hybrid premium" would be the amount spent beyond the "fuel saver" approach. Whether this means anything I can't say.

Don't know what exactly fact I've disputed. Still, it appears I've hijacked this thread due to my objection to the use of the "hybrid premium" phrase. I'm sorry to have carried it on this far in a thread started by someone wanting to vent a bit about other issues. I'll wait to rant more on this issue when it is actually the object of a thread.

 

Interesting how the exact same plastic "feels different" depending on if one spends $23K for vs. $100K.

 

I just replaced a car with 300,000 miles that was getting 25mpg that was effectively inoperable due to mechanical failures. I plan to keep the Prius for 200,000 miles, and am averaging 21,000 to 22,000 miles per year in it.

The prius will be cheaper to own for the next 200,000 miles than the car I just got rid of, even if you ignore the added cost of maintenance that a 300,000+ car would have. Again, this is comparing a $21,000 Prius to a car that I already own outright - no payments, just gas, insurance and regular maintenance.

 

I'm getting close to done arguing with you. I think you've never actually taken a careful look and feel at interior quality of cars, including both the plastics and not including them. Or, you only believe what you want to believe or just are writing to antagonize others.

There doesn't need to be anywhere near that close a price delta for a difference in interior and plastic quality (example being the 02 Altima vs. the 02 Maxima vs. 03 or 04 350Z).

If you really want a contrast, seriously feel the plastics, notice the replacement of some plastic for leather and fake or real wood in more expensive cars. Notice the abundant hard plastics all over the top of the dash on cheap cars vs. soft touch plastics on more expensive ones. Notice the difference in textures. Operate the controls. Open and close various interior doors and covers. You'll notice that on more expensive cars, their movement is soft and dampened vs. how they just snap and spring open on cheap ones.

For the biggest contrast, pick some of the cheapest cars out there (e.g. Nissan Versa) vs. some of the more expensive ones (e.g. Mercedes S-class, Lexus LS and BMW 7-series). But, one doesn't need to go that far. A BMW 3-series or Lexus ES should be good enough.

 

Look and feel have nothing to do with the fact that the plastic used in both is the same material. Overstuffed leather seats, better design, fancier switches.

Someone said Prius had "cheap plastic" but the plastic is the same found on a Lexus, it is just made to look "cheap" by design.