Autoweek's attempt to take down the Prius

Of course it's true. Teenagers spend their free time on social networking rather than seeing each other in person.
Due to that, high fuel cost, and retiring baby boomers, car driving is declining sharply in USA.

 

I wonder if the high price of gas impacts driving distance. I believe the cost per gallon doubled since 2007 in California.

 

GasBuddy's charts don't show that much increase. Select for California and 6 years. I'm seeing a 2007 price range of about $2.45 to $3.50/gallon. This year's range is about $3.50 to $4.66.

Are you thinking of pre-Katrina prices? That was seven years ago.

 

I followed your link and San Diego was $2.24 7 years ago and recently hit $4.70 high but settled to $3.78. That is a double from low to high. Income in that period has not gone up. Something has to give, people either drive less or purchase more fuel efficient cars. The Prius is the top selling car in California. Gas prices influence driving habits less miles driven and vehicle selections.

 

Accounting for inflation that $2.24 is about $3.00 in current dollars so difference is $3 to $3.47. And with the slow rise in price, it's like frogs on boiling water, they'll sit and cook if the rise is gradual. And with the $4-$6K price premium for a hybrid, price of fuel is not the driver behind hybrid or EV sales, using less gasoline (and all the effects that has) is the driver.

 

I can say ht my monthly gasoline when I purchased my Bimmer in 2005 was about $150 per month. When I sold It 2 months ago it was above $300 per month. I looked at my quicken report.Grant it my driving distances fluctuate for many reasons and increased lately. Bimmer takes premium and Prius 87 octane. My Prius my gas consumption is about $120 a month now but can be under $100 if i just reduced recreational trips. I feel like I got a raise of $200 per month buying a Prius.

 

Lol 32 mpg. Driving the car in any kind of "normal" way this would be impossible. hell I just recently took a 300 mile trip last weekend on 70mph roads which I was doing about 80 the entire time and was still at 44 mpg after the trip. Finishing off the tank put it back to about 48mpg (without really trying). In the 9 months I've had my car that's the lowest I've ever achieved (best was 62). you'd have to do nothing but JAM on the accelerator and brakes to do this. Lol 32. Gimme a break

Also, anyone that complains about a lack of options (beeps, and onscreen map) that are clearly documented, should not be a journalist expressing their opinions to the public.

 

Maybe their wives sell Toyota's for a living. Piercey Toyota salespeople repeatedly tell me they make only about $100 for a selling a Prius.

 

I'd say the opposite is true.

Between the long commutes due to urban sprawl, and most 20-30 somethings have never experienced a "gas shortage", my gut says car driving has increased if anything.

I will agree people tend to think of cars as utility objects rather than the car lust of decades past, but to that extent people don't think twice about "wasted fuel". Want to go to the mall? Drive there now. Go to ___? Sure!


I think the down-curve in the estimated miles driven purely tantamount to how bad the economy has gotten (nowhere to drive if you don't have work), and how inclined people are to save money with rising gas prices.

That and these are purely estimates. I'm sure these are derived from the US monthly gasoline consumption, and estimated vehicle gas mileage. I'd wager the mileage might be higher than what they're estimating. I see a lot of people driving modern, compact cars.

US consumes 0.134 trillion gallons of gas a year. If the estimate is off by even 1 mpg, that's a lot of miles.

 

I get this rag for free from an internet subscription. I don't read it, just put it in the recycle bin to be made into toilet paper.

 

I love the looks of the car. I like the look of efficiency.

 

Auto Weak is more like it.

 

I have a BMW 335i and a plugin prius.

I love the efficiency of the prius - super cheap to run. Getting back into the BMW though, and you appreciate what a great machine it is. A real drivers car, while the prius lacks in that regard. But I love the mpg!


I'm in the process of adding leather and cushioning to the prius, as the seats are very poor.

 

he's a middle aged guy going through mid-life crisis ie he prefers a BMW, Mercedes

I don't know where he gets this idea that the reason folks buy a prius to proclaim some sort of environmentalist stance.

My reasons for buying the Prius.
1. looks great in an architectural, Bauhaus way.
2. very practical. love the hatchback
3. great gas mileage yes.... but more importantly I don't worry about the unexpected... ie standing in a gas line because of Hurricane Sandy etc.. it's the perfect black swan mobile just in case civilization goes mad max style.
4. ultra - reliable. you couldn't pay me all the money in the world to drive a BMW only to get stranded on the side of the rode because of a broken fuel pump. forget that!
5. I am not an environmentalist. I eat red meat.
6. the Prius is the future... a conventional gas car is the past. and the hybrid tech coming from Mercedes, BMW etc is laughable compared with the Prius.
7. Fact is the Prius is the best performance vehicle on the road period. it's just a different kind of high performance.
8. I get 49 mpg real world... not some made up, over inflated number. I hear that C Max users are reporting mileage in the high 30's and low 40's... so much for the BS 47 mpg claim.
9. the Prius is fun to drive. I love it and it teaches you how to drive in a leisurely, low stress manner. When you're in traffic who cares about going 0-60 in 2 secs? last time I checked the speed limit is 65 in most places.

and btw.. I date a lot of hot chicks and they love the prius

 

One of the vehicles I ride is a Hayabusa (0-60 in 2.3 secs, 190mph max speed) but it has the following limitation: Speed limit.

 

I drive often 200 miles a day for work - and always get at least 50 MPG in the prius. Net result: I save enough on gas that i can basically pay for the car monthly, versus if I was driving a regular car that gets 20 MPG.

They only need to fix a few things: Please make the seats better! They did great seats in the Lexus CT200h, why not a Prius that costs just as much?

 

they do make one...it's the CT200h

 

Last week I test drove a CT200h and the interior was nicer than the Prius, but the ride was way less comfy.
That didn't bother me that much, but my wife didn't like the CT's interior space: way too small if you have kids.

So we ended up buying a fully loaded Prius with only 6K mi on it.

Before the Prius I drove Mercedes' for the last 15 years....all of them diesels....fast diesels with heaps of torque.
I never had any problems with the cars, but here we not only pay for the fuel but also road tax:
That depends on the fuel and the weight and CO2 emission.
The more CO2, the heavier the more you pay and diesels are more expensive than gas cars.

I paid US$ 200 every month, only for road tax.
The Prius is free from road tax because it's a green car.

The diesels didn't drink that much on longer trips but on short trips the engine didn't even get to operating temps.
So on average I did 10 l/100km....on longer trips that went down to 7l/100km, but most of the time I did short trips.
The Prius is doing 5l/100km. I do not know how many MPG's that is...and I'm too lazy to convert.
But feel free! A mile is roughly 1.6 km and a gallon is 3.8 l.
( http://www.pege.org/fuel/convert.htm )

If you think you pay a lot for gas: we pay US$ 8.40 for a gallon!

I bought a Prius because it is way cheaper to run and it is still roomy and comfortable with a lot of nice gadgets.
Yes, the Benz was nicer to drive, but not that nice to pay that much!

BTW: the Prius I bought had a pricetag of US$ 45,278

 

Reasons why many are not repeat BMW owners.

Premium gas is expensive
Lousy Gas Mileage
Expensive to Insure
Expensive to repair
Expensive routine maintenance when free period is over
Dealer Service Advisor Goal is to get you above $1,000 as often as possible
Run Flat tires cost a fortune
City driving adds alignment issues and rim warping.
Sport edition is a hard drive and uncomfortable with the stiff suspension
Good for short drives not long drives
Always see BMW cars broken down on shoulder of freeway
Car is hard to sell once it is 5 years old or older or mileage above 75,000
German engineering quality left a long time ago.
Inside has cheap plastic everywhere
Leather seats wear out quickly

Many better choices with Ford, GM, Honda, Toyota, Lexus, Acura Subaru and others.