Jerk At Work Harassing Me Over Prius

You can do what I do.

Ask him if he needs to borrow some gas money.

That shuts them up every time.

 

Basically $12,000 will get you a stripped down Yaris. That is a lot less money than even the most basic Prius.

Lets say, in general, the difference is 10mpg between the two vehicles and you travel 10,000 miles per year. If gas if $4.00 per gallon, and the difference in fuel consumed equals 50 gallons, or $200.00, then there really is no comparison. The Yaris flat out is a better bang for the buck if... If fuel economy is your only concern.

The Prius is a nicer car, a heavier car, a safer car, that pollutes less than the Yaris. It has more cargo room and is simply a much nicer, and in my opinion, better built vehicle.

That said... The Yaris is a better bang for the buck if you are up for driving around in a tin can that offers little in the way of safety.

 

Yup, we're on the page. It is just that the environmental impact WAS being ignored.... as the "it only cost me $100/month more" attests.

 

But we DO pay for things other than the pump price of gas.... (see above) But of course this is all that most people consider.

Only if you then never sell each car later. Do that, and the Prius catches up, and passes the other in a hurry. Might as well take the whole ownership experience into account if we're skewing the numbers in other ways.

 

Just to say that my parents have a Yaris, and they use 10 to 15% more gas than my prius...

 

You know this fellow you drive with is really rude. Somethings we just dont discuss or argue about. Our vehicles are important to us and no one wants to take grief about his or her car in his or her car. The next time he knocks your car I'd say well' "if your that concerned about my poor inadequate car , you dont have to drive with us" Either he will shut up quickly or its time to say Goodbye to him. It must be an uncomfortable ride for you. Good Luck

 

OMG - all these technical #'s and doo-hickie ideas from everyone thinking here.

do it this way - kick his buttocks out of your superior car, tell him to walk or take his car.

LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO BE BOTHERED BY THESE PISS-ANTS.

 

I heard Clark say that too.

And I have a friend who thinks I'm stupid for buying a Prius.
He is all smug because he drives a 30 year old car.
He says that since he owns the car free and clear he can afford to spend all he wants on gas.

My take is that this is dumb.

There are more reasons to buy a Prius than saving money.
And if more people drove them, we would use less gas and the prices
would drop (if supply and demand is the issue).

Just tell him he is right...avoid the confrontation...it is him who is very shortsighted

 

I suppose you could always pull over halfway through the drive and order him out of the car, thus ensuring he walks at least half the way once. Not only would that teach him a lesson about speaking his mind when and where he shouldn't but it would also help with the carbon emissions (at least for that one half trip, anyway).

:cell:

 

A very bad summary of the posts so far:

Guy in your work carpool has a good car and feels he got a good deal over everyone else but feels slightly intimidated by the fact that your Prius is also an excellent car; however, it looks like the assumptions he made when buying his car weren't as good as he first thought and it is eating away at him -- causing him to say rude and wacky stuff when someone seems to validate his not-as-excellent-as-he-first-thought buying choice (a hybrid Civic is still a decent choice BTW).

Like most of us, you bought an excellent car with a vague notion that it seemed the right thing to buy and have been rewarded generously by what some would call random world events (the point could be argued many ways). You didn't have a crystal ball when you bought but everyone, especially the carpool guy, hates the fact that you have the car they probably should have bought when they were thousands of dollars cheaper (or pick your own reason).

If you are like me then you really don't have a good reply to carpool guy's rude comment because I was lucky to buy my Prius when I did and I am more than happy with it. Best reply in this situation is "you are right -- how about them Redskins?" Second best reply is the story about hearing voices (I just love that one). I don't recommend punching him in the throat. Lastly, if you decide to stop carpooling with him then the extra pollution created is from a Prius that doesn't pollute much.

 

My sentiments exactly. In fact, it would have already ended with me as my tolerance of these types of individuals is virtually nil.

 

I would suggest telling your car pool buddy the following:

Tell him he is correct. Then tell him that the two of you should be riding in his Civic instead of your Prius becuase like he said, the Civic is more cost effective in the long run. Then, you get to save even more money becuase you are no longer driving that distance (don't explain this part of it to him though). But you can tell him--this will take even longer for your Prius to "break even" or "recoupe the hybrid Premium" because those calculations are based on actually driving the car and "recouping" the premium from the fuel savings. If he drives his civic, and you can't drive your Prius, then it will take you even longer to recoupe the savings (wink wink).

 

OK, but look at it this way:

Clark Howard's show isn't about finding the best overall car - his show is about helping someone make smart financial decisions over the long term.

The Prius isn't an economy car. Someone who is having trouble dealing with the monthly cost of gas and needs to cut back should not be looking at buying a Prius. If saving money every month is the most important thing it would be better to buy a very cheap car with pretty good gas mileage than to spend a lot more for a Prius with great gas mileage. Over a 4 or 5 year loan term you'd be looking at a couple hundred dollars difference between the monthly payment for a Prius and the monthly payment for a Yaris or a Fit. For that much money you could do better with a car with gas m,ileage not quite as good as the Prius.

But of course, it's not all about saving money. Comfort, safety and features matter as well. But this isn't Clark Howard's schtick, so he'll downplay those things when it comes to helping people make intelligent financial decisions.

 

Agreed, the Prius is not the absolutely cheapest thing you can drive. Its not that far off though. According to Consumer Reports, over 5 years the Prius only costs you $1,250 more than Yaris. Thats only $20 a month! At 8 years the difference is down to $750, or $7.81 per month. Now if you are happy to drive a 10 y/o Civic MT then I'm sure there is no contest.

Rob

 

i drove carpool 100% of the time with a selfish chick for a while. never once offered a dime, because i was going there anyway. apparently had no intention to. that ended as soon as that realization hit me- extra gas burned or not.

 

"You don't ride with a Jerk."

When you're ready for this to change, it will.

There've been a number of good suggestions using different tactics. There's even been a couple of very creative ones (as much as my warped sense of humor loves the "voices" one, this might not be such a good thing to tell someone you work with...). However, none of them are really ever going to be the magic bullet that you want. There's no one argument that will convince this guy.

In fact I'd hazard that regardless of what we all say, the most convincing things will probably come from looking at the reasons you bought the car in the first place.

 

Thanks for the big belly laugh at 5.30AM. My family now know I'm mad and so are they now. It's Ok they will get back to sleep while I head to work.
Mute button, :rofl:

 

I'd work at hypermiling, and show him a running average well over 50 mpg. If that doesn't shut him up, nothing will, and it's not worth trying to explain things to him anyway.

I was talking to someone today about my Prius. The gal couldn't quite swing a Prius, although she wanted one. She settled for a Ford Focus. Her mileage is around 35 mpg. Mine at the moment is around 54 mpg. A third person said, "What car gets 54 miles per gallon?" She honestly didn't think that was possible, and apparently had never heard of a Prius.

Harry

 

Tell him you looked at the Yaris but wanted something a little more upscale, and the Civics are not bad, but you wanted something that had a little more modern safety standard. Then tell him that since you're going to be driving it, you just didn't feel good about saving a few bucks by getting a less safe car, 'cause sometimes a bargain is not a bargain.