Hi All, Jean and I just got back from an 800 Km bicycle ride down the coast of Mexico. Loads of fun and we even kept an online journal. We spent about 3 weeks total in Mexico, and about a week in the larger towns of Puerta Vallarta and Zihuatinejo. I watched carefully to see which years of Prius I might see on the road. Turns out, they were very conspicuous in their absence. I saw a lot of cars alright, but NOT ONE Prius! Is there some kind of trade restriction or political situation that prevents Prius from coming into Mexico? I know the streets of many towns are very, very rough and crude; is that the reason there are no Prius in Mexico? It would seem like a great car for Mexico to embrace, to help clean the air and reduce gasoline consumption. ...Any ideas?
It may not make economic sense for them. I know it's weird to not see one. (I said Nazi hehehe). I spent a month in Taiwan during one humid summer and I, too, did not spot one Prius. When I got home I tried to research why. Apparently they're very expensive at 1.2 million NT ($40000), there's only 1 package available, and diesel cars are actually cheaper to fuel than petrol. When I was in Japan, however, it was quite the opposite. Priuses everywhere. Ahhh...Japan.... <3
I believe the Prius in Japan's number 1 selling car - of all kinds and shapes BTW The Prius goes for about $40K here as well but a Corolla goes for 32-33K so I believe it is well worth the difference - that I can make up on gas in 8 years of about 10K Miles a year
Just got back from Rome and Florence, Italy and both cities had plenty of Prius taxi cabs but few (if any) private Priuses did I see.
I can see where Priuses would not make sense for Mexico, since they're more expensive and fragile, when compared to other econo-boxes. In other countries, they're popular as Taxi cabs since you can obviously recoup your initial investment more rapidly. Some folks just don't drive enough to make the math work out for them---
Based on what I've been reading (in our trusted unbiased media… smile) I think you'd see more Prius down there if they were all fitted with bullet proof armor. Frankly I should feel ashamed to even have to say that. But facts are facts. It’s really a very sad situation for the good people of Mexico and as well as good Americans alike. Imagine peace ….with more Prius in Mexico.
I haven't seen much of Mexico(only been to Cozumel) so I'll only speculate and assume...In other words I have no clue why there would be less Prius's.......could it be the complexities of the vehicle that makes people in Mexico stay with conventional ICE powered vehicles? I'm sure there must be competent dealerships to work on the Prius down there but would that be primarily in the larger cities? Craig
Easy to do with phone books as myth-busters showed in one of the episodes. Works great for small arms fire.
It's a fairly expensive vehicle for Mexico. I'm glad you had a good trip. I'd as soon take a bicycling trip through Mogadishu as Mexico these days.
