Prius Myths and their Rebuttals

Hello,The Castelazo-Garrett article is replete with contradictions and non-sequiturs. in their first paragraph, they state, "Whether light-rail transit is a boon or a boondoggle depends on whether the societal benefits of light rail outweigh its costs" – as if it is the intent of the paper to methodically address this issue, examine both costs and benefits, and provide evidence one way or the other. Unfortunately, they do nothing of the sort - the remainder of their paper simply ignores this pivotal question, turning instead to other assertions and themes. Not one shred of tangible information on "societal benefits" (on the basis of which the key question is purportedly to be decided) is presented throughout the article. This issue is simply "disappeared".

 

It sure would be nice if the OP would condense ALL the myths into the OP. I would rather not have to read 19 pages to find the good stuff :/

 

I bought mine because every time I filled up my F150 it cost $75+ or more. I always felt like I was handing the western world hating arabs of the middle east free money to turn around and cause grief for us. This car makes me feel like I'm not doing that as much. That to me is a fairly conservative viewpoint and I'm definitely fairly conservative. Now I also saw a prius bashing video saying the metals used in the construction of batteries comes mostly from China. Not sure how to address that one! Anyhow no offense meant to anyone as always but thats how I feel. And as another poster said a car is a car. It doesn't matter who's driving it.

 

HELP, Recently a friend of mine was thinking about buying a highlander hybrid.Here is her quote, " I was talking to my brother, and he mentioned to me that the extreme manufacturing measures and non-biodegradable batteries offset any eco benefits. Looked it up through ecofund and it looks to be true. Ethical quandary. Save $$$ on gas and get a hybrid or save $$ on car and get traditional? Ummmmm."
Many of the links through out this thread are no longer available. Several of the Toyota links return me to the main green page and the PC links lead to the home page. Now wanting to revive this thread but... feel free to PM or E-mail me any docs to deflect this nonsense. I'm going to send her a link for this thread as well. Ryan

 

People will believe whatever truths that suits them the best. Obviously your friends brother either doesn't like hybrids or needs to find justification for what he drives, so he believes what he wants to without thinking too much about it. There is nothing you will say that will likely change his mind. My only rebuttal is in the form of a question: "Just how stupid are you? No, really...."

My co-worker asked me a question about Prius owners and if it says something about the owner. I never thought of it that way. I didn't buy mine because I thought it would say something about me. Unless of course you're talking about that little grin on my face every time I fill up knowing that everyone else is paying at least 2x - 3x to fill their vehicle up!

 

Rubbish. This line of rubbish has been thoroughly refuted on this site and many others. I won't bother with the details, as you can easily find them with a search.

Tom

 

I totally agree with you Tom about this being a load of rubbish. I've searched and am trying to disprove the myths but it's hard when aloth of the links are coming up as duds.

 

Sorry, I have nothing to add but wanted to comment anyway.

First I would like to thank all the informative members for helping me, I also heard all the false acquisitions. I am soon to be a Prius owner, and have done the research to convince me that owning one of these magical vehicles would save me hundreds of dollars a year, but hearing all the bad statements about batteries and high priced maintenance, I was beginning to lose hope in what could be my new car.

From my understanding, I seem to think that people are just afraid of new technology, and so certain groups get behind and drive that fear into the hearts of people who don't know any better, just to keep the word hybrid out of our vocabulary. I see any hybrid car like all products, some will have problems while the rest work fine. I've heard talk about how horrible the Prius handles icy roads, but every car I've driven has the same problem. I've heard the seats are too uncomfortable, but I'm not planning on living in my car, and that's what pit stops are for when you travel. I've heard the tires are no good, and still I kept thinking of all the money I'd save on gas...which could ultimately pay for some nice new tires. And as for the liberal statement, even if you bought the Prius for global warming, why is that looked at as a bad thing? So wanting to help the environment automatically makes you a treehugger (a name which is viewed as negative)? I just don't get certain people's mindset.

Thanks again, I had read so many websites on the truth behind this car and was becoming frustrated, but finding this site has given me hope.

 

Hi Spiritgod,

This behavior against the Prius is not unprecedented in human history. One of the most famous fear of the new incidents was that of the the Luddites.

Here is a link:

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRluddites.htm

In the end, the lower costs of goods permitted by looms and steam engines resulted in Britain being the cloth capital of the world in the middle 19th century. Which resulted in higher employment - at least until the American Civil War, when the source of cotton was blockaded.

 

Then along came Japan, India, Turkey, china, ...

 

not?

 

what's the meaning of Rebuttal ?

 

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebuttal]Rebuttal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

 

Wanna hear something thats not a myth?

Now, I own 3 cars/trucks.

Here they are

1975 Mercury Montego MX (351 2bbl V8)
1986 Ford Crown Victoria (302 V8)
1996 Dodge Dakota Pickup (318 V8 2wd)

Now, you guys continually say both on here, and the prius owners ive met, that your saving all of this money, and whatever. Show me one way that your 30k Prius, saves you money versus my $750 Truck?? Sure I get 13 mpg's, but guess what? I still come out way ahead. My Crown Victoria gets even better milage, 15 city, 23 hwy. Paid 600 for it, and probably have about 1000 into it (For modifications I chose to do).

Also dont get me started on the "enviormental" aspect, look here, y'all got rid of a running drving car (Most, maybe some C4C'd, or didnt have a car) to place ANOTHER vechicle on the road! Also I cant stand the "im better then you because I care about the enviorment" I could care less how much my car pollutes, its Illinois, no emmisions for me! Now you guys have fun recharging your batteries, Im gonna go fill 'er up with some 94 Octane!

George

 

don't feed the troll.......

 

Where do I start?

You quote the Prius as costing 30k. It didn't for me. I bought mine used. Mine less than 9k. Even if I had bought it new, the dealership last offered me a 2010 Prius II for $20,000 (exactly).

Your new Crown Victoria would have been 30k, and your Dodge would have been 25k.

So, by those standards, you'd be paying more (if we are quoting new car prices).

Secondly, I drive 30k/year. I get about 43mpg combined. Your Crown Victoria is rated at 13 combined mpg (FuelEconomy.gov) with an annual fuel cost.

Assuming I drove the Crown Victoria for 30k per year, it would be $8236 (according to FuelEconomy.Gov).

The Prius would cost $2340 to drive the same amount of miles.

After 5 years, I'd save $29480. The cost of a fully loaded with navigation and unnecessary add ons (Prius)

Now, I don't want to knock on your Crown Victoria and it might not be as expensive for you because you probably don't drive that much.

Just my 2 cents..

However,

 

First I'd like to establish I'm not an donkey, and dont want to come off as such, but do feel free to come back at me as hard as you wish, I have thick skin.

Now,

Coming from personal experience, I can, and do get up to 24 mpg hwy, on my 86 believe me or not.

What I mean by the new car comment however is, people replaced a "gas guzzler", with a Prius. Why?

You would have to drive a real lot (Read taxi/delivery) to make up for the hit you take on buying a new vehicle.

If were talking used, maybe.

But I still think that I would take a vehicle with a track record (Pretty much any full size Body On Frame American RWD car) over a Prius. Don't forget, I can swap an engine, and trans in a day in the backyard. What in the hell do y'all have going on under the hood, probably something more then the average mechanic can fix, I believe. Not that I get the impression most (not all!) prius owners are wrenches anyways.

 

Too late.

 

I have a lot respect for anyone that shuns Smilies but will simultaneously be willing to use "y'all" in written language.

I can't speak for y'all, but I don't think I'm better than you because I care about the enviroment. I think I'm better than you because YOU obviously don't care about the enviroment.

Go ahead fill er up...for as long as you can. But how many more weeks before the price of gas leaves most of your clunkers sitting idle?

Deep in your heart, you want a pair of Birkenstocks and a car that is nearly silent at low speeds....admit it....

 

I write how I talk. It happens.

I've got a lot of eggs in the gas will come down to about 1.50 a gallon basket.

I dont think that my cars are doing anything that bad for the enviroment. They're well tuned and run clean. No burning oil, no running rich. I dont know how it is where you're from, but Here in Illinois, at least for my cars, im emissions exempt.

Now why did you prefer a Prius over, say... a Ford Focus, or Chevy Cobalt? Or anything comparable to those cars.

What about the new Ford Fiesta?
That surely is cheaper to purchase and maintain, is it not?

I dont get the aversion to Domestic automobiles


EDIT:

They are NOT CLUNKERS for christs sake. It is a nice looking car.