Why did you buy a Prius ??

Several reasons for me:

• Used the excuse my Dodge Neon was getting crappy mileage (30 mpg) and costing me money for maintenance. :lie:
• I commute 35 miles each way often in heavy traffic
• I wanted a new car that got great mileage :car:
• I managed to hold onto the reality that the Dodge Challenger SRT8 was not a good commuter car choice :hurt:
• My employer encourages us to make greener choices to save power, so now I can put it on my yearly review

 

I bought it to put on a bumper sticker on it that says my other car is a Viper.

The Viper has a bumper sticker that says my other car is a Prius.

So, when I drive either one I can piss someone off.

 

A little over a year ago, my ten year old Focus wagon with 205,000 miles on it was t-boned and I needed to buy a new car.

I wanted to buy a car that would still have value in ten years and had close to the carrying capacity of the Focus wagon. I wanted to buy an American car, but couldn't find one that I liked as well as the Prius. I was pleasantly surprised with how big it was and I didn't find it underpowered. Finally, I could buy it with zero-percent financing.

A year later with the car having lost little value and gas much more expensive I have no regrets.

 

I said "indifferent", which means that the Prius is not relevant to the "status symbol" that most people often associate with expensive brand-named cars.

Millionaires or even billionaires can still drive a Prius, and it would still look fine. You don't often see that with other cars that cost less than 30k.

 

Got tired of reading Consumers Reports owner satisfaction rating was like 95% tops among all cars, and green too. Then waited (for years) for Camry Hybrid and somehow was not impressed, and made correct decision to go instead for Pruis in 2006.

 

I would say neither

At my commute, it would take quite a while to make up the differences, although I did go from spending $250 a month on gas to about $60.

I was looking for a new car with more technology in it. I was looking for Bluetooth, USB connect (or Bluetooth streaming), and Nav. Any fuel savings from the car change is just purely a bonus. I had a Stage 2 WRX with sports car suspension so my ride was fairly stiff with a heavy duty clutch, the car was a beast to drive. It was great when I was really getting on it, everything just makes sense but now that I'm in the work force, my commute consists of going through 4 school zones, it becomes a chore to drive, especially after 8-10 hours in a hot kitchen standing on my feet. I just don't want to bother. So I opted for something a bit more carefree.

My original choice was a Juke, something that had all the features I wanted, plus had great handling characteristics and had better fuel economy (bonus!) but I came across one of the last 2010 Prius still sitting on the lot with $5k discount. So it was the same price as a Juke but more tech, more space, more comfort and a lot more fuel savings. It's no race car but it still manages to corner pretty flat. Good enough for me

 

I'm just not a single issue kind of a guy. My observation is that making decisions based on only one or two issues when many issues are relevant results in lot of bad decisions.

I had:8 Mandatory criteria (deal breakers), 14 Major criteria, 18 Significant criteria and 7 Minor criteria.

Apart from those, I also considered things such as how long I thought that I would be happy to keep driving it, and how it would insulate our lifestyle and bank account if fuel gets really expensive.

Neither of the specific reasons you listed were anywhere on the list though there were related issues such as low fuel use, low emissions and low overall cost to drive and to own.

 

I might not have purchased a Prius, if it hadn't been for the attractive purchasing opportunities last September, thanks to all of Toyota's bad publicity. An approximately $ 1,500 discount off of list, plus 0.9% financing made it a "no brainer". Recent prices on used Prii like mine (2010 level II) with 35-40K miles are selling for more than I paid new.

It was one of the very few times when I felt like I timed a purchase perfectly.

 

(I have a 2nd gen.)
For me, I didn't buy it to really be green or to "save money". At the time (late 05), I ran some hypothetical calculations and determined that I wouldn't save enough money on gas to makeup for the huge depreciation hit of selling my 02 Maxima. From a previous post of mine:

I also liked the gadgets and technology and figured that I may as well take advantage of the $3150 tax credit at the time. I didn't think the price of the car would fall to make up for the tax credit phaseout (it did, eventually). The CA HOV sticker was a plus (I lived in CA at the time), but I didn't plan on using it much.

Before I had a Prius, I didn't know much about emissions, emissions ratings, knew nothing about the EPA tests, our dependence on foreign oil, size of our oil reserves vs. other countries w/large reserves, etc. I am glad I bought it as it really caused me to open my eyes and educate myself on these things.

 

By percentage, looks like most buy Prius for MPGs; myself included. As I read replies, I'm seeing lots of other buyer rational where high MPGs may be a secondary benefit:
green
resale
it's trendy
low operating costs
technology
low emissions (green)
low interest rate and/or price
rebound from other manufacturers
access rights (HOV), etc.
my spouse made me (I made up that one!)

I'm sure there's lots more, but the point is that buyers of any product (especially vehicles) have a lot of reasons motivating their decisions. Well, to prove my point, just watch a few car commercials...zoom, zoom

 

Not voting because there is no way to vote both and neither.
I did the maths and a used Prius was cheaper and better than a new Corolla considering fuel costs.
it is a Toyota, see below.
It is comparable in size to the 1990 Camry I loved the size of.
I was driving my own car 370km a week across Adelaide (now I drive a company car 150km a week on country roads)
It has a small steering wheel
Love the technology
I like the way it drives
Room to sleep in the back
Oh, and it's better for the planet than an equivalent conventional car

 

I bought mine because I was looking for a new car to replace my Corolla, and I wanted similar or better gas mileage. I also wanted something a little bigger inside than a Corolla, and more cargo space. After driving a Corolla and a Prius, it was the Prius hands down. I also drove a Camry, but it was too big. For the same money or less I got a great Prius with a lot better fuel economy than a Camry.

I've been a Toyota customer for 10 years. I've always had great service. Toyota builds a far better car, IMO.

Besides... I'm a loyal customer.

I've always been curious about the Prius, but didn't think it was for me... until I drove one.

Some of the perks are:

better fuel economy
lower maintenance costs
lower emissions
TONS more room than a Corolla, yet still a small car
great technology
comfortable seats!!

I'm also realizing how easy it is to keep clean on both the outside and the inside. The outside shape makes it a breeze to wipe down and keep clean at all times. I can do it in about 5-10 minutes with a wet and dry terry cloth.

It's also a lot of fun to drive

 

It must have been the last thing on your mind when you wrote the poll question as well, as you never asked anyone if they bought it to BE green, only if we bought it to APPEAR green.

 

Purchased it for fuel economy.. When my wife's lease ends on her is250 I will be getting another hybrid.. I love it.. Everytime I go to the gas station I have a smile on my face.. I already put 2000 miles on my prius in less then 3 weeks.. because I don't care about gas prices anymore!!

 

I have a different view of the question. As a new Prius V owner, coming from an Audi A6 4.2, I have made a big adjustment. Main reason being that I feel we are in a race to deplete the PLANET of all petroleum products. Not foreign oil, not domestic oil, but the PLANET'S oil. We will run out ~~ 2050 or sooner. It is limited. But we act as if it is limitless. I miss my Audi and the luxury it afforded, but I love driving the Prius. How sick is that?

So by being part of the change and supressing my boy racer tendencies, I hope I am making a difference for my grand kids, small as it may be.
If each of us Prius owners saves about 600 gallons a year, and there are more than a million of us, together we are saving about 600,000,000 gallons per year.

The technology is pretty cool too.

 

Ahem, I think I was getting around mid-40's, maybe 46, in the Camry Hybrid. At least 43 on a regular basis. I drove to MA from MD and got 46 or more, I remember. They were rated higher the first year.

diligaf = "Do I look like I give a ...?" then I forget the rest. AFTER the bumper sticker was a hit in the late 70's, there was a bar somewhere in MD or at the beach called Diligaf's. Actually, I just did a search and there are quite a few Diligaf's Pubs etc on the interwebs. You can still get the sticker and T-shirts. Wow, that stuck around for awhile.

 

MPG is probably on top of my list. The fact I save a lot of money for gas makes me sleep better at night. I guess another few reasons would be 1) Keeping it in the Toyota family. 2) I am MORE likely to visit my bf. 3) Road trips! It was terrible going to Vegas last year with my bf's 15MPG truck ;___;

Actually, I like number 2 the best. I like my car so I can save money on gas AND visit him.

And the value of my Prius is looking FABULOUS!!!