OP - how old are you? If you are still young you will grow a thicker skin. Give them crap back - if they drive big trucks or sports cars ask them what they are compensating for?
The posts here reminded me of that Far Side with the dinosaurs laughing at the little furry mammal walking by, and one in back is noticing the first snowflakes beginning to fall... As time goes on, I firmly believe these technologies are going to be in more and more cars, even the big SUVs. One day, it won't even be possible to buy a regular car. It may be a ways off, but it will come. Toyota's working on auto-swerve for pedestrians. Someone's beta testing a robotic car in Vegas. And so on. It'll all come. Then those same people laughing now will be amazed they ever drove the gas-guzzling antiques they drive today and look askance at anyone still driving one. It all comes around. P.S. I look at the Prius hashtag on twitter sometimes. What some people on twitter say isn't worth repeating. Goodness me.
Well, I don't know what kind of friends some of you guys have and I don't have a Prius yet. I don't remember ever having had to deal with peer pressure growing up in NYC. My friends know the limit of any friendship and proper etiquette. No one ever walked up to me and offered unwanted opinions even jokingly about something I owned or they would remember the response.
You could always use my patented retort from the 1980's, uttered to a rude person who had made some snide comment to me: "That might hurt.... if I gave a F#(% about anything you thought." Of course, that is just a sound bite. Then you would have to continue to work with them. I would therefore just tell them to come back and talk to me about it when they got a ... clue.
You should just ignore the ignoramuses. They think that their big, powerful vehicles is a substitute for proper genitalia. I just tell 'em that when they can pay for my gas, insurance, and car payments, then, and only then, can they tell me how/what to drive. Meanwhile, I am spending less than 1/3 of what they are for fuel, and brakes, which keeps me laughing, all the way to the bank!
My neighbor with X5 asked me my ownership experience with my Prius because he was looking into getting a few Prii for his company. We had a great conversation.
Bottom line is every car made from now on is going to have something from the Prius in it, a Prius component. I like to see their Hybrid information display, like the one in the Volt, everyone is using blue; Blue efficiency, Bluedrive, calculating horsepower ICE+electric motor, model designation where a 3.5 engine + hybrid make a 450h etc...
Or, you can always use the classic: "Pardon me, but you've obviously mistaken me for someone who gives a sh*t."
Move to Austin. It seems every other car on the road is a Prius. No one ever talks smack about them around here.
op needs to grow a set of balls. man up, educate yourself on the benefits of your vehicle and counter their claims. You should be ashamed of yourself, not your prius.
Why not just ask "Why do you think that? It gives them the opportunity to learn something if they are open to it. If they aren't, it also gives them the opportunity to look and feel stupid if they are determined to do so.
Clearly they're the type of the people that only show off upfront (see, I can stereotype too!). We'll see who's laughing once that 5-Series is out of warranty. I have plenty of co-workers that drive trucks but they're the nicest people you've seen and of course they've mentioned nothing about the Prius. It's all about the attitude (i.e. just because someone drives a truck, doesn't mean they're compensating but I understand it's a stereotype). I would say enjoy the car and spend the savings on something nice for yourself or your family. Remember, the wealthiest are usually humble. The rich ones are not.
Sounds like those guys at work have their big trucks and big motors to make up for their itty bitty tiny other thing Tell 'em to take a hike. And that chick, just ignore her, she's an idiot. A Prius is a smart purchase and you are an intelligent person for owning one. Mike :tea:
Those are the two chicks you take out for lunch as long as the wife doesn't mind Make sure the teini weini guys see you heading out the door with both of them Mike
You should never ever feel ashamed for driving a Prius. Remember: Millions of man hours and years of technology made the Prius what it is today. The fuel you are saving is contibuting the other guy to fuel up his or hers SUV. Stay Proud My Friend..... alfon
In my 40+ years of car ownership, I have driven very few vehicles that someone didn't make fun of.. VW Beetles (the original), Dodge Colt hatchback, Miata, and now the Prius to name a few. Years ago, just being "foreign" was enough to incite ridicule.(at least in rural Minnesota). All of the above named vehicles were (or are) very satisfying to me, because they fullfilled MY criteria. Screw the rest of the world if they don't approve of my well considered choice of transportation. Interestingly, the vehicles which I have owned that have been the least satisfying have all been "mainstream" vehicles (early Dodge Caravan, Dodge Dynasty, and a 1980 Pontiac Phoenix that belonged to my wife when we got married). The public didn't make fun of these, but they were all crap. As others have said, trust your own (well informed) instincts, and try not to laugh out loud when the guy in the Suburban in front of you at the gas station parts with $110.00 for a fillup.
It's all been said in one form or another by now. But in short? I think you need to change the title of your thread from: "Sometimes I Feel Ashamed of My Prius" To "Sometimes I Feel Ashamed of My Friends and Co-Workers". If you really believe as your first sentences suggest, that it's no "fault" of the car...then your feelings of "shame" are being grossly misplaced.
What some people on twitter say is a waste of 140 perfectly good characters. But on the flip side, twitter is actually the Prius of communication isn't it?