Inferiority Complex - CMAX vs. Prius v

Had to laugh after watching that ad. I'm one of guys who actually test drove the C-Max before buying the Prius v. That manly shifter is housed in a console that seriously limits your right leg room. Ford had to carve out a section of the lower console to make room for your foot. I was uncomfortable with the poorly designed console after a 15 minute test drive.

My first car was a Dodge with the push button auto shifter. No one questioned you virility because those buttons were only 3/4 of an inch long. It was cool and high tech in those days.

I guess those manly guys will pick up the corner of their C-Max and carry it to a tire shop when their Fix-a-flat can doesn't work on a blowout. They are probably the kind of guys who wouldn't know how to change a flat anyway.

 

I suppose that if the shifter in the car is somehow making up for a small shifter on the guy it has a place. Personally, I want the shifter in the car to be as small and out of the way as possible so that I can enjoy superior ergonomics.

For great spoofs, check out some of the youTube videos that poke fun at Apple.

 

Thanks for sharing F8L! LOL!!! Great commercial

 

My prius c shifter is middle of the pack, and I'm ok with that.

 

I saw four of the “challenges”; not sure if there’s more. They are an insult to intelligence; which means they can be effective for the average consumer. Ford’s marketing is very ballsy and all kinds of reckless. They have opened themselves up to be ridiculed by Toyota. These videos represent a huge opportunity for Toyota to take advantage of. If they are smart they will create quirky web videos in the same vain to expose the blatant omissions of these Ford videos. They can also point to the Consumer Reports Ford MPG experience for good measure.

Were I not so busy, I would write a proposal to Toyota to produce their “answer web videos” myself. So there is an idea for you guys, any PRIUSChatter with video experience should write Toyota to see if they can get a gig out of this.

 

Toyota will not ridicule Ford, no matter how much it is called for. It would be portrayed as anti-american. Jingoism is never too far below the surface in the US of A.

Now, if citizens want to hang Ford out to dry a little, I'm sure Toyota will applaud. In private.

 

I'm trying to keep this ... delicate ... but lady parts are smaller and gentleman parts are larger. I would rather be touching lady parts.

Bob Wilson

 

I think Ford advertisers are trying to make us believe that the size of the shifter in our car is actually the size of our reproductive organ. Or... at least make others to believe so.

It might work. Just see how well the trucks are selling.

 

Source: Sometimes a Cigar Is Just a Cigar |

Bob Wilson

 

At the end of the day, ask yourself who invented "The Hybrid" category.
Was it Ford C-Max or Toyota Prius?
After many years of trials and errors, Toyota still build a better car in my opinion. Ford still has some catching up to do. In terms of quality and know how. I still buy the Toyota Prius over Ford C-Max. After all, the knowledge and know how, you do not gain over-night.

 

This type of commercial has a point... Most of us, don't go around "stroking" our shifter. Really, on a vehicle with an eCVT style transaxel, there's really no reason to "stroke" the shifter..

Now on my '64 Corvette Stingray with a manual transmission, the "T" you must lift up on to put the vehicle in reverse, well it rattles somewhat above 40MPH, so I do stroke that shifter... It's pretty warm most times, a brute steel style thing.

 

Bob Brandt is really Jerry Lambert

 

Just confuses the heck out of me.. On my second Prius and got 65 MPG once, hoping for more often.. What bugs me, if the Ford is so great, why is it needed to tear down the car that is actually better.. Gear Shift size is the best they can come up with? I am 73 going on ancient, my first two cars were both 1948 models, Chrysler and Buick, TANKS really.. If I had to worry about where the gear shift was, I could never have driven them.. First rule of driving, looking out the front window and glance at the mirror once in a while. If I had to look for the clutch pedal I would not be here to wonder what their brain is made out of.. Stupid way to make a buck, bashing something better.

 

OTOH, I'm 69.9, driven cars back to '30 models, owned at least 40 and I find the shift lever in my v to be suboptimal not because of its size but because it isn't lit. I like when you get into the car for the keyhole to be illuminated. I'd like the Prius shift knob to be gently backlit in a light blue LED reminding me that the shift pattern is not forward to go forward (add in the start button too).

I've driven paddle shifter, column shifter, floor shifter, console shifter, button shifter and dash shifter (last car was a CRV that had a normal pattern shift lever on the dash). Maybe after I've driven it 20k miles it will be more intuitive but, as one new to it at ~4k miles, I find I really have to think about it and look at the dash.

If that is the biggest worry I have .....

 

A regular car (as well as Ford hybrids) display PRNDL on the dash and you use the shifter looking down. Prius is no different with using the shifter and the "gear" you are in is displayed on the MID.

 

My opinion is if you only have to bash the shifter to tell C-Max is better, it surely did not convince me that C-Max is better. Any smart consumer will not be swayed by that commercial.

 

But, a lot of dumb ones will!

 

Sure, shifter should be conventional-looking and big enough to block the HVAC!

 

and i thought my shifter was in the way of the ev/hv button.