What would you purchase and why?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mastergunnera8 @ Jun 10 2006, 04:24 AM) [snapback]269117[/snapback]</div>

Thank You mastergunner. For everything you are. Your post here shows a person who is open minded and kind. Good luck in your retirement from service.....remember your wife has been on her own alot so have a hobby or job lined up!

You will adapt to the Prius because it is so much fun to drive. After a week of driving her exclusively I got back into my truck and I couldn't wait to sell it.

 

I would have BOUGHT an EV1 at the time but they weren't selling them, they were only leasing them.

So I bought a Saturn.

Ten years later when I went to replace that car I went to the Saturn dealership but was not impressed with what they had to offer. Even test drove an Ion.

So a few months later I started looking again. This time I looked at hybrids. The U.S. manufacturers didn't offer any hybrids except of one SUV....Ford. I won't drive an SUV for any amount of money. Even if it was half what the Prius cost.

No SUV. No stick shift. Had to be able to carry cargo and passengers. That started to narrow the field. I was looking to spend about the same amount of money as I did for my Saturn 10 years previous....about $20,000. The Prius fit every requirement plus it got better mileage than the other contenders. So I test drove one and then bought it off the lot. No waiting list. I got the exterior I wanted (black) and the package I wanted (1). I wanted a gray interior but ended up with ivory. Ok since the Saturn had been black/tan leather. I don't miss the leather except on the wheel (I have wheelskins now) and the armrests. (I have Robin's Priushood stuff but I'm going to have the console and armrests reupholstered in leather.)

So if the U.S. had stepped up to the plate and had something that met my criteria...fine. But they didn't And they still don't. And they're not going to for quite some time. I imagine they still won't in 2009 when the new model Prius comes out.

So when the 2009 Prius redesign comes out I'll probably trade in for that rather than wait until 2015.

Hoping for a dark blue with gray interior. And hatchback. Must still have a hatchback.

 

My priorities:

Safety
Reliability
Emissions
Small
Hatchback

Detroit offers me two; Prius offers me 4.75 (a bit too big for my taste). In many ways I prefer Honda. If they came out with a PHEV Fit, I would pioneer the car. I *wish* Detroit were not bozos, but that is not my problem.

Years ago the Ford Escort Wagon with Mazda engine was on my short list. That is the closest I ever came to an 'american' car.

 

The American companies tell us we should be "patriotic" by buying their cars. Well, then they should be patriotic and produce a car that's not a pile of crap. (As a rule I do not use such language. But my previous experience with American-made cars leaves me no other way to adequately express how I feel about the quality of the vehicles coming out of Detroit.) It's a simple matter of investing an adequate amount of money in design and quality control, and taking an interest in the environment and the trade imbalance that comes of importing so much oil to feed gas-guzzlers.

Remember, it was Saudi oil profits that funded 9/11.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jun 11 2006, 09:18 AM) [snapback]269464[/snapback]</div>

True, but I think more to the point of the matter, US dependence on foreign oil supplies leads to internal meddling and negative influence in those countries affairs, with the resultant emergence of violent fanatic anti-american groups.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(EricGo @ Jun 11 2006, 07:14 AM) [snapback]269479[/snapback]</div>

Hey hey hey now--watch that--that's just more of that lefty liberal media bias stuff, innit?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rufaro @ Jun 11 2006, 10:20 AM) [snapback]269483[/snapback]</div>

Heh. That is nothin'. I get close to conspiracy mentality when talking about global warming

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(EricGo @ Jun 11 2006, 07:14 AM) [snapback]269479[/snapback]</div>

There's also the simple balance-of-trade issue. It would be so much better for the economy to be getting our energy from locally-exploited renewables.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jun 11 2006, 08:01 PM) [snapback]269714[/snapback]</div>

Absolutely !

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Maytrix @ Nov 2 2005, 11:41 AM) [snapback]149276[/snapback]</div>

If I could have, I would have bought a Honda. However, after taking a look at their hybrid, they seem to have dropped the ball somewhat by going with the assist, rather than a full hybrid. So, I got the Prius.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jun 11 2006, 10:18 AM) [snapback]269464[/snapback]</div>

Not to mention being 'patriotic' by keeping manufacturing jobs in the US instead of moving them down to Mexico.