Why do most Prius owners choose a Prius?

Not having the engine idle while stopped in traffic; that alone makes the Prius seem worthwhile to me!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(stanlwyjohn @ Sep 19 2006, 09:26 PM) [snapback]322109[/snapback]</div>

Those are all of my reasons! Including getting to use the HOV lane in CA.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Curtis SAC @ Sep 20 2006, 12:01 AM) [snapback]322138[/snapback]</div>

That happened to me a few weeks ago, except the total amount spent on Premium gas was well over $100 (almost 40 gallons' worth). I made my husband get out of the car to look at the pump because I was so shocked by the amount. I'm soooo glad that wasn't me paying that kind of money to fill up the SUV/monster truck.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SSimon @ Sep 20 2006, 01:50 PM) [snapback]322342[/snapback]</div>

I think you hit it dead on. I like to think driving this car makes a statement. I had a suv pass me this morning on my way to work and he showed off by whipping around me and reving his engine. I was thinking to my self yeah you go ahead, but I am laughing as I pass by the gas stations.

Ellen

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Gregp @ Sep 19 2006, 10:54 PM) [snapback]322096[/snapback]</div>

I was looking primarily to save money on gas. We needed a second car, and I decided to either get a cheap used car or a more expensive one that got at least 30mpg. The better gas mileage offsets the higher monthly car payment.

I was not initially planning to get a Prius. After some research, I decided to get a $15k subcompact, preferably the new Honda Fit. An alternate was the Toyota Yaris. However, the dealers in Hampton Roads couldn't keep the Fit on their lot. While I was at one Honda dealer, I saw the Civic Hybrid, and noticed it got about 50 mpg. It cost too much to justify the savings, though. Still, I ended up taking it for a test drive. I was thoroughly impressed, and my wife wanted to buy it right away. I said we need to sit in some Toyotas still.

We later went to a Toyota dealership and realized the Yaris was too small for us. Next was the Corolla, which fit the bill. However, I really wanted a Fit. Before we left, we test drove a Prius just for the experience. It really scared me, but my wife took to it easily. She also liked the bluetooth, which the Honda did not have. Overall, it was better than the Civic Hybrid - cheaper, roomier, better mpg, better features.

We ended up getting the Prius because I was able to afford it - dealer discount, tax credit, and saving on gas made it equivalent to buying a non-hybrid Civic! And my wife liked it, and would be able to use it for her job, which requires her to be on the phone all time and driving around a lot to meet with clients.

In the end, it would be a bad decision to NOT get it. It was the most economical and sensible thing to do. It is costing us less than owning a 2001 Taurus, for which we pay more per month than the 2006 Prius for Car payment+insurance+gas.

Reducing foreign oil dependency is great, and helping the environment is even better, but none of those matter if you can't afford it. I am not an environmental activist or anything. All the various things about the car are important factors in making me feel good about my purchase, but they were icing on the cake. The beef was affordability, like someone else said.

So, I'd say:

1) affordability (due to mpg+tax credit+discount)
2) availability of service (popular enough to be well-supported and safe)
3) affability (sum total of feel-good perks)

 

For me it was the classic good looks.

It was either this or the Scion. I flipped a coin.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Gregp @ Sep 19 2006, 08:54 PM) [snapback]322096[/snapback]</div>

1) Save money on gas - I have a long commute (100 miles per day) so my primary criteria is purely selfish...to save money.
And yes I do in fact expect that the Prius will pay for itself: not just the "hybrid premium" [whatever that
means when talking about a Prius], but the entire cost of the car. I like Big Daddy's idea of taking the
money I save each fillup and putting it in a jar to pay for the next vehicle. I'm somewhere around $1,200
so far since March.

2) Cool technology - I was interested in hybrid technology and HSD was just so much cooler than everybody elses. The car is just so
neat that I might have purchased anyway, even if I were not saving any money. An alternate title for this criteria
might be: "I want that!"

3) Lower dependence on foreign oil

Unlike many (most?) PC members, environmental issues were not a criteria for me. The lower emissions are a nice added benefit, but I
would not have selected the car on that basis.

 

The #1 reason I bought the Prius over cars in general was the reduced fuel usage - both for the cost and environmental reasons, but mostly environmental. If a friend who could give a crap about the environment asks though, I stick with the cost argument.

The #1 reason I bought it over fuel-efficient non-hybrids was because the Prius braking system has such amazing life - that's a safety feature people don't fully value.

The #1 reason I bought it over its best competitor, the Civic Hybrid, is because it uses exactly 0 gas in 0-15mph stop-and-go traffic. I might be late to work, but at least I'm not going to also run out of gas and pay $20 at the pump for going nowhere, plus a tow. That's a reliability feature Toyota needs to make a commercial out of - I don't think that's occurred to half the hybrid nay-sayers out there.

The #1 reason I bought it over the rest of the hybrids that get great mileage is looks. Let's face it - there's some really ugly fuel-efficient cars out there.

 

Have owned quite a few cars and, in the end, they were all just that 'cars'. The Prius is a technological adventure offering a different driving experience. And what else would one expect a (retired) electronics engineer to chose.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SoopahMan @ Sep 22 2006, 05:38 AM) [snapback]323293[/snapback]</div>

Always keep the efficiency and environmental friendliness in the cost explanation. If the car makes ecomonic sense to a potential buyer, then it's fair to point out that the Prius is very cost effective way to be greener when it comes to driving.

For people that do very little driving and/or make mostly short trips (only a couple of miles, it may not be the most cost effective car, and the environmental benefits don't really kick in if the car never fully warms up, ya know.

There aren't a set of brakes made that my wife could wear out in 25K miles. On the other hand, I ran the brakes on my Explorer 85K miles on the front, 105K on the rear. Since I am the primary driver on the Prius, I expect the brakes to outlast the rest of the car. I wish it had rear discs - though they would probably look like bicycle brakes since they woudn't have to be very big.

The latest model HCH will operate at low speed on electric only. And since both cars get almost identical gas mileage, I wouldn't make an issue out of how often the engine runs. If I were advocating an AT-PZEV to someone, I would say, "Buy the Prius or the Civic. Pick the one YOU like. Either is a good choice for efficiency and eco."

Toyota will never advertise how the Prius can still run when it's out of gas. That is certainly not the intent of the bybird systems and would probably encourage people to do stupid things. And the Prius will not go far on an empty gas tank. It is not a good for the car to run it out of gas. Making hay of this "ability" might lead people to think they can be complacent about fuel management. And I advocate looking to fillup when you get below half a tank in any car. That is part of an emergency preparedness plan. What if you really have to travel and you can't get gas?

Several years ago northern CA suffered a major blackout and most gas stations couldn't pump gas. I would have felt stupid to be stick 100 miles from home with one pip on my gauge and nothing but dark gas stations ahead of me, just because I always put off getting gas until I was running on fumes.

Some might say the Prius is one of them. Hey, face it. I bought it even though I think it looks like an oversized Ford Focus. I don't think the Focus is ugly, but I know some people that do. I like the look of the 06 Civic body style, but the Prius was more practical for me in the end.

Four number 1 reasons, huh? Yogi Bera math... "50% gas mileage, 50% brakes, 50% really good gas mileage for a few minutes when I run out of gas, and finally, 50% good looks. "

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Kryten @ Sep 20 2006, 02:33 PM) [snapback]322365[/snapback]</div>

Yes to the above, plus my brother runs a small oil company and this is one way to bug him. :lol:

 

hi there. i bought my prius cause its a great car and i got very tired of donating to those money hungary oil companies. pete

 

I want one pretty much for the same reasons everyone else already mentioned, aside from the tax credit. It really does me no good, if I understand how it works correctly. (Comes after all other credits ... like child tax credits and such, which wipe out my owed tax before EIC even sets in...) So I'd never see any benefit from the Prius credit, which is why I stopped being in a mad dash to get one, and am taking my time to get exactly what I want.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Curtis SAC @ Sep 22 2006, 09:42 AM) [snapback]323434[/snapback]</div>

Drive it... it's sad. You can't drive it at low speed electric-only because when you release the brake, the gas engine starts. It won't turn off again until you've accelerated and stopped. Further, even doing that doesn't cut the engine at times. After watching that car get repeatedly confused in stop and go traffic, I dropped a deposit I had on an HCH2 and got a Prius.

The HCH2 gets comparable mileage to the Prius because it's smaller and because it gets better mileage at cruising speeds. I found that at 85mph the HCH2 really kicks butt on mileage. In stop-and-go, the HCH2 is really put to shame by the Prius.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Curtis SAC @ Sep 22 2006, 09:42 AM) [snapback]323434[/snapback]</div>

That isn't what I meant; what I meant was, you won't run out of gas in traffic. Let's say you're in stop and go traffic for 2 hours covering just 2 miles. A conventional car with a quarter tank may very well run out of gas; a Prius with a quarter tank might use 0 gas for that 2 hours. That's what they should make the commercial out of.

And yeah a lot of people complain about the looks of the Prius. Hasn't hurt me on dates yet though, in image-conscious California. To be a little more specific though I was comparing it to cars who have the back wheels covered for example - bad, bad idea. Symmetry is attractive.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Curtis SAC @ Sep 22 2006, 09:42 AM) [snapback]323434[/snapback]</div>

You bet! I've got a whole list of reasons for each situation - I spent a lot of time picking a car. The Prius has to compete on more than one front afterall. It's not the only great Hybrid on the market anymore - that Civic sure had me sold until I got caught in traffic a few times.

 

1) To save $ on gas
2) To save $ on gas
3) To save $ on gas
4) To save $ on gas.......

 

I think we have a new winner on thread resurrection.

Tom

 

As long as we have a zombie thread, here is my list:

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...502-2010-prius-school-project.html#post979468

 

400 miles = 8 gal gas......

oh yeah, and it's RED!

 

Like the look, mpg,smooth driving,cool technology, toyota.