How much $$ have we made Danny?

Many of us came to PriusChat to learn about our cars and how to maximize the return on investment. Then as reported by early surveys, we learned PriusChat has become a self-organized 'Mensa' without the bragging.

Backlash from 'traditional' automotive liars about the Prius led many of us to investigate and puncture these false claims. Persecution drove us together. Curiously, even after moving to other rides, PriusChat remains a 'social media' where we chat about other things.

PriusChatters enjoy the opinions and thoughts by other Prius pioneers. We don't have to agree on everything but we seldom suffer ad hominem attacks (aided by "ignore user" function.) It is the quality, not the quantity that keeps us here.

Bob Wilson

 

MENSA is organized?

Who knew?

 

As I said:

This is what JD Powers had to say:

Before we discuss the results of our evaluation of the 2017 Prius, it is helpful to understand who buys this hybrid car and what they like most and least about them.
...
Compared to the demographics of the segment, Prius owners are much older and wealthier. Most are male (62% vs. 59% for the segment) with a median age of 65 years (vs. 48 years) and enjoying a median household income of $108,283 annually (vs. $72,685). Just 21% of Prius owners are members of Generation X or Y, compared to 54% of compact car owners overall.

As might be expected, there are big differences between Prius owners and the general compact car owner. Practicality is important to Prius owners, while Performance barely registers as a reason they bought their vehicle. Nearly 40 percent of compact car owners identify as price conscious, while just over 10 percent of Prius owners do.

Prius owners are less likely to agree that they prefer to buy a vehicle from a domestic company (31% vs. 45%), and are less likely to agree that they like a vehicle that offers responsive handling and powerful acceleration (72% vs. 87%).

No surprise, but 95% of Prius owners say that their first consideration in choosing a vehicle is fuel economy (vs. 79%), while 87% of Prius owners agree that they are willing to pay more for a vehicle that is environmentally friendly (vs. 57%). Prius owners are also willing to pay more for a vehicle with the latest safety features (85% vs. 71%).

Interestingly, Prius owners are less likely to agree that they like a vehicle that stands out from the crowd (62% vs. 67%), yet they are also less likely to agree that a vehicle is just a way of getting from place to place (45% vs. 51%).

Owners report that their favorite things about the Prius are (in descending order) the fuel economy, engine/transmission, exterior styling, interior design, and driving dynamics. Owners indicate that their least favorite things about the Prius are (in descending order) the seats, climate system, visibility and safety, infotainment system, and storage and space.​

Here is a second opinion: https://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2006/03/profile-of-hybrid-drivers/

We’ve been tracking studies of hybrid demographics for years, and the trends are clear:

Hybrid drivers have higher income, much higher than the average car buyer. In 2004, J.D. Power reported that hybrid owner incomes are $100,000 a year versus $85,000 a year for the average buyer. In a 2007 survey of 118 Prius drivers by Topline Strategy Group, 71 percent of respondents earned more than $100,000 per year. A 2007 study by Scarborough Research— approx. 1,000 hybrid drivers, not just Prius owners, gave answers—showed that 42 percent have an income of greater than $100,000.

Hybrid drivers are a few years older than the average car buyer—closer to 50 rather than the average age of 40. J.D. Power’s 2007 review of auto industry marketing showed that only 2 percent of hybrid owners are 24 or younger; while 29 percent are between 45 and 54; and 33 percent are 55 and older. The 2007 Scarborough Research pegged the number of age 50+ hybrid drivers at 23 percent.
California strongly outpaces all other states for new hybrid vehicle registrations.

There is also strong evidence that hybrid drivers have higher levels of education. “Hybrid car drivers have a level of education higher than any group of car drivers that I’ve ever seen,” said Walter McManus, of the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute. McManus’s research also showed that hybrid drivers expect fuel prices to grow a lot faster than other people do. “It doesn’t mean that they’re right. It doesn’t mean that the other people are right,” said McManus. “But they’re much more pessimistic about the future of fuel prices than the average person.”

The 2007 Scarborogh Research survey, which focused on the hybrid owners within a much broader lifestyle study of 110,000 adults, sheds some light on other consumer behavior and political patterns. According to Scarborough, which has a a joint partnership with The Nielsen Company and Arbitron, Inc., hybrid owners are:

Twice as likely to claim to go skiing, hiking, or practice yoga than non-hybrid owners.
They consume more organic food, yogurt, and decaffeinated coffee than the general population.
The group also indicated above-average tech-savvy skills. Within the last month, 78 percent used e-mail. Nearly a third either used their mobile phone for text messaging or taking photographs, while more than a third used a digital-video recorder, satellite TV, or a video game system. Their online activities seem to favor websites that offer news and information, as well as auctions, such as Ebay.
Politically, 14 percent called themselves Republican, 38 percent Democrat, and 34 percent identify as independent.

And in the most important market factor—satisfaction with their purchase decision—hybrid owners are unique. From the earliest of early adopters in 2000 to the most recent of mainstream hybrid buyers, the percentage of hybrid owners who express being “very happy” or “somewhat happy” with their hybrids has hovered near 100 percent.​

Bob Wilson

 

No, you do not get to beguile Tideland away with you to start some other forum.

 

you'll make at least enough to buy your own beer. how much more does one need?

 

As anyone who has ever tried to communicate with @Danny will tell you, he never responds. Even his lone moderator can't get replies to anything but messages with subject headings that say "website down."

And as the failed server migration of more than a month ago conveys, this website is a bit of an orphan and is one major technical glitch away from one day vanishing from the web for good.

If anyone has the ability to communicate with Danny in real life about all this and can actually get a reply, we need an emergency back up plan when the inevitable happens, or at least a way to find new leadership that is more engaged.

With the numbers this website pulls down every month, the amount of ad revenue it generates is just a tiny fraction of what it could do if it wasn't just an old website Danny doesn't want to deal with anymore. As in compare this site's numbers to the Toyota owner's website!

 

I came to PriusChat from the old GreenHybrid.com. At one time in 2005, GreenHybrid had the only credible database of all hybrids. Then came the great schism. I just checked and GreenHybrid visuals have been updated but still no database and not enough content to attract my interest.

Bob Wilson

 

I can't speak for anyone else, but that risk is part of what I like about this site. None of the others have that danger vibe.

Each post could be your last. Or even the last.

 

Each post could be my last

 

Actually a clean start with a cleared database might solve the server problems. Then have everyone register again, allow longterm edits and deletes, add a few moderators and you might have something.

 

If that meant without the 20 years of accumulated knowledge, I'm not sure it'd have the same draw....

 

The idea of a shadow forum has been floated before.

If I had one modicum of skill to do it, I would. But I just learned how to send pictures via text

Seriously, I am in, but how? And, just to be clear, this would only be if PC went away.

 

...and rather hilariously, it involved a forum that appeared to be even more broken and less supported than this one.

As I recall, the CAPTCHA required for account registration was not loading.

Neither was the one needed to contact the admins.

 

Hmmm, thankfully, I missed that.

 

I can never hang on to them; need them for Walmart shopping carts. Stood at the end of a row of carts, sans Loonie, and a stroke of genius: this washer I picked off the ground a week or two back, might work. Please God…

https://youtube.com/shorts/n9F7Wrdh0vI?si=fVvGtAJCxWZLD45B

 

“Danny” was pretty smart making it so you have to login all the time even if you might just want to read stuff. Cash register noises, may have to watch an old movie to know what it is.

 

Your comment puzzles me- I've read plenty of things on priuschat without being logged in.

Also, how would logging in increase revenue from the site?

The only money I've ever spent on Priuschat was to purchase an item from the Priuschat store. I was one of the lucky ones, I received my merchandise.

 

there's a stay logged in checkbox that works for me