Best Of Both Worlds

If wolfman's one moderator who'd commisurate with this guy then I'm another.

I have an Expedition parked in a carport at my house. It'll see barely 3000miles/year now, but is invaluable when I need it. Those things vary widely. Hauling cyprus mulch for my wife to landscape. Fishing trips down long remote muddy roads, family camping and ski trips.

It no longer serves as a commuter vehicle, and I'm not out to impress the 'chicks' or show that I'm 'manlier' than other guys. The H2 does that (for some). It's a horribly inefficient and polluting vehicle that really is no better than any other full size SUV and probably worse than most as far as utility than most.

But, a Harley isn't the most fuel efficient and quitest motorcycle either, yet there's a sex appeal, a pride that some get and some don't. And it's not up to me to decide what makes one person happy or another one unhappy about those kinds of decisons.

Ok, FDNY's arguement about needing something to haul the boat falls a little flat for me too...there are cheaper and more logical choices--a nice used Pick-up truck would serve quite nicely and save you lots of money. So yea, he's got a little of the show-off poser thing going on. So the heck what. He'll get over it after about 25k miles, like every other H2 owner does and then trade it in for something more reasonable. Why do you think you see those at street side of the used car lots all the time.

I say welcome our new user and give him a break. We all have our sins, do we all need to be burned a the post for them?

 

A reporter asked on this board for some people to get in touch with him. I called right away and we spoke. He opened the door for further input and I took advantage of it. I followed our phone conversation with this email (read the last paragraph a few times):

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One of the main reasons I'm buying the Prius is to drive demand. Every
executive knows that you should provide the consumer what they want. And I believe that until we convince the "Big Three" American automobile
manufacturers that people really are concerned about the environment and want alternatives to gas-guzzling, high-polluting vehicles, they simply aren't going to make them.

For example, there has supposedly been a program in the United States driving automobile manufacturers towards the creation of highly-efficient vehicles. I say “supposedly†because I haven’t seen any results. In fact, we not only saw no gains in vehicle efficiency, we witnessed the introduction of the Hummer, the Expedition, and several other such land-barges. Perhaps one reason we saw no improvements in vehicle performance is because there was no proof that Americans would buy such a car even if they managed to make one.

But now things have changed. Japanese automakers have proven that if such a car were available, Americans would buy them. Not just buy them but wait in line for months to buy them. As a result, Ford has introduced their attempt at a hybrid vehicle and Dodge quickly threw their measly Silverado to the public. In affect, the American Automakers have finally caught up with Honda and Toyota of the mid-1990s.

So back to my initial point. I am buying this car to increase the demand of hybrids which will increase production of highly efficient vehicles and lighten the consumption of fossil fuels. I realize that I alone can not convince the Big Three that a change needs to take place. But I have tens of thousands of Prius owners and wait-listers backing me up. No number of lobbyists or back-pocket politicians can change that. Within my lifetime, non-hybrid and inefficient vehicles will be phased out the way of leaded paint, asbestos, and leaded gasoline. When that day comes, please ask me if the car was worth the wait.

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The short answer is that one man spouting on about a dream of children playing together can not change the world. One woman who simply didn't want to give up her seat on a bus can not change the world. One man who believed that the use of military might was not required to stage a revolution can not change the world. Not even one person driving a Prius can change the world.

But in the same regards, one man driving a Hummer can not ruin the world.

It's the thousands and millions of people who stand with the individuals who change the world for the better or the worse. I take offense with the quoted comment above, that the people on this board will not change the world. Comments like that make me want to stand on the table and shout, "Stop thinking about yourself and believing that what you do is unimportant. Wake up and realize that we all play a part in this world."

I chose to believe that the decisions I make on a daily basis affect the world around me: from the way I treat people to the gifts I give my nieces to the world I leave for my children. And that is why I drive a Prius.

 

That decision is not one you nor I can make for another individual. This is still a free country and we can make those decisions on our own and of our own criteria.

 

I never claimed you didn't have a right to disagree with his choice. You don't have a right to tell him or decide for him what he can/should buy. And just the same you have the right to speak out against that choice I have the right to speak against the opinion you expressed. And around and around it goes.

Please show me the quote that someone said you didn't have the right to speak against it. You've got the right to say a lot of things...that doesn't make them fair or accurate, nor does it make you immune from rebuttal.