I was yelled at twice this weekend while driving.

This is unfortunate but all too common for drivers of 'progressive' vehicles... I have been verbally abused and threatened before as a Prius driver. Noone ever bothered me when I was driving a lime green VW new beetle yet now I drive a red toyota prius and people are either awed and amazed or disgusted and enraged... I have had people flip me off for no appearant reason, spit at me and my car, and one driver from michigan threatened to murder me for driving my 'ugly f*c*ing piece of s**t jap car' (exact quote i swear) at the Van Buren truck stop as I was coming out with a Dairy Queen shake... that inicent led to me calling the highway patrol and he was cited)... oh yeah..and I had all four of my tires slashed last october and my bike seat stolen while no other car our bike in my city lot was touched (and my car is parked next to the police department)... this just goes to show not everyone is ready to handle the awsome power of the prius... WHO ELSE HAS SUFFERED PRIUS ABUSE?

 

Geez, talk about intolerant idiots! Nothing like this has happened to me. Then again, imports are dominant here in CA. Other than SUVs and pickups, there aren't that many domestics running around.

Awhile back on Autoweek, there was an article mentioning that Toyota was by far the top selling brand in CA. Chevy I believe was the top selling domestic brand and IIRC, it was in 8th place. Unfortunately, the article is gone from Autoweek now.

At my work and amongst my friends, if one bought a domestic and it wasn't a truck or SUV, you'd get questions as to why.

It also helps that CA has a 12.4% Asian population vs. 1.5% in OH and 2.0% in KS. For the US, it's 4.3% overall.

 

I don't get abused, but folks have been lifting my windshield wipers on my prius quite a bit lately.

 

no abuse yet, just some people in huge trucks/suburbans always seem to fly past me and get back in front and i usually go a little above the speed limit anyway. I like it when i go through a drive through and the engine is off and people are like is your car even on??

 

I'm always amazed at the number of people who are unaware of just where exactly their "American" car was actually manufactured.

 

What could be MORE American than not blindly purchasing a product on foolish nationalistic loyalty and actually being able to have the CHOICE to purchase a better quality product?

 

bottom line, move to one of the coasts. in middle america, the big three still rule. buying Toyota is considered un-american despite the fact that Toyota employs over 34,000 workers so in the us. there is an thread about "why Toyota is afraid of being #1.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bgdrewsif @ May 29 2007, 05:05 AM) [snapback]451371[/snapback]</div>

As a MI resident I think that was pretty appalling of someone threatening you like that. Thankfully I have never encountered anything like that. People don't bother me, and I don't bother them. Just how I like it.

Unfortunately in this day and age, people just suck. If you aren't driving a gas guzzler, SUV or driving a so called "American" vehicle that is always plagued with problems, then you aren't a true American. Heck one thing I can say, is that I can care less what others think, especially if its negative; like water off a duck's back.

Now I have had some co-workers ask me about my car, as far as fuel economy and such went....they really liked it. So there are always positive people who can embrace good technology like this. And having reliability in a vehicle is very important to me.

 

Bottom line, they're jealous. They just build up more and more hate inside everytime they fill up

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bgdrewsif @ May 29 2007, 05:05 AM) [snapback]451371[/snapback]</div>

VW beetles got some of this abuse the first time around, very much like the Prius now. Bill Cosby even had a routine about VW beetles where he was stuck on the side of the road and a guy in a beetle drives by, rolls down the window and yells something like "I get 50 miles per gallon and if the fan belt breaks I use a rubber band..." Cosby then went on to say something about how when driving a beetle if a truck goes by you change lanes without even trying and if have a collision with a big dog you lose.

Sounds a lot like Prius abuse.

Tom

 

I guess I've been lucky. I've only had people marvel at how quiet I was coming into the gas station, or asking me how I like the car and what kind of mileage I'm getting. When I tell them, I usually get "WOW". My wife did have one guy mutter, "get an american car" at a corner in town. He probably has one of those Canadian built cars from the German/American company or a Mexican built Ford.

Steve in Michigan

 

Some people are just idiots. Nothing makes them more upset than having their own failed logic pointed out to them. One way this happens is when they are stuck in traffic sitting in a gas-guzzler and watching their gas guage go down by the minute. Seeing a hybrid running on battery power and using little to no gas just pisses them off because they realize just what a poor choice they made. So, they lash out.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(steve10b @ May 29 2007, 06:11 AM) [snapback]451413[/snapback]</div>

I've haven't had anyone yell at me. If they ever do say I should buy an American car, I'll say that I would, but Studebaker is no longer being made.

 

Geez, that's unbelievable.

 

I never listen to any "hate" radio programs but wonder if Prii are getting slammed as "Un-American" by the hate-mongers who plague our airways.

 

When American car manufacturers get their heads out of the sand and make cars which regularly get over 50 mpg so we can lessen our dependence on oil produced by our enemies, and when they produce cars which eliminate 90% of the greenhouse gases which are destroying our atmosphere, I'll buy their product. But I love my country (and planet) too much to buy American made right now.

 

thanks to pulpit provocateurs and certain radio talk show hosts leading the race to the bottom of civilization, it is now all the rage to display all your rage. Did they think 20 years of unabated, unabashed bashing would NOT lead us in this direction?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ May 29 2007, 07:06 AM) [snapback]451431[/snapback]</div>

I grew up in the town where Studebakers were manufactured, South Bend, Indiana, and I'm old enough to remember when their plant was closed. Back in the early 1960s, the police cars were Studebakers.

They now manufacture Hummers in nearby Mishawaka, Indiana. I was back to visit family a couple of weeks ago. Only saw seven Priuses in three days there.