Yesterday as I drove into my driveway a man and woman were walking towards my door. I parked in the garage and they came over. They were local realtors passing out pamphlets trying to dig up houses to sell. They gave me their spiel but when they were done the man said, "I didn't hear your car when you drove up just now. Does it have some kind of special engine?" This led into a 20 minute question and answer session about the car. They had heard something about driving in the carpool lane in the news but they didn't know anything about the Prius."Isn't it expensive to keep up?" "Isn't it cramped inside?" "Wow, it looks nice." It ended with them heading out to the local Toyota dealer to put their name on the list. Just explain the gas mileage, the features and the price and the car sells itself. And the waiting list grows longer.
It is very much an education process with those unfamiliar with a hybrid power plant. I've found that people are very receptive to the idea, but are a little put off by the wait list. Alas, now my bride wants a hybrid Highlander. That's gonna cost me... Grok
A friend was very interested, but put it out of her mind when her son told her it cost $4000 to replace the batteries. I gave her the brochure and underlined the 8-year/100,000 mile warranty...her name is now on the list. 8)
one of the people i live near is an elderly lady who apparently is financially secure. She has a new car and one day when i was walking out to check the mail, i stopped to comment on the weather and such and she mentioned that i had a very "polite" car. i asked her what she meant by that, and she said that can almost never hear my car pulling in. (her apartment is the closest one to the parking lot and since it was still summer, her window and frequently her front door wass always open even late at night) well i naturally had to give her a quick rundown of the Prius' better traits. well now she is thinking of trading in her Nissan (it has 3,000 miles on it) and getting a Prius too.
I get the knee-jerk reaction when I mention replacement prices. But along with the warranty, I explain that according to what I've read on this board, no battery from a Classic Prius has yet to be replaced for natural reasons. Additionally, as battery technology increases, by the time I have to replace it, it will be a much better battery and for considerably less.
When I was doing research on the Prius before purchase, I came across an article, and I can't find it now for the life of me, that stated that unlike the Civic, when the battery appears to go bad on the Prius, you may not have to replace the whole thing. The Prius battery is comprised of 18 modules that can be replaced individually for approximately $147.00 a piece. That makes sense over replacing the whole battery back if you only have one or two bad cells, or in this case modules. Did anyone else see that article?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer\";p=\"44806)</div> I get the knee-jerk reaction when I mention replacement prices. But along with the warranty, I explain that according to what I've read on this board, no battery from a Classic Prius has yet to be replaced for natural reasons. Additionally, as battery technology increases, by the time I have to replace it, it will be a much better battery and for considerably less.[/b][/quote] Actually, on PriusOnline, someone HAS reported a dead (actually weak) battery after ~245K miles http://www.priusonline.com/viewtopic.php?t...battery&start=0 Still, this is awsome.
I took some co-workers to lunch right after I got my Prius and proceeded to show off. I asked "What style of food are you all interested in?" After a concensus was reached I brought up the Point of Interest display and had it list out all the Mexican restaurants within a 10 mile radius. We tried out a new place we never knew existed. Seems the car is good for small businesses as well as the environment :wink: One of my co-workers is now on the list at our local dealership. He tells me he's been dreaming about the car lately! I'd better watch where I put my keys. :|
My friends dad got a Prius as a Loaner car. When I first saw it I didn't think anything about it. But when we went to dinner we took the Prius and I was impressed. The loaner was a very low options car. It didn't have Nav or Xenon. No upgraded stereo or anything. I road in the back seat for about 10 mins. He told me about the push start and the consumption screen. He didn’t really know much about the car other than what he found out while driving it. But he told me one important thing. He spending 15-17$ to fill the tank and was driving over 500 miles on it. The next day I was on the list. My car came into tonight and I'm picking it up tomorrow. I waited 5 weeks.
