I drove the Touring and the standard models yesterday at a dealership. I liked the firmer ride of the Touring better. Both cars seemed a little narrow to me. Maybe you get used to that. I stopped at another dealership and noticed that they are having a closeout on some '07 units. One blue Touring was $900.00 off MSRP. The salesman at the first dealership told me there was very little profit. Now I think there is at least $900 or they couldn't discount it that much. I read that the 2008 will be an inch wider and an inch shorter. I may like that better. I think there is great potential to increase mileage. I read the internet article on the use of capacitors on buses in Germany. I wonder if capacitors could be used in conjunction with improved batteries. I haven't bought yet but not for lack of desire. $27,000 is a lot of money for me to spend. One post I read on PriusChat really struck a chord with me. It said "I'm tired of giving my money to people who want to kill me." I wish more people would think that way.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Regulus Black @ Aug 19 2007, 03:23 PM) [snapback]498763[/snapback]</div> There are differences, but for the purposes of cars, batteries and capacitors (super capacitors really) serve the same purpose - to store relatively large amounts of energy, and to be able to take and return that energy at relatively high rates (high energy density, high power density in more technical terms). So, I wouldn't consider capacitors to be a panacea. Unless they've made tremendous progress on capacitor energy density, batteries can store much higher energies at reasonable power levels than capacitors. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Regulus Black @ Aug 19 2007, 03:23 PM) [snapback]498763[/snapback]</div> I bought mine for the following reasons: 1) It's a really slick technological tour de force (or however the French spell it). 2) I like the idea of paying roughly 1/2 for gas. I commute 20k miles per year, and my previous car was an '03 Saturn ION. 3) It's something I can do to reduce oil consumption. The _BEST_ way, IMHO, to deal with the situation in the Middle East is to eliminate our appetite for imported oil. (actually, I think that's the second best. I think the best way would be to carpet bomb the entire region with bac-o-bits.)
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Regulus Black @ Aug 19 2007, 04:23 PM) [snapback]498763[/snapback]</div> i read that the 07 and 08 are identical. the dealers are lying about their profits too. i just recieved for $14 the consumer reports 08 prices...touring model dealer invoice is $21,506, with package 6 option which i'll get add another $3758...start negotiating from there. hope this helps john B)
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lefat1 @ Aug 20 2007, 08:13 AM) [snapback]499073[/snapback]</div> John, Thank you! Regulus
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Regulus Black @ Aug 19 2007, 04:23 PM) [snapback]498763[/snapback]</div> The salesman is feeding you BS. Read www.carbuyingtips.com.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ Aug 20 2007, 05:19 PM) [snapback]499448[/snapback]</div> Now that's a statement that doesn't surprise me in the least!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Regulus Black @ Aug 19 2007, 01:23 PM) [snapback]498763[/snapback]</div> This is one of my top reasons for buying the Pris. In regards to the main point of the post ... you should be able to do better than $900.00 off sticker. Shop around.
