My son hates my Prius- How can I mod it to be cool to a 13yo

I let my 16 year old put the L plates on my Prius and drive it instead of his 1977 Corolla, he now thinks the Prius is cool.

 

Okay Ladies and Gentlemen, please do not dismiss me as your average forum toll, no, I am merely a very young, very angry British fellow. This thread made me very angry, so now I am going to shout at you.

The first port of call would be the most obvious one, Why on earth would you care what a 13 year old thinks of your car? Well, because he’s the ideal “coolness tester”. He has ZERO life experience and therefore is able to look at things at face value, so he hasn’t been corrupted by the “OMFG, the earth is going to overheat, blow a head gasket and then explode (and therefore killing the penguins)!” lobby, and can look at the Prius for what it is – “Nasty, inefficient car for fat americans who think they are saving the world, MAN.” – Jon Bmw.

Now, that’s not to say that the Prius isn’t a cool car to some people, but the problem with this is that the type of people that think the Prius are cool cars aren’t actually cool people themselves. Oh no. They are the types would kiss penguins and hug badgers , they are the type of people who drink fair trade coffee, are pro gun control and voted Obama, these people... are boring. Their opinion of life does not count, as they haven’t actually lived yet.

As for someone mentioning teaching him the environmental benefits of the Prius, I disagree. Firstly, I’ll argue the point of the Prius providing ANY environmental benefit to the globe what-so-ever, partly because global warming does not exist (if you care to argue against me, please explain to me) and partly because the Prius absolutely RAPES the earth of its natural resources before being put together. And even then, once it has been built, it still manages to not be THAT economical. Gee wiz, 50MPG? You could be forgiven for being smug until you’re told that diesels cars over here have been getting that sort of fuel economy since the early 90s. Better yet, a blumotion polo would kick the utter shit out of it when it comes to sipping juice - 72MPG anyone? Cheaper to buy, kinder to the environment and does not look like a shrunken transformer with downs syndrome.

Epic.

 

Hey, Joshy,

Welcome to PriusChat

We get our share of angry young men trolling through, and most likely your
post will generate a hearty "Ho-hum, what else is not new?" response.

Nothing wrong with anger; when directed in a positive way it can fuel
sustained efforts toward positive ends.

Then on the other hand, more typically it leads to self-destructive behaviors,
to wit, your post. This is unfortunate.

But there's always time to regroup, education is the answer. Every one of
your supposedly telling points has been discussed at length here and refuted.
Use the search function to get the scoop. It'll take a little time. But, for having
done it, you'll be a better man...

If things like that matter to you.

 

That's a good one Joshy!

p.s. I don't think I'm cool, or trying to make some elitist environmental statement with my car. I'm a hiker, mountain biker, throw frisbee, run, cook, can do plumbing, electrical, and carpentry, love to drink a few pints of ale, own several guns, don't own an I-Pod,a Blackberry, Bluetooth, or I-Phone, didn't vote for Obama (though I do think he is going to be a very good president), don't kiss Penguins or badgers (though I do like to wrestle with my slobbering, grunting pig dog German Boxer), am a nurse and blah, blah, blah.
I own a Prius because it has the highest resale value, one of the highest reliability ratings, and the highest consumer satisfaction scores five years in a row according to Consumer Reports. And it gets pretty good gas mileage.

Diesels; you are completely right. They get great gas mileage, but we are just this year being able to buy diesel cars again in the American market due to EPA regulations. But, with that said, we are relying on defunct technology and as a world community must work towards a different way of utilizing fossil fuels. Petroleum will not be here forever, probably not even 90 years from now. The Prius, even if it is flawed compared to tomorrow's technology is merely step in a better direction. We can't all afford a Tesla.

Truly, I'm sorry your experience with Prius owners has been so negative.

Too bad we live so far apart, you'd be a hoot to have a pint with.

David

 

As another note: why does anyone care what their children/stepchildren think of their car? You are a parent. You are not cool in their eyes and if you strive to be you might just find yourself in an increasingly ugly spiral of trying to please a child and that does not promote respect on their part. If he doesn't like it and it's that undesirable for him let him walk to where he wants to go! Suddenly, that "shrunken transformer with Down's Syndrome" won't look so bad after all! Joshy had a good point on that one (I'm not talking about how the car looks either).

 

Is it me, or do others find threads like this fun to read?

I remember when I looked at various cars and said "COOL". Now I look at the gas bill and say "COOL" (until some extremely ugly EV drives by).

Year's ago, I would have liked to have told the OP to hire two 16 year old gals at one of the many high school car washes during the summer. Then turn around get the 13 year old son and go to the car wash. When the 16 year olds greet the Prius driving Dad stating that they will wash the car since it is so cool. The 13 year son would be brainwashed for life.

 

Smart idea, FL Prius Driver, me like!

I find the threads from Prius-Haters fun as well. I wish the recent one from the "So why did you buy a prius" hadn't been exterminated. I had a really witty, non-angry response and some jabs to his beloved Jaguar...bummer. Can't we just move their threads somewhere instead of erasing them. Not everyone gets defensive and upset when they are insulted. I enjoy the banter!

 

Hey troll, you do know the 50mpg talked about on here is US gallons which are wimpy little about 4 litre gallons not your giant man size near 5 litre big boy gallons don't you?
You see you get a bigger view of the world when you GROW UP!
Lets stop messing about and switch to SI units now.

PS, I'm a pretty average Prius driver, my mileage is between 60 and 70MPG UK gallons and miles.
No Tazzie fruit bats are harmed in the making of my car.

 

My exhaust pipe emits Tasmanian Fruit Bats...and Skittles too!ound:

 

No doubt he hates it. What self respecting boy would like a prius?

Buy a 4x4 chevy truck and put a rifle rack in the back. Grow a set of balls and be a man.

 

Sit the boy down to one of those free rate quote sites for insurance... type in his data and poke a big hole in his dreams.

A friend of mine makes fun of me for buying a Prius, wants to buy the new Transformers Bumble Camaro... LOL... I did up an insurance rate quote for the 19 year old and poof his monthly insurance payments were higher than the would be car payments.. LOL... I guess I really pissed on his dreams...

 

Fortunately, my 16-yo about-to-be-licensed son LIKES the Prius. When he complains about the '93 Grand Caravan that it replaced, and which will become MY wheels when he gets his license and the older Camry, I offer to try to find a clone of the 45-hp 1960 Rambler I was delighted to drive. (It had more class than my Schwinn.)

 

I’m sure that someone already said something along these lines, butta

It all comes down to choices.
Drive or walk, his choice.

I have a 17-year-old stepson. He knows that I am not going to cater to his whims. And we get along well.

 

What about being grateful that his family can afford a Prius......
besides that you are saving on fuel and being green.
It's your car- he can buy what he wants when he has his license.

 

What are you doing here?

 

by the looks of a few of his posts, a mix of wanting a prius to save money, and trolling.:focusalthough the topic is rather old and IIRC the son's in his late teens now.)

 

This isn't a Prius, of course, but it IS a hybrid. It works, it runs, it's sophisticated. Only gets around 37 mpg, but goes 0-60 in around 5 seconds. Not only that it is to my eyes extraordinarily beautiful.

Italdesign Quaranta Hybrid Concept - Exclusive First Drive - Motor Trend

 

It looks like the Toyota Volta concept. Volta is suppose to do 0-60 in 4 seconds.

Toyota Volta - Overview | Hybrid Cars

 

Oh no, the vision out the back looks terrible. How can anyone tolerate that spoiler across the back window?