Is Prius an Econobox?

My wife's winter beater is a Cadavalier. You want to mention econo-junk, that car is a biggest POS we have ever owned. I told her to dump it and buy a used Gen II Prius for a winter beater

Mike

 

Some of the people in this thread would call a Cadavalier V ( Cadillac Cimarron) a luxury car because it has leather and a lot of gadgets and bling.

 

OMG, I remember those Caddy's. Freakin butt ugly

Mike

 

Certainly not luxury but quite nice. The base II and III models are econoboxes. Take away the HSD and you have a $15 car.

I own a Prius V ATP. It's quite nice. No way would I buy a II or III. Cloth seats with 15" rims just scream economy. Halogen headlights? No thanks. Integrated Nav is much nicer than a rubber glass mount TomTom. Pre-collision system could save my life some day.

Different strokes for different folks.

 

All the reliability and sophistication of a Cadaver with countless more gadgets to fail and extra weight to tone down the Cadavers neck snapping acceleration.

A guy I worked with bought one new, it was a real POS.

 

I think we have learned our lessons to never buy GM junk again. Thank goodness our Saturn's are holding up well. Now to get rid of my Saturn and get a slick looking Prius Five in the garage in place of it One more year to go....

Mike

 

The 15's and plastic covers kick it down a notch for sure. And you get those on the $29k Prius IV too. That's not cool. They need to work out the wheel and sunroof dilemma in the IV and maybe III also.

Base model Corollas, Insight, etc... usually have wheel covers so I have no problem with those on the II or plain III. I think III with navigation maybe should get some nicer wheels. I think people might pay for it if they dishin' for nav to begin with. But everybody pees about cost. Whatever. Other models have more wheel choices. Prius needn't be different.

 

I can not believe this is even a topic still

Bottom line is Prius is a wonderful car with every generation becoming more polished than generation before it. If you think your Prius V is a luxury car who are we to Dispute your opinion! I personally think you are smoking crack but again who am I.

 

I saw some luxury cars - they're called Mercedes E350's ... and they cost $60,000

Shall we say Prius V is like an average looking lady who is dressed up really nice for the evening.

 

That'd be saying the Prius V or Five is sexy No doubt it is.

Mike

 

I hear they're better in bed than the really pretty ones.

 

You got that right. I said the hell with those prissy lookin biotch's years ago.

Mike

 

Who said/had written that and where? I've seen only question if it's econobox. No one said that it's a luxury car. In higher trim levels it has some "luxury" items added but no one of the higher than II trim level never mentioned that it's a luxury car.

I'm from Europe and I would call for example Renault Thalia as econobox in midsized car class. It's built to be cheap car big enough for families that can not afford anything more expensive. It's still a good value car for what it is.

Prius without government incentives is definitely not an econobox in any trim level. You can write that it's a 25k$ car but not an econobox.

 

my definition of econobox basically boils down to:
1) interior quality
- quality of materials used
- quality of the fit and finish (consider tolerances as well as design)
2) driving performance
- suspension parts. aka are you looking at something cheap (torsion beam) or something more sophisticated (independent rear)
- tires: fit with the worst LRR tires possible? or do you have decent rubber
- ride quality
3) standard features: this set varies from person to person. i find that A/C, cruise control, a radio, and keyless entry are must haves. But even the new base sentra has A/C and that starts just north of 10k. Anything else is superfluous. (meaning: I could add nav to a 10k sentra but that doesn't change the fact that it's an econobox)

Verdict: The Prius has qualities of an econobox and qualities of a regular midsize sedan with some technology found in high end cars. How you classify the Prius based on how you value each of those categories (valuing interior fit and finish or valuing ride quality etc) is basically up to you.

However in my honest opinion, classifying a car solely due to its technology gizmos is not a good way to justify a lack of mechanical technology or lack of interior fit and finish comparatively to other cars in its price range.

 

If that's what you deduced from these 12 pages or so, your analysis skills really need some work ... but that's OK, buyer's remorse can be a real drag. Enjoy your V ! Self-delusion is all you got left ... Just keep repeating to yourself ...

My Prius five is a 35 thousand dollar luxury car ... everybody is jealous of me ....

My Prius five is a 35 thousand dollar luxury car ... everybody is jealous of me ....


My Prius five is a 35 thousand dollar luxury car ... everybody is jealous of me ....


My Prius five is a 35 thousand dollar luxury car ... everybody is jealous of me ....


My Prius five is a 35 thousand dollar luxury car ... everybody is jealous of me ....

LOL !

REV

 

"Econo" fits the Prius, but "box" doesn't, given the aerodynamic characteristics and technology. How about econocraft?

 

Weren't they refered to as an egg years ago? Econo-egg ound:

Mike

 

Based on Revigh's assumption, is there another car you wish you had purchased at the time you bought your car, Thai?

I'll go first - I would have been wise to shop any new, discounted plain Prius V's exactly 4 months ago. Selling my '88 pickup may have covered the cost over my Coupe. The V would be more practical and efficient.