1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return i

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by stevemcelroy, Sep 13, 2011.

Page 2 of 3
  1. Stev0

    Stev0 Honorary Hong Kong Cavalier

    Joined:
    Sep 23, 2006
    7,201
    1,073
    0
    Location:
    Northampton, MA
    Vehicle:
    2022 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return

    Huh. It's the most comfortable seat of any car I've owned. Of course, it's the largest and most expensive car I've ever owned, too, so that may have something to do with it.
     
    #21 Stev0, Sep 14, 2011
  2. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2010
    6,035
    3,855
    0
    Location:
    Rocky Mountains
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return

    I have driven across the US 3 times now in my 2006 GenII, and all times it has been a 80mph+ rocket in less than 30 hours total trip time. The seats were more than fine. If they aren't comfortable, then there is something wrong with you as a person. Either too big or bony or who knows what. But they work fine.

    They are definitely not as "plush" as the Lexus seats in the RX, but the cost differential is about 5 times more so I expect it would be. If you want uncomfortable seats, sit in a Lotus. My god, it is like a medieval torture device.
     
    #22 2k1Toaster, Sep 14, 2011
    1 person likes this.
  3. amm0bob

    amm0bob Permanently Junior...

    Joined:
    May 29, 2008
    7,730
    2,547
    0
    Location:
    The last place on earth to get cable, Sacramento
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return


    [​IMG]
     
    #23 amm0bob, Sep 14, 2011
  4. stevemcelroy

    stevemcelroy Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2009
    873
    194
    0
    Location:
    Boulder, CO
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return

    Perhaps it is just me that think the driver seat sucks - I do not think so, but could be.

    I think that you have the pricing of the RX wrong - they start at about $40k which is less than twice what the Prius starts at.

    I agree with you that the Prius is more comfortable than a Lotus but dear God what a ridiculous comparison - the Lotus is a stripped down road-legal track car that is small and light by design - you buy it for the weight to hp ratio and the handling. Comparing the comfort has as much applicability as pointing out the Prius has more cargo room.

     
    #24 stevemcelroy, Sep 14, 2011
  5. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2010
    6,035
    3,855
    0
    Location:
    Rocky Mountains
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return

    Paid over $52K for the RX, and paid just under $10K for the Prius. $10K*5 < $52K.

    I have been in a large range of vehicles from clunkers to luxury cars to classic cars and super cars. The Prius is not even close to being uncomfortable. I would call it "good" out of a 5 point scale consisting of: death, bad, fair, good, excellent

    The RX would be "excellent". The Lotus would be "death". The Honda civics would also be "good". More than adequate, not uncomfortable, yet could be better if the cost was raised.
     
    #25 2k1Toaster, Sep 14, 2011
  6. stevemcelroy

    stevemcelroy Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2009
    873
    194
    0
    Location:
    Boulder, CO
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return

    Thanks - this is exactly the point I was going for. The Fit is a terrific car and I agree with you that it is a pretty fun car to drive and what Honda did with the rear seats is beyond cool. Add in the fact that it is significantly less than a Prius, about 7k less in starting price if memory serves me right.

     
    #26 stevemcelroy, Sep 14, 2011
  7. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2010
    6,035
    3,855
    0
    Location:
    Rocky Mountains
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return

    The fit is a good car, but it is also a apples to broccoli comparison. Both are vehicles, both are very different. Park your prius next to a fit next time and see the difference.
     
    #27 2k1Toaster, Sep 14, 2011
  8. stevemcelroy

    stevemcelroy Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2009
    873
    194
    0
    Location:
    Boulder, CO
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return

    Prius starting price - $23k, RX starting price $39k - under 2x.

    Prius top of the line, fully loaded price - $36k, RX top of the line, fully loaded price $58k - also under 2x.

    I did not know the pricing of the RX so I was curious - that 59k is for the awd hybrid with every option and accessory offered down to prepaying for 4 years of Entune and options such as a trailer hitch not even possible with the Prius.

    What were the details on the 10k Prius - how old, how many miles, what trim level?

    Same question for the RX?

    My guess is that your Prius was used with a lot of miles and also could have been bought during the sudden acceleration scare when prices tanked. My guess is the RX was bought new or very lightly used and optioned up quite a bit. Does that mean that a Prius costs 10x more than a BMW 5 series just because I can spend $35k on a new high end Prius and get an old POS BMW for $3,500?

    Come on - you can do better than that.



     
    #28 stevemcelroy, Sep 14, 2011
  9. stevemcelroy

    stevemcelroy Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2009
    873
    194
    0
    Location:
    Boulder, CO
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return

    Is the Prius the fruit or the veggie?

     
    #29 stevemcelroy, Sep 14, 2011
  10. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2006
    22,449
    11,760
    0
    Location:
    eastern Pennsylvania
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return

    Your rear end has my sympathies.:)
    Most of my driving has been in mid size American sedans. I once test drove a Volvo S40 and wanted the seats for my living room.

    I would develop neck cramps in the Prius and Matrix. It took a day or two for them to appear, and they would go away after a week of driving. I concede it may have more to do a lack of a telescoping steering wheel and seat adjustments in order to get into the ideal position.
    Then there is something wrong with many here. Seat comfort was in the top five complaints about the gen2. It could be psychosomatic, people expect better than Corolla seats for the Camry price.
     
    #30 Trollbait, Sep 14, 2011
  11. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2010
    6,035
    3,855
    0
    Location:
    Rocky Mountains
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return

    RX is loaded. Prius doesn't have nav but has everything else. My shopping around for a good deal doesn't diminish statement. RX was purchased with about 20k on the clock whereas the prius has 60k or 61k. You will not find a base RX anywhere near here. Dealership don't even stock them. Sort of pointless. Just like buying the base prius with no SKS or backup camera... spend the extra money and be happy.

    I bought it when the SUA scare happened because I know that in general people are idiots. My car has appreciated in value even though I have put on 25k miles.

    [/quote]
    Does that mean that a Prius costs 10x more than a BMW 5 series just because I can spend $35k on a new high end Prius and get an old POS BMW for $3,500?[/quote]

    If you buy two cars from the same model year, it doesn't matter what price you pay. I am comparing the 2006 Prius to the 2007 RX we have. Although the 07 and the 10 RX are essentially the same in terms of seats. And the 06-09 prius are the same, so it is a fair comparison. Likewise comparing a 2001 bmw 5 series to a 2001 genI prius would be acceptable.

    But I am going farther than that and saying in all the cars I have had the pleasure or misfortune of driving, the prius is no where near the bottom.
     
    #31 2k1Toaster, Sep 14, 2011
  12. stevemcelroy

    stevemcelroy Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2009
    873
    194
    0
    Location:
    Boulder, CO
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return

    Man oh man - I left for an appointment when this popped into my head.

    Back in the late 80's I purchased an old Volvo wagon from my folks for $1, this is how Mass handled family sale/gift of cars but it was a legal sale and my paperwork reflected a $1 purchase and $.05 paid to the Commonwealth in sales tax.

    So does that mean that a Prius is worth 35,000 times what a Volvo is? ***

    Don't be silly, of course the answer is no.

    ***edited and switched worth for cost (and small grammatical changes to make sentence work) based on comment in later post - my bad for loose language.

     
    #32 stevemcelroy, Sep 14, 2011
  13. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2010
    6,035
    3,855
    0
    Location:
    Rocky Mountains
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return

    Obviously yes. Cost is what you pay, not what you hope it is worth. If you bought it for a dollar, your cost was a dollar. If you were stupid enough to pay $35K for a Prius, then your cost is 35000 times greater for the prius than the volvo. This isn't difficult.
     
    #33 2k1Toaster, Sep 14, 2011
  14. stevemcelroy

    stevemcelroy Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2009
    873
    194
    0
    Location:
    Boulder, CO
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return

    No, what does diminish the statement is that you are comparing an 06 and an 07 and one that has 20k miles and another that has 60k. You say the 06/07 thing does not matter, but let me ask you this - you have a choice between two otherwise identical cars, one is a year newer. Which one do you pick?

    The other issue is that on just first blush it appears that you got a terrific deal on the Prius and not such a good deal on the RX. As I mentioned I actually went to Lexus and built one and added everything possible and it was only 58k. Assuming that you have everything, and you can not as Entune was not available so you could not have prepaid for 4 years of service. Even so, you would have saved a total of about 6k - about $.30 a mile or about 11% - frankly for me it would not be worth it to drive someone else's car.

    This is a stupid argument - if you want to claim the RX is 5x more than the Prius go for it.

     
    #34 stevemcelroy, Sep 14, 2011
  15. stevemcelroy

    stevemcelroy Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2009
    873
    194
    0
    Location:
    Boulder, CO
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return

    You are right - I used cost when I really meant value. All bow down to the majesty of the toaster!

    It does not change the fact that in my case I had a Volvo purchased for $1 and a maxed out Prius for 35k. You had a used Prius that you got a very good deal on and a used RX that you did not get a good deal on. You tried to justify that the RX cost 5 times what the Prius did using your specific case - all I did was use the same flawed logic. Your line from post 22 was -
    The only difference is that my example was more outrageous - they were equally wrong.s

    But let's look at your statement again - they are cars that you admit were bought at different times, were different model years and had very different miles on them, but yet you said it in a very general way. Had you said the cost differential between my RX and my Pruis was 5x then you would have been accurate, but only in that one case. At the very least this is quite misleading.

    How many people on Prius Chat have package 5's with the advanced tech package in blizard- if you bought new and paid sticker you have been called stupid by 2k1toaster.

     
    #35 stevemcelroy, Sep 14, 2011
  16. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2010
    6,035
    3,855
    0
    Location:
    Rocky Mountains
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return

    I chose a 2006 over a 2010 because I liked it better. Similarly I chose a 2006-2009 over a 2004-2005 because I liked the subtle differences.

    And you are getting way off the original objective. We are comparing a feature of a car to that same feature in all other cars. In which case years don't really matter as much because as previously said, over the entire range of vehicles, the seats in the GenII are not bad at all. We started down this path, because I gave 1 example of a vehicle with seats I deem better than a GenII Prius, a Lexus RX. My cost was over 5 times difference. Therefore I do not care. And frankly, even if we compare loaded prius to loaded RX or base prius to base RX, the RX will always be more expensive.

    The supercars I have had the privilege of driving or being a passenger in were extremely expensive and the seats varied from death to good. My 80's style car has good seats as do the newer model year cars. Seats are seats are seats, and the Prius isn't anywhere near the bottom of the barrel.

    Tax on a > $50k vehicle adds up fast... And keep in mind Lexus doesn't do "deals". The end of year events are $2k off usually. Big whoopdie doo. They retain their value, no matter the cost. It seems to me you have never shopped Lexus before so these things may not seem obvious.

    My RX was and will always be 5x more than my prius.

    I want a shrine somewhere cool... :cool:

    If you buy a Chevy Aveo for sticker price you are also stupid. (Well if you buy an Aveo you are automatically in that category...). If you do not negotiate and pay exactly what they ask, then you are fool. There is always wiggle room. With Lexus, it may be a few hundred dollars. With Ford you get $8,000 off just by walking into the dealership. They can't give that crap away.

    Also something to note on subject, the touring comes with seats that have lumbar support and people say are on par with "luxury" class vehicles.
     
    #36 2k1Toaster, Sep 14, 2011
  17. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2006
    22,449
    11,760
    0
    Location:
    eastern Pennsylvania
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return

    I don't think anyone here said the Prius seats are the worse. Just that seat comfort was one of things traded off for driving the most fuel efficient hybrid on the road.

    It is one of those things that depends on perspective, and it is great that it isn't something that was trade off you. However, you are not everybody. Sometimes I forget that not everyone can swim, because I can. Don't make the fallacy of equating me for all.
     
    #37 Trollbait, Sep 14, 2011
  18. a_gray_prius

    a_gray_prius Rare Non-Old-Blowhard Priuschat Member

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2008
    2,927
    782
    0
    Location:
    IL
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return

    Lmao. I drove a Lotus Elise a couple months ago and I was just fine in the seats (I love Lotuses). I'm guessing your waistline is larger than 32"?
     
    #38 a_gray_prius, Sep 14, 2011
  19. amm0bob

    amm0bob Permanently Junior...

    Joined:
    May 29, 2008
    7,730
    2,547
    0
    Location:
    The last place on earth to get cable, Sacramento
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return


    And.... :hand:

    Most of us men don't have a boyish figure.

    And my head hits the roof...

    I didn't fit well in Franks Lambo either... nor in my buddy's little Fiat...


    I'm guessing you like to make fun of folks that are bigger than pip-squeaks...

    As for the size of the Lotus in general... they make the cabin small, because most all of the cars they make are little.

    The Prius is a mid-sized car... the Lotus (insert model name here) never was.
     
    #39 amm0bob, Sep 14, 2011
  20. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2010
    6,035
    3,855
    0
    Location:
    Rocky Mountains
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Re: I've been driving my wife's car for the past week and I'm kind of disappointed to have to return

    Nope, smaller :D

    The lotus is not mine, so I was just a passenger. The seats were hard plastic with a 5 point harness and the sides that "wrap" around you and your head. I have no idea if they were stock or not as that is the one and only time I had been in the Lotus.
     
    #40 2k1Toaster, Sep 14, 2011
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)
Page 2 of 3