My Prius is ruining me!

Why did you decide to buy a Prius? Just the documentary? I haven't seen it, but it must be pretty good then!

 

I'll never watch NASCAR again unless they switch to all hybrids.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Slow & Green @ Dec 10 2006, 04:18 PM) [snapback]360161[/snapback]</div>

Hahaha welcome to my world.

I've been avidly drag racing since '94 (I'm only 31) and had a slew of 12-10sec cars and trucks. I'm now selling my 12sec 4x4 because I just don't have the urge to mess with it anymore. You should have heard all the crap I got from my buddies in the car club while I was racing gas powered Karts last night at our car clubs XMAS party. LOL

 

Well, I always thought NASCAR was stupid. Now I just have justification.

Yes, the Prius has ruined me for all other cars. Even when I *have* to borrow my Dad's truck to haul something, I find myself driving it like a Prius, gliding to stop lights way in advance, easing up to speed when the light turns green, coasting down hills and wondering....why can't all people drive like this? Even in a conventional car it would save tons.

I'll never drive a non hybrid again. I'll drive HSD or whatever they replace it with that's even better.

Yeah...I'm smug. I revel in my smugness.

And NASCAR is still stupid.

 

LOL, I love Godiva's posts

 

I'm the opposite. For the past 15 years, I've ALWAYS bought cars mostly based on MPG. The Prius is the first non-compact (new) car I've owned, and I like it! All this room, whoo-hoo! I don't think I can go back...

 

any car that idles at a stoplight is well just Priustoric.

 

Where is darreldd? We need him in this thread to remind us how primitive our Prius is for burning gas AT ALL.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jbarnhart @ Dec 10 2006, 09:20 PM) [snapback]360262[/snapback]</div>

Dang it! You ruined my grand entry. :sigh: Won't stop me from doing the obvious though. Too easy!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Slow & Green @ Dec 10 2006, 04:18 PM) [snapback]360161[/snapback]</div>

1. Any car that is burning gas when you are DRIVING it is pretty stupid.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Dec 10 2006, 07:19 PM) [snapback]360224[/snapback]</div>

2. Seriously? You WANT to burn gasoline to get across town? I was stuck buying this gas guzzler only because they stopped making cars that can be *really* clean.

I know, I know. Old news. Shut up, Darell. yadda, yadda. Take me out behind the shed and beat the snot out of me. YOu know you want to. I still think I could have pulled off the smugness better without Mr. Barnhart swiping my thunder!

 

At 65, I'm in the cheapest 1% of Americans (reflecting my Depression-era mom and dad). I've obsessed over MPGs from the time of my first car, a '55 Chevy 6-cyl. with Borg-Warner Overdrive (accelerator pedal-operated), and my first new car was a '62 VW beetle, simply because it lived up to its headline-advertised 32-MPG.

I started turning off my engine at known long stoplights (and in gridlock) at age 17 (1958). The only time it cost me (and others) was in rush-hour Seattle traffic, when I was driving with a near-dead battery and my car wouldn't re-start.

But my lifelong habit had nothing to do with the environment; it was aimed at saving gas, pure and simple. Over the years, however, I admit I have worn out starter motors at a higher-than-average clip.

I'm sure I'm not alone. Anyone else?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Slow & Green @ Dec 10 2006, 07:18 PM) [snapback]360161[/snapback]</div>

While I'm very much looking forward to taking ownership of my new Prius in the next few months, the general opinion of the poster is one seemingly standard feature of the car I could do without.

This conversation starts to border on the political side of things when you discuss the environmental part of the Prius and generally, I don't think that gets us too far. The one thing I will say is that if we're that worried about CO2, we better start killing a lot of cows apparently:

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2062484.ece

However, the sterotypical "attitude" of a Prius driver comes out loud and clear with this post which does the Prius fan base a real disservice in my view. I believe this exact attitude drives many people are not more interested in owning a hybrid. There are not many cars out there that will pigeon hole someone into a particular sterotype with a few exceptions, the Prius being one of those exceptions. Some people simply do not want to be hasseled about their political views or reasons for buying a car like the Prius.

A lot of people have specific reasons for owning the car that they do. Some because of personal preference, many because of income restricutions. I have a real problem with bad mouthing people who may not share the same car tastes as those who drive hybrids or have the ability to afford a Prius (or other hybrids for that matter).

If someone wants to drive an H3 and run it all day, then by god they should. They just have to be prepared to pay the gas bill when they fill up and not complain because they knew the kind of vehicle they were getting. If you want to drive a hybrid because you get excited about "helping the environment" then by all means go for it and get that hybrid.

For me, purchasing a Prius has nothing to do with the environemental aspects. Three reasons here, (1) the technology; (2) the gas savings; (3) trying to reduce dependency on foreign oil -- this is slightly tied to #2.

I guess my point in all of this is that I think those in the Prius community should be working to try and make attitudes like the one posted less accepted and converse with other car owners on a normal level rather than in the South Park "Smug" way.

 

i know what you are saying. there were actually Toyota salesmen in the lobby after the movie signing people up for Priuses. despite the obvious impulse emotional decision, over 80% went thru with the purchase anyway. i be willing to bet out of the 80% that went thru it, there are less regrets then from the 20% that did not

 

Maybe those people who are turned off by environmentalism should study the facts a bit more and pull their heads out of the sand. It's really only a sore subject to the ignorant (on the subject) and those who only care about profit.

Alas, no matter what your (all prius owners) reason for buying, I am just happy you did.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Dec 10 2006, 10:19 PM) [snapback]360224[/snapback]</div>

And, yet, Toyota will be racing NASCAR next year and have been in the truck series this year. I don't think they'll be running a hybrid.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Slow & Green @ Dec 10 2006, 07:18 PM) [snapback]360161[/snapback]</div>

Bingo. I started turning off my other car at stoplights, for just this reason. And it just gets worse. Wait till you go to buy your next car. We're a two-car household. When our non-Prius died, I wanted a 6 passenger vehicle, but ... there's nothing out there, for six passengers, that holds a candle to the Prius. I dithered for two months, then grudgingly bought a Mazda5 ("micro-van") with 5 speed manual based on a recommendation from another PriusChat poster. I'm hoping I can eke low 30's MPGs out of it with careful driving, but it'll be a while before I know, as mostly I leave it parked (the ultimate gas saver). I turn the car off at stoplights and pulse-and-glide it when it seems to make sense, and in general try vainly to make it pretend to be a Prius. It's not a Prius, but it does hold six passengers.