Prius just keeps on going

I find it interesting that this article seems to be facing the fact that Prius buyers are not buying the car to make a statement. I certainly did not buy mine to make a statement. I bought it because of its fuel economy, interior room, and because of the fact that it is a clean running car. What other people think of me or the statement I'd apparently be making if I bought one were not on my list.

I suppose, though, the "statement" aspect, at least in the US, comes from the marketing world. In that light, then, people must have something for some reason other than it makes sense and is the best choice for them, and the marketing "wonks" of the world seem not to understand this as many are focused on making people think they need something when, in truth, they can live without it.

 

We were shopping for a Camry. I hadn't ever considered the Prius at all, in fact, I didn't like the new model compared to the older smaller one. But then all of a sudden, I saw this bright red Prius sitting on the lot. "Hmm, I've never sat in one of these before." I thought and I opened the drivers side door and sat down.

One thing I really don't like about a lot of modern cars (I drove a 1970 VW Squareback and a 1988 Honda Civic sedan before we got our Prius), is that when I sit down in the drivers seat, I feel like I'm in a cave. I mean the dash is really high, and I don't feel like I have good forward visibility. When I sit in the new 2007 Camry, this is how I feel, I'm sitting too low. When I sat down in the 2007 Prius, I felt like I had really good forward visibility, and this felt really good.

I also liked the hatchback, and the back seat room was impressive. This was the only Prius on the lot at the time, this was last October, 2006, and so there were a few other people looking at it too. We decided what the heck, let's test drive it. I'd never driven a Prius before.

So since this was going to be my wifes car, I let her drive it first. Sure is quiet! Then a few miles down the road, we switched and I drove it. Seems pretty nice! Steering is excellent, brakes are excellent, it has some good get up and go too. Sure is quiet!

Hmm, 100% Made in Japan. My wife is impressed, she's Japanese so this kind of thing is important to her. I liked the color, I'd always wanted a red car.

We bought it. Have been *very* happy with it since then. Didn't buy it to make a statement, but my wife and I do care about saving the environment, and I've been using CFL bulbs at home since 2002.

 

Very well written article... The Prius makes a lot of sense from many different perspectives.

Although I do not own one yet (I will as soon as my income situation stabilizes), I will buy a Prius... We did have the opportunity to rent one earlier this month when 2 of our other vehicles were being repaired. We found the Prius to be quite comfortable for 4 people, was reliable, handling was as expected, and had great gas mileage. After driving 250 miles, I filled up the tank before giving it back to Hertz. It only cost $ 16.54 (for the same mileage, my Jeep would cost over $ 50.00 for a fill-up).

Keith

 

The Prius hasn't had a redesign since 2004. That's 5 model years so far without a redesign (04, 05, 06, 07, 08).. If the '09 is going to be just a "facelift", that would be a testament to its persistence in the market-- 6 years without a redesign, when most other cars in the marketplace these days would be redesigned every 4 years or so.

Personally I'm hoping for an all-new '09 rather than just a facelift-- That new-design Prius in the Popular Mechanics spy photo looked so nice. B)