Why did you get your Prius?

My main consideration for buying a Prius was that an upright (double) bass fits perfectly in the car. I needed a hatchback for the bass, but I really wanted a manual transmission Honda. Honda still doesn't make a car that works nicely for my strange cargo needs (I considered a Honda Fit, but the bass sits rather awkwardly in the back and there's a 4-6 inch drop when you open the hatchback door.

I traded in a Subaru Forester, which nicely fits TWO double basses (I can only get one in the Prius). The Forester was too heavy for the Imprezza frame and it ate brakes and rotors. And I figured out that AWD wasn't essential for my needs (and it results in pretty lousy mpg).

I like the overall size of the car. It's not tiny, but it's small enough not to be a "small SUV." I like that it's not too low to the ground and visibility through the front window is very good (with a bit of a small blind spot on the left side between the windshield and the small triangular window).

So, the Prius was the best option for my needs. I'm also really looking forward to the great gas mileage!

 

Just traded in my 2006 Driftwood Pearl Pkg 6 and leased a 2010 Classic Silver Metallic Pkg 4, so that I could get $10k back in cash back. The $10k pays for the lease payments over the next 3 years and I get 2 years of service free to boot.

Of course, I'm going to spend the $10k on something other than the lease payments, but it was an offer that I couldn't refuse.

 

the MPG and reliability. I traded in a 2007 Buick LaCrosse, really nice car but the 18 mpg was a killer in town.

 

MPG.. we live out in the country 15 miles one way to anything.. put 40,000 miles on our 16mpg suburban since coming out here (room for my hotrod hobby) two yrs ago.

Sam

 

I wanted a more fuel efficient car than a Volvo station wagon (ending up with the Prius is obvious). I also wanted safety (two front airbags and side curtains). I also wanted enough space. The Prius works great. If case anybody wonders if two bikes fit in the hatchback see the attachment. OK, they are two KIDS bikes (12 inch and 16 inch, for 3-5 yr olds and 4-7 yr olds receptively), but it meets our needs.

 

Well, the first time I ever herd of a Prius was in 2004. Thats when I started doing re-search and seeing pictures of them. I was in 4th grade and my best friends dad has a car shop where he does body work professionally and some man brought in his 2004 Prius that was silver because the tow hook cover for the front bumper was pushed in and needed a new bumper because it was all scraped. I seen it and thought "WOW, what a weird looking car!" I peeked through the window and was dazzled by the spaceship interior. I finally got my dad to go to the Toyota dealership on October the 11th of 2007 to test drive one, sadly, they just sold the last one the day before but had a used one on one of their lots! We went to drive it and LOVED it. We didn't even know how to turn it on at first! I was hooked from that day. I got one because of the cool technology, gas-mileage, low emissions, style, customer satisfaction, and reliability.

 

Hadn't intended to until I heard the lease deals on the radio. I had two older vehicles and maintaining both (I do the repairs myself) is a bit of a hassle. I ran the numbers and they were attractive; could get into a new vehicle with full factory warranty for not much over $100/month so that's why I did it. The environmental savings were of little consideration. I like the gadget nature of it but this was primarily a financial selection of the car.

 

I had a 2003 PT Cruiser GT Turbo. Bought it new when I retired. I loved the car and did several exterior mods to it but I never could keep my foot off the turbo so to speak. Consequently the gas mileage was horrible. I was scanning the for sale ads on the local websites and decided to type in "Hybrid". Up came about 6 Camrys, 2 Civics and 2 Prius, one of them a 2009 with only 4000 miles on. Being in Canada, the mileage should have been in Kilometers but often people will show miles in the ad because it "looks" like a lower figure than Kms (1 mile = 1.6 km). I decided to have a look to see why this person wanted to sell the car with only 4000 miles (or 6400 Kms) on it.

It turns out the older lady had been down in Portland, OR to visit her parents in her older Saab and a major part went on her car - I think transmission - so she went to the nearest car dealer and bought a new car to travel home in. The salesman at the Toyota dealership obviously was a good salesman as he convinced her to buy the most deluxe 2009 Prius - the 2010's were already out - even though she didn't like all the technology on the car. After owning the car for only 4 months back in Victoria, BC, she asked a friend to sell it for her so she could get something "less confusing to drive".

The price was right ($7,000 less than she paid for it in Portland - I saw the original invoice) and I already had a buyer for my PT. So I made the deal. To begin with I wasn't impressed with the new car and often wished I had the PT back but I sure did like the MPG, approximately 1/3 the gas I used in the PT to go the same distance.

I got involved with PriusChat and to loosely quote one of the regular contributors on this forum "I used to be in love with MPH but now my main squeeze is MPG!" Love that stealth mode!

Dave

 

Big oil has their hand in your wallet. The Prius only lets them reach in with a couple of fingers.

 

MPG, technology, and not supporting big oil. (Trying to get the most miles out of every gallon of gas.)