Why do people hate the Prius?

Top Gear is a BBC program that combines car tests with completely stupid and hilarious stunts. Jeremy Clarkson is a huge fan of high-performance cars. Add to that that the Prius is popular in the US and part of Top Gear's "British Charm" is making fun of Americans you can expect that they will make fun of the Prius. If it makes you feel better they hate the Ford Mustang and feel that the F-150 is completely useless.

BTW, my wife and I find Top Gear hilarious and we will miss it. (Cancelled cable today)

That said, he makes some entirely valid points. All cars cost more in Europe and the Prius starts at ~ $28,592 in the UK. The Prius has a poor quality interior even for the US and it is appalling when compared to European standards. Europeans generally prefer road handling to a floaty ride so the Prius falls short there as well. Add to this dozens of high-mileage diesel cars and you can see why the Prius has never caught on in Europe.

 

Seriously...Mr. Clarkson goes this far out of his way with bashing the Prius only to get himself noticed. We could all go on and on about how flawed his opinions are, but who really needs to waste their time doing so? In summation, is the Prius the perfect car? No, but at least one car company has gone way out of their way to improve the future of personal transportation, and, spent a lot of money bringing it to the rest of the world..yes, Prius for the people.

 

The answer, Dr D12, is because so many of the Prius owners are insufferable egotistic Prius snobs, believing they no longer smell up the bathrooms they visit simply because they are Prius owners.

I didn't always own a Prius, and that's what I thought of them. Now that I've been visiting this site for ownership and maintenance information, I find it to be at least partly true.

 

Without a frame of reference, opinions don't equate to much anyway.

Does the person care for ANY vehicle in the same class as Prius? If they don't like anything related, like Corolla or Camry, they probably won't like Prius either.

Those that prefer grossly over-powered or over-sized vehicles simply aren't interested in ANY vehicle intended for affordable family transport.
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i think the main issue is difference of this cars competiton in the uk compared to that here in the states. he makes the point of being able to drive vw lupo (?) diesel and obtaining a higher mpg. weather this is accurate or not, i dont know. but the prius works well here in america because its up against cars with, generally, half the mpgs it gets. the piece was slanted from the beginning so it was hard to take of points seriously (saving Tasmania fruit bats?) i bought my prius on the sole fact of the gas milage, wont lie. and while ive had my own issues with the car, the car suits the needs i have at there bare minimum. and in reality thats all i need

 

Pardon me, BUT THAT'S ABSOLUTE FRAKIN BULLSHIT!!!

PERIOD


KK6PD

 

It is much easier to hate the Prius by making stuff up. For example, the video reports:

Clarkson, "0 to 60 in 13 seconds."
​

That was true with my 2003, NHW11. The NHW20 is reported to be 9.8-10 seconds.

Then we have his mileage display:

His dialog spoke of a much shorter commute but here is his display. That is not his home to office commute. But the European models lack the thermos found on the North American models and his test vehicle may be using Imperial gallons. Still, he sure does hit the brake a lot, notice?

Clarkson also makes repeated references to the need to for noise so pedestrians won't run out in front of the car. A strange point of view since there are no accident statistics to backup this empty claim.

As for the European fondness for diesels, well I wish them "GOOD LUCK!" Events and engineering are moving past them. Welcome to the world of completion.

Bob Wilson

 

I don't hate my Prius.

Top gear is a comedy show. Having comedians analyze cars is like having engineers analyze jokes.

 

As with any fan forum, there is a bit of overprotectiveness of the vehicle, but I wouldn't describe folks here as snobbish by a long shot. Outside the forum the folks I know with Prius are among the mild mannered and unassuming. Arrogance or snobbishness is the exception.

A lot of the Prius owners in surveys appear to be engineers or have technical or advanced degrees. (My fellow engineers are known for their thrift rather than their ostentatious expenditures and elitism.) Many of us are fascinated that the tech works so well.

The last 8 years have left me very tired of the misguided, self-defeating, mean spirited, anti-education "populism" that produces statements like yours. This is the same sort of crap that produced the "Real America" claims by folks saying others are "arrogant, elitists, blah, blah, blah." (Apparently 53% of the nation is "artificial America.")

 

Your sentence #1 throws out your sentence #3. If you've never owned a big vehicle, you obviously have no frame of reference. If you have owned a large vehicle then you simply can't be interested in a Prius.

And, currently owning a large vehicle, I can uncategorically say that I am interested in affordable family transport...since I also purchased a Prius.

And to respond to KKPD6, if I may, you are absolutely wrong. Cruise through this forum and come back and tell me there are absolutely NO people here being just a little too smug for their purchase of the Prius. The rest of the country sees it, remember the South Park "Smug" episode?

I don't wish to belabor the point and drag the idea out, I'm just sayin', from a person recent to the Prius ownership, that it's real.

 

Shawn, you are correct about forum fans. I see the same thing at the Ford Trucks forum and the LS1 Camaro forums. Fans go to great lengths to defend their purchases. A lot of it is because they need to validate their choice in auto and all that it means to them. Some go a bit overboard.

The technical aspect of the Prius is quite awesome for a consumer purchase. Advanced and yet useful to anybody that can drive a car. A great combo.

I wasn't aware I was being anti-educationally populist in my statement. I just was commenting on the fact that there are Prius snobs, and people dislike them and what they are snobbish about. That is a common occurance whether it is about tennis, $3m homes, children in Yale or Harvard, or even what type of tobacco you chew. I'm sure there are Prius snobs from every facet of life...not just the educated class. And, if I may say, the idea that it goes without saying that Prius people must be from the educated community sounds maybe a little elitist.

 

My fine troll, we don't care.

Bob Wilson

 

Why, thank you, Bob, for making my point. Imagine that, and so quickly, too. But you are incorrect in some of your points.

Again, to think anyone non-Prius-interested are of limited intellect...really, now, isn't that showing your Prius-elitism? THAT is the reason Prius haters think the Smug Ones are dorks, that you believe you are smarter than everybody else( and smug about it). Sheesh. You aren't getting it, are you?

I'm only responding to the OP, so if I accidentally hit a nerve on some folks, my apologies. I'm only a recent Prius owner. I have found the vehicle has a good fit and finish. It hasn't got any rattles. Everything seems to be there. New, it smells great. Everything works. The stereo is pretty good. The views from the mirrors are adequate. The gas pedal has some muscle compared to my CRX. It's good on gas. It's easy to park. I like the display unit. But I don't think the sun rises and sets up it's tailpipe. It's a car. It gets us from A to B with 1/5 the gas of the truck, 1/2 the gas of the Z28, and slightly less than with the CRX (but with more room).

I've come across some folks that thought it was cool, and we discussed how it works. I haven't come across any Prius haters yet, but I suppose I might someday.

It's just a car, after all. No need to get all bent out of shape about anything.

Bob, I don't want to stir you up, or anybody else for that matter. I respect those of you who have owned your Prius for an extended period and have a lot more time behind the wheel, and wrenches (and payment book) than do I. It's just that we may not agree on WHY we have the same car. I could easily say you wasted your $250, but why talk politics -- we would likely have a parting of the ways. But why do we need to talk politically about tire pressure, or battery usage, or inverter coolant?

You guys that are calling me full of it just aren't understanding. The non-Prius owners see the Smug Ones STAND OUT in a crowd, and think you ALL are (or all of US are) that way. Those that aren't that way and don't stand out don't make poor impressions to the other communities.

 

I'm an engineer and I don't see the humor in that............oh.

 

Had I used the word "owned" instead of "prefer", that does indeed throw other complications into the mix.

Since families commonly own multiple vehicles anyway, the owning concept is diluted. After all, there's nothing wrong with a utility vehicle actually being used for utility.
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Which was a rather stupid statement on your part since you could say that about ANY vehicle's buyers. The anti-Prius owner vitriol which you seem to share with certain Prius haters appears to be more about folks like yourself than about the Prius owners you are attempting to insult. It's not so much a problem with them as a problem with you that you project onto them.

Well, you "may say" but there was nothing elitist in my comment as I pointed out that I've seen surveys that demonstrated an over representation in the demographics I mentioned. I didn't say that "it goes without saying", you did.

 

Apology not accepted as it clearly isn't genuine.

I've only been a Prius owner for a few months, but I've seen your type traipse through here with the same attitude several times already. You've got a political agenda at the forefront and insult as many as you can while doing a Joe the Plumber act.

Considering his candidate won you would have a hard time proving it was a waste of money. Now if he had donated $250 to McCain or Nader...

You know, I've yet to see one of these "Smug Ones" Prius owners in real life. I have however met plenty of tools like you describe driving diesel pick ups with Bush-Cheney bumper stickers.

 

Shawn, it was not a stupid statement since the entire idea is about Prius owners. The fact that snobbery of any sort is largely frowned upon by others is a given. The fact that it bears the same freight when it's about Prius owners should not be shocking. If the shoe fits, please add it to your wardrobe. That some people very nearby here may have some of the same wardrobe also should not be a shock.

I'm sure there are other demographics which you wouldn't wave the flag for, but as far as being smarter by default for being a Prius owner, well, you would have to include me since I own one now, too, even though I don't have neat pictures, graphics, network admin bona fide's, political proof-of-purchase points for 'truely individual thinking', and other such stuff as Mr Wilson.

 

Going back to the original Top Gear review, they have problems with the Prius but so too do many in the traditional auto industry. They can't figure it out so they:

• make stuff up
• conduct misleading demonstrations
• speak with disdain about the vehicle
• speak with disdain about the owners

Top Gear lied about the facts of the Prius and avoided even the UK mileage comparisions. They substituted a Clarkson demonstration instead of empirical data. The vehicle was too quiet for Clarkson, something he apparently disdains, and he has a distorted view of the owners. But he is a good clown and that show is a mix of the Marx Brothers do Car and Driver.

No doubt there are some who take Top Gear as their buying guide. It is their money and they are free to do with it what they wish. The gas station will pump will chastise them well enough, "ding, ding, ding, ..."

A better question is "Why does the gas pump hate the non-Prius drivers?" That is a question we can answer.

Bob Wilson