Why do people hate the Prius?

Hmm...Its amazing to me how people are suckered by the guerilla marketing against the Prius. And read all sorts of baloney into a design that is the pure result of achieving a form that provides for the best function.

The nature of the Prius shape is a combination of packaging the battery out of the way, which made the car taller, which then require the best aerodynamics to keep the drag low. It has nothing to do with making the car unique looking for the sake of style.

Its that kinda of ignorance that results in engineers being an undervalued resource in the USA. Which in the long run will result in the USA becoming a second-class nation....

 

I'll probably get flamed for this but I get a chuckle out of some of you and how darn hard you are trying to not be lumped in with your version of what others think a Prius driver is.

It says way more about you then it does about the people you feel so diametrically opposed to. Guess what. You are a Prius driver, don't be ashamed of it. It's a car, not your identity.

Why would you drive something you feel like you have to apologize for, or make excuses for?

 

The only thing that means to most people is that a barrel of oil will be worth 600 Yuan instead of 90 dollars. (I don't think the ruble is going to be there for a while, but that's JMHO)
So what?
I don't think we'll have any trouble 'securing' oil reserves in Prudhoe bay, the Gulf of Mexico, or off the California coast, which will give us time to wean ourselves off of gas burning Priuses.

I can remember not so long ago everybody was running around with their heads in their hands saying that the Japanese were going to take over our economy, and that they owned x-percent of the United States, and we were going to be an impoverished nation by the year 2000.

Didn't quite work out that way----did it?

 

In that case we better start weaning right now. The reserves you mention won't last very long at our current burn rate.

Tom

 

I read elsewhere this week a guy referring to its design as an "afterthought". I then helped him learn that the Kammback design is used in other cars like the Volt and among the best for a car, absolutely not an after thought!

 

Did we have the kind of trade deficit with Japan that we now have with China? Were they the largest holder of our debt (which is now incidentally enough the FED)? How much has our own manufacturing capacity been reduced since then?

 

Interesting, I always pronounced it as new-que-lure.

 

You and Jimmy Carter. And he was a new-que-lure engineer to boot.

Tom

 

Same reason I bought that and bought the TDI - good gas mileage, cool new technology, the bells and whistles. The MPGs were a primary factor, as I drive a lot (last year over 38K miles, but I expect to drive about 25K or so this year). But I don't give a crap about this carbon footprint nonsense and know one car won't make a difference in anything but my pocketbook.

 

I hear people claim he and Hussein Obama are the best presidents - no deficit, no recession, the economy did super well, and government cut taxes.

 

Tragedy of the Commons, a psychological phenomena many of us live by and noted in many realms of human behavior. Is also the reason why I buy cheap imported stuff despite a sense that it's ultimately bad for the greater good.

 

No, this is correct. My grandfather did his research and has the same conclusion. But then he might be incorrect because he's only been an Aerospace Engineer since hmm, 1947?

Make that two of us. Although I like the whole carbon credit offset business ideas they have floating around. I bet that'd be a great Ponzi scheme to make me rich.

 

Along with politicians and government agencies that feel to need to spend more. Like a previous posted warned about China, it's worrisome what will happen when the value of the US dollar is close to what one of my dog's presents is worth.

 

Well said. Better than everyone coming up with blanket assumptions for those who DO or DON'T drive one.

 

Whereas I'm the opposite there. Depending on the product, country of origin is important. Like camera equipment, I try to only buy stuff made here, Germany or Japan. Cars, Japan or Germany. I try to avoid Chinese stuff at all costs, unless I know it's better than something produced domestically or elsewhere.

 

But you're buying that stuff because you believe it is better quality, not to serve any greater good.

 

Yes and Yes...and until this year (or maybe last year depending on who spins the numbers) The United States was the #1 manufacturing nation in the world...of course this is in terms of things being manufactured, not people manufacturing things. The reason all of the union hacks out there say that there are no manufacturing jobs, is that car plants and textile industries no longer employ masses of high-wage, low skill (dues paying) workers.
WRT some of the previous posts, (question of carbon feet prints), and the original question ( Re: Why do peope hate the Prius?) I think we're getting a good thumb-nail sketch in this very thread...and it's a lot more entertaining than reading some low-octane crap about UA events....

It's not enough to buy and drive a Prius to save money, or because you think it's a cool car, or just because (don't laugh!) you like the looks of the car. Oh no.
We have to put our money into the collection plate, AND listen to the sermon, AND believe that we're saving 15.437 kilotons of carbon (I rounded up---sorry!) AANNDD this is gonna save the world from "climate change", and that we're going to suddenly stop pumping oil out of the ground.(EDIT: I'm probably in the 5 percentile group for energy use on this forum.)

Conservation? Heck yeah. I'm on board with that.
Environmental studies? Yup...that's good too. (real science...not some slicked-up documentary)

However (comma) I get tired of having latte swilling, liberals who live in 3,000 square foot houses in gated suburban communities, and drive a zillion miles to work every day, leer at me when I put 20-gallons of gas in my pickup truck (once a month), and cast doubt on my lineage because I haven't bought into the whole carbon thing.

I drive a Prius cause I have to. In a few years, I'm hoping to drive a HSD powered vehicle cause I want to (don't like debt), so I guess I'm sitting in no-man's-land on this whole Prius hate thing.

Oh yeah, YES! James Earl "Jimmy" Carter was a submariner too.
(pronounced "sub-mar-REEN-er" not "sub-MARE-ah-ner")

Good President?
Not my call.

 

But again, it depends on the item. But for the most part, yes - quality is important. If there's a product made in China and a similar one made in USA, I'm going to prefer the USA product. If the USA one has a crappy reputation or high failure rate, then obviously I'm going for the foreign made one.

 

One example; rubiks cubes! The ones from china are much better.

 

I don't care what anyone thinks of my Prius or me driving one. I love it. I waited 2 years for it.

I had one person make a snarky remark to me recently that a Prius is perfect for me since I don't drive many miles per year and therefore the battery will last. This person is uninformed and often makes statements that are based on zero knowledge. I of course let her know the battery is warrantied for 100K mi in my state and I've not heard of anyone having to replace their hy battery in the time I've been tracking this vehicle, and it's not even something I'll ever worry about. Nice try to bring me down a notch, but no dice! In the meantime she's extolling her love of a diesel mercedes -- that's the car she thinks is 'hot' and would like to own. <cough>