Bought a new Toyota Prius...

SSonnentag

SSonnentag

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So, last month I traded in my car on a new Toyota Prius. I chose the Prius strictly for economic reasons. With the amount of miles I drive in a year, the Prius will save me around $2500 in fuel every year. Anyway, I have quickly come to learn that there is a HUGE percentage of Prius owners who are what I term "Extreme Environmentalist Wackos!" Seriously, some of the people on the Prius forums scare me!

Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there so anyone else who may be considering a Prius or electric vehicle would be forewarned.

..I'm going to go crawl back under my rock now...It's safer.
 
If someone as politically incorrect as Jeff Dunham can drive a Prius, they can't be THAT bad.
 
Read up on the manufacturing of the batteries that these cars use and then look how environmentally friendly they are
 
My daughter and SIL have had a Prius for about 5 years. They live in the SF Bay area and get a break on tolls. They both needed a car, so three years ago they bought a
Toyota Matrix. It gets about the same milage as the Prius. The Prius never got the MPG that was advertised. Maybe the newer models are better.
 
Sig_Op said:
Read up on the manufacturing of the batteries that these cars use and then look how environmentally friendly they are
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yup the batteries travel more than the average person over their lifetime, before you even buy the car.
 
How nice. I'm driving it over to Gadgets & Gear where this thread belongs.

And I'm taking the loooong way.
 
Vege-Taco said:
Anyway, I have quickly come to learn that there is a HUGE percentage of Prius owners who are what I term "Extreme Environmentalist Wackos!" Seriously, some of the people on the Prius forums scare me!

Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there so anyone else who may be considering a Prius or electric vehicle would be forewarned.
Click to expand...

I would use the term "Conspicuous Environmentalist" to describe my stereotype of the typical Prius owner. They like to save gas, and want to make sure everyone else knows it.

Anyhoo... if I drove a lot of miles, comfort would be my primary concern.
 
Different strokes....enjoy your car. I'm trying to justify the gas guzzler tax on a SRT8 Charger..not there yet.

Best.
 
If you're getting better mileage to the gallon that's an excellent reason to own one. A Prius is a pretty fancy car so I'm sure its comfortable to drive. We drive a Toyota and they are very hardy cars.
 
everytime i get behind a jack a** in a prius he is doing 5-10 BELOW the speed limit.. i wish it was legal to put a front right fender in their rear left quarter panel. hell at times i just wanna ram my truck into the back of them just to push them down the road.
 
The people I know who know the owners of these cars say that they love them and are aways trading them in for another one, which has me thinking.
Does anyone plan on running one of these cars for 10 to 15 years , are they even able to or built to put this much time under it's wheels and is it not wasteful/Environmental to not use repair and use up this vehicle for the life of the car?

Something ponder on the way to the airport to burn Pounds of fuel to get you where you're going. :D
 
555 said:
is it not wasteful/Environmental to not use repair and use up this vehicle for the life of the car?
Click to expand...

With the demographic that buys a Prius - and I'm generalizing - its the intent that matters, not the results.

I like the Prius, and I carry one in in the back of my Suburban for emergencies.

photo.jpg
 
555 said:
The people I know who know the owners of these cars say that they love them and are aways trading them in for another one, which has me thinking.
Does anyone plan on running one of these cars for 10 to 15 years , are they even able to or built to put this much time under it's wheels and is it not wasteful/Environmental to not use repair and use up this vehicle for the life of the car?

Something ponder on the way to the airport to burn Pounds of fuel to get you where you're going. :D
Click to expand...

They are still very new, that being said the batteries do not last all that long
espically considering the life span of a conventional gas engine. Disposal is another problem. As stated above the batteries travel a huge distance to be made then travel back to north America for the vehicles. So the carbon emissions there are already worse then a gas engine for the life of the vehicle. Now the next thing is that there are stilll many coal powerplants to give us electricity which we would use to charge our cars, seems redundant to me. If they can get this technology to a productive and more reliable means (how far you can drive on a charge) then i'm all for it. Until then I'll use fossil f fuel just like the electric guys.
 
Climate is another problem for batteries. They don't survival or perform well in extreme hot or cold conditions and as anyone who uses cordless power tools knows, battery performance goes down hill the day after the tool was bought new.

Jumping to electric cars: I think of getting into my electric car with the temp around 20F, a windshield iced over, running and electric heater with an electric fan, turning on the electric rear window defroster, with the electric lights on, playing the stereo, the computer activating the ABS and other safety devices, powering the soon to be required black box.

Did we start the drive motor yet? :D

How far can someone travel in these conditions, that doesn't live in the sun belt.

And how is it at plowing snow with a 300 to 500 pound plow attached to the front of it.
 
Sig_Op said:
They are still very new, that being said the batteries do not last all that long
espically considering the life span of a conventional gas engine. Disposal is another problem. As stated above the batteries travel a huge distance to be made then travel back to north America for the vehicles. So the carbon emissions there are already worse then a gas engine for the life of the vehicle. Now the next thing is that there are stilll many coal powerplants to give us electricity which we would use to charge our cars, seems redundant to me. If they can get this technology to a productive and more reliable means (how far you can drive on a charge) then i'm all for it. Until then I'll use fossil f fuel just like the electric guys.
Click to expand...

thats how i see it.. the batteries not worth the $$ now a days. to produce them, ship them mulitple times, as mentioned, uses more fossil fuels than normal. batteries are heavy. very heavy. if you trully want to reduce your carbon foot print buy an older civic or corolla that gets 30+ mpg and drive like you have some sense
 
hung-solo said:
everytime i get behind a jack a** in a prius he is doing 5-10 BELOW the speed limit.. i wish it was legal to put a front right fender in their rear left quarter panel. hell at times i just wanna ram my truck into the back of them just to push them down the road.
Click to expand...
THANK YOU!!! They can be as poncy as they want about their environmental views if they would just fricking learn how to drive. Don't even get me started on Subaru drivers. The horror...
 
Shotgun said:
THANK YOU!!! They can be as poncy as they want about their environmental views if they would just fricking learn how to drive. Don't even get me started on Subaru drivers. The horror...
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i understand saving as much fuel as you can but ************er's move off the road then!!! let us others who choose to go the speed limit or more buzz on down the road.. it pisses me off to no end. one day i will be replacing someone's prius. i see it coming :grumpy:
 
Hypermilers are the problem. Those guys are the ones that take 15 minutes to get up to highway speeds and just generally take pride in going as slowly as possible. That's all well and good on a multi lane road, but when they are slowing down progress on surface roads to satisfy their desire to achieve the best gas mileage, that pisses me off. Especially since they feel as if they are doing is for the greater good and screw all of us that don't feel the same.
 
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