The time has come to say goodbye to my Prius, rightfully named Myrtle the Turtle...After 222k miles, she is spending her golden years in Houston, TX. Thank you PriusChat for unparalled knowledge, info, and free advertisement (sold through PC). I have thoroughly enjoyed this amazing car and you guys have been awesome to interact with. Cheers for now....until we meet again!:cheer2:
In order of preference: 1. G35X, 2. Element 4WD, 3. VW Golf Tdi. This goes against the grain of PC, I already know....except the VW. But, I may return to the Prius "brand" once they get on the market.
G35X is going to hurt to fill up after owning a Prius. I don't think anyone will give you 'trouble' with the other cars. Good luck with which ever you end up with!
Hmm...I don't mean this as a negative. You sound like you spent over 200,000 happy miles with your Prius...and sometimes people just like change... But when I first started researching Prius what impressed me a lot was peoples loyalty to the automobile. So many posts of Prius owners buying 2nd or 3rd Prius and/or being involved in accidents and replacing with new Prius.... It is against the grain. I'd actually be curious to hear someones impressions after being a LONG TIME Prius owner and turning to the darkside....so hopefully you'll post some of your feeling after going from Hybrid Prius back to ICE....
Do keep in mind the Element (from what I've read) is being discontinued after model year 2011. It might hurt resale value, down the road. I suppose if you put on 200K miles on it as well, it won't make much of a difference in the end. I wouldn't buy a VW for reliability reasons... I agree w/Prius 06 regarding the G35X. Filling up my 350Z always hurts compared to my Prius, esp. after looking at how little distance I've traveled and how much it costs me. :/ But anyway, good luck w/whatever you choose.
Good luck and hope to see you soon! Those cars seem like an odd bunch (G35x to Element 4WD to Golf TDI). There's also the G25x if you're ok with a little less hp. Might be able to get a good deal on the Element if they're trying to get rid of the stock. As Cwerdna said, they are discontinuing it after this year.
Not so much "change" is driving my need to switch back to the dark side as being able to actually get to work in bad weather without taking my wife's MDX. So, I ended up buying an Infiniti M35X last week and absolutely love it so far. Yes, I have only filled up once thus far and the sticker shock at the gas pump is a bit much, BUT the Infiniti trumps the Prius in style and comfort. After 5.5+ years of owning a Prius, it was time for a change. For the record, I have never owned a vehicle that long and this shatters any previous record of ownership length for me. To make the gas pump sting a bit less though, I am also purchasing a MINI convertible tomorrow for the nicer days of the year. A bit impulsive? Yes.
Hal, I could ask the same question to you.... But, if you must know, I had a high mileage Civic prior to the Prius along with a newer Tacoma Truck. I sold the Civic, traded in the Tacoma, and bought a Prius due to having a 80 mile one way commute. At that time, gas was over $4.00/gallon and driving a Tacoma 4WD 160 miles/day seemed absurd. That is why I bought a Prius back in 2005. Btw, why did you join PC? Was it to heckle fellow members? You don't need to "understand" my choices. That is why they are MY choices. Take note though that two of the vehicles are AWD and the other is a diesel with mileage almost comparable to the Prius. Then, if you knew that I MUST be at work during inclement weather, you could understand my choices for vehicles. Thanks for your interest in my life, Hal.
These comments always make me laugh. I'd hope so! So you're buying another car to lessen the 'sting'? I'm all for you getting something else. Just the reasons make no sense to me.
You live in DC and couldn't get around in "inclement weather"? LOL Somehow my little Prius seems to get up the Rocky Mountains when there are mandatory commercial vehicle chain restrictions in place too...
Interesting... haha. Yeah, I definitely never liked the styling at all and knew it wasn't particularly powerful (nor really efficient) but the somewhat funnier part is that w/4WD, the max allowed cargo + passenger weight is very low. That's probably why it only has seats for 4.
