Since someone suggested I start a new thread, I did. Have any of you bought a Prius as your nonprimary vehicle? If so, why isn't the Prius your primary? Is the $22k+ cost of the Prius just "fun money"? Have any of you bought a Prius and drive less than, say, 500 miles a month? If so, what makes the $22k+ for the Prius worth it, when you likely could have continued driving your previous car for much less? I know that some people have enough money that cars are more like accessories so I guess for those people having a hybrid could be like having a convertible, just for fun. Just curious. I always think of the Prius as being purchased to replace gas guzzling and environment damaging vehicles. I've read about a lot of people who keep their bigger vehicles and use them occasionally for long road trips or to haul things but never heard of someone who uses a truck or SUV normally and the Prius when they feel like being green.
Public Transit has been my primary vehicle up to this point. We bought the Prius because our expanding family no longer fit in our 2-door coupe, and it beat every other new car we were looking at when considering our requirements - size, comfort, warranty, fuel efficiency. The only category it didn't win was price. But I hadn't bought new before, and thought - "why not buy the best?" And we're very happy with our decision so far.
Wife and I have had our 2008 for two weeks now, love it! We're both in our 50's and like to travel places in comfort, as well as run daily errands(used book business). We traded an '04 XTerra for the Prius, much better ride and excellent economy, not to mention lower emissions. We've even started using cloth tote bags for shopping to eliminate paper/plastic bags, as well as consolidating travel to maximize economy further. We saw where gas is going and decided that the Prius gives us the freedom to travel despite the obscene gestures from Oil cartels. Also look forward to a plug-in/Hybrid Prius sometime in the future. To borrow from GM, "It's not just your car, it's your freedom".
I have 452 miles on my car after 36 days. I use this to commute to the train station 2 miles away and drive it around a bit on weekends. It also helps that we have 2 cars at home. I just love the way the car drives and all the gadgets it comes with. This my 12th car in 3 years and the prius is the only one i have gone back to 3 times now.(2003 and 2005 before this one) Also, my previous car was a 07 cr-v 4wd . i really didn't need a SUV in the 1st place. Got a decent price on the car and i jumped on the deal.
