I just have to jump in here.... My first opposition was from the salesman just a week ago. I stopped by and told him I wanted to look at a Prius. He asked a couple of questions and stated, "You don't want a Prius, you want a Corola." I replied, "I'd really like to look at one." We went for a ride around the lot and he showed me a lot of Corolas in all the pretty colors. After I left it occurred to me that I never did see a Prius. That weekend I wrote a nice note to the general manager and told him of my experience. He replied that I should stop back and ask for him. So I did. He introduced me to his top salesman and told him to take care of me. He did! I guess the point is that while some regular folks have a thing against the Prius it appears that so do some Toyota salesman. FWIW: So far all of my friends have been very impressed. Bob
Hi RS..., Yep, the traditional sales forces are between the proverbial rock and a hard place. They have all these cars around which they will make commission on right now, or they can wait till your Prius comes in from Japan to get paid. What would you do? We know what Jesus would do, but Jesus was not a car saleman. The manager knows if you walk out the door, he has lost your sale. So, he does the right thing. Especially after his show-room floor professional sales guy has not gotten you into a Corrola. The manager has confirmation that his marching orders ("get those Corrola's off the lot") have been met, and its not working. So, he has to recoupe the situation. The best way to show a manager he/she is wrong, is do exactly what they say, and let it fall flat. That seems to me what happened with you.
Man, at that point I would've walked straight out the door. The dealer is there to serve you, the paying customer. Glad it worked out though.
I think there is a misconception of the Prius out there. Most people think they're slow, cramped little cars. Sure the body style didn't change much between 2004 and 2009 but I think Toyota has addressed that with the 2010 model. I have a 2009, I'd wanted one since they hit the American market in '01. I have a lot of family members that have had they're reservations about the car and hybrids in general. The opinion changer is when I take them for a ride in it. Everyone has been amazed at the technology, the acceleration, and all the room and storage it has. When I tell them I'm averaging 47.3 MPG they're sold. My advice is take your friends for a ride and let them see what a Prius really is, maybe you'll even convert a naysayer or two, I have... and when gas prices go up again, remind the others that you told them so!
Wow! you had to dig deep to find this thread ... Prius hating ... along with this thread, it began in '04 when many had never even SEEN a Gen II Prius, or if they previously had seen one, (Gen I) they didn't notice it. And now? There are over a million of 'em with production assuring the ratio will only continue in increase. The question now days? WHO will be the LAST Prius hater. I postulate it'll be like when the horese & buggy was no longer in vogue ... the buggy repair guys knowing which were the best hard woods to make spoke wheels from ... what the best harness was to hitch up your horse. Some day not too far off, there'll be no more gear heads ... (just like buggy experts dying off) or virtually none ... talking about high lift cams, double pumper holly carbs, solid core ignition wires, headers, dual point distributers, high rise manifolds etc Brings a tear to my eye . . . ound:
Most of my experience with 'haters' are other right wing extremists who 1. don't understand the car (don't understand it's tech, think it's slow, cheap, etc) 2. associate the car with leftists, hippies, environmental whackos To me, it's a car that gets great fuel economy, is based on some cool tech, and has some nice features. It does what I need it to. Oh, the ghey Prius commercials with all the people dressed like flowers don't help the image much. Seriously. Those commercials are STUPID.
Back in 1996, I was looking for a Dodge Ram Pickup. I knew exactly what I was looking for, Ram Sport, Short Box, 360 motor., but 3 dealers tried to steer me into a different model, or into the smaller Dakota. Their lots were sull of Dakotas, 4x4s, 3/4 ton full sized, and what I wanted was scarce. 2 out of 3 told me sometimes you have to "settle" for what is available. I left! The 3rd dealer I had told not to even mention the word "lease" to me. 10 seconds later he said "Lets run the lease numbers just for comparison". I left. Had one dealer, who didn't have what I wanted, fill out an order form for what I wanted, charging full price for all options. So I was prepared to go through the same thing when I was looking for my Prius. But not one tried to steer me to a Corola. One dealer told me to come back in 6 months. One dealer had a used one going to the highest bidder, and he was already 4 grand over sticker. And several told me they could put me on a list.........
Whoops, maybe I wasn't clear... I'm right wing myself. I call the Prius my 'hippie camouflage'. You can't throw a rock in Austin, Texas without hitting a Prius or two.
hey gray, sticker would look nice on this GEN III with FULL Ferrari Leather conversion and front seats... This is beautiful
Not "haters" more like "disbelievers": My buddies and me were all gear-heads and muscle car guys throughout high school and college. My prior car was a 1996 Camaro Z28. I'd been yammering about getting a 2010 Camaro 2SS, but finally succumbed to all the grief of high insurance, poor GM reliability, the price of fuel, speed exhibition citations etc. After test driving a 2010 Prius, I was totally won over. I sent a photo of a new Prius like mine to a few of my friends, and one guy photo shopped it and sent this one back in utter disbelief, stating that this was the "next step" I would probably take:
Man you sound exactly like us we had decided to buy a 2SS Camaro next spring but after driving the Prius we were sold.
Just bumping because of last posts. I was basically get on a late model G35 and then when I ran the numbers decided instead to get a Prius. Sad but no regrets
Horsepower wars of the late 1960-70's, remember those days. Unfortunately I wouldn't be born until the end of the latter. But all those beautiful, rumbling, fast, and furious cars I grew up envying, are now nothing more than a financial strain on transportation. If anyone asked me 15 years ago what my favorite car was, I would have said without a second thought the Dodge Swinger, 10 years ago would have been the Masearti Mexico, and just 5 years ago the BMW 330ci. There may be a subconcious connection to fuel economy improvements I'm not aware of here , or perhaps I'm just getting older? I don't know what everyone's reasons are for liking Prius, but I believe that extremely fuel-efficient vehicles are extremely cool. Prius looks like an easter egg greenhouse, but there is absolutely nothing cool about paying 2-3 times more to fill up analogue cars just to be able to burn rubber off expensive tires or to be the first driver to arrive at the next red traffic light. That was cool when I was eighteen and didn't even consider how much looking cool was costing me at .75 a gallon, and that was only 1998! I pay about $24 to fill up, and get 500-550 miles. I used to pay $50 for 300 miles and i'm not even good at economic driving techniques yet. I know hybrids and PHEVs are slowly gaining popularity after a decade of sales, but gas is only going to rise, and hyper-mileage is the new "Muscle-car" era. Imagine another ten years from now, 51mpg's will be considered the gass-guzzlers. LOL
Funny when you look back to the original post and how long it has kept a life of it's own. I traded a BMW 330i for the Prius and love it. I miss the acceleration and handling as I'm a big fan of the "Ultimate Driving Machine" but I don't miss the fill ups. I also love my Prius for it's technological wonders. It is more advanced in it's endeavor than any car on the road. In my mind it's similar to the BMW for different reasons, it's an industry leader. I am learning to drive hybrid as I've only had my car for two weeks. I can already see that regular mileage over 50mpg will be the norm. I also note that my car is more roomy and comfortable than my Beamer was. I have all of the techno toys that would have cost me $$$$ to even think about in a beamer. The bluetooth, rear camera, sound system and heated leather seats make my car superior in many ways to the cars of all my friends and coworkers. I am getting older though and I see my priorities changing. Comfortable and affordable transportation seems to be my goal these days. I love the car and don't give a you know what about others opinions as they don't drive it or pay my bills ...so screw off if you don't like my car....that's my opinion.
This is exactly same what my friends reactions was when I did buy my Prius… Funny how global these reactions are…
I am with you 100% here. I hate to admit it, but there is a pride in ownership knowing that I am driving around in a car that is THE best at what it was designed to do. Perhaps I am getting older too (I mean, I am getting older), BUT I have 3 children between the ages of 16 and 21 (two girls and a boy) and they all consider the Prius EXTREMELY cool. And a big part of that is knowing that when they are driving it, they are doing the best they can to minimize the impact on the environment (short of riding a bicycle!).
