That is really GM's saving grace, so far as I am concerned: they send a steady stream of customers to Prius.
I would have kept my little 2010 stick shift Corolla. I loved that car. I still stomp for the clutch and reach for the shifter and reach behind the seats to lock and unlock the doors in the Prius.
I was looking for a pickup truck, a Nissan Titan if I could find a good deal.. My pathfinder died and I loved her dearly, so I figured I'd open it up and go pickup truck.. While attempting to revive my girl I rented a Mazda 3 which got around 30mpg (compared to 15 for my pathy). My commute to work is almost 70 miles round trip and I realized how nice the savings were.. So I started looking at cars instead.. My search started with Altimas, accords, Camry, etc. then I said "let's see how much I could really save on gas" and looked at Jetta TDI, civic hybrid, and the prius. I said no to the TDI after reading lots of reports about camshaft issues.. With the civic I wasn't thrilled with reports of hv battery issues.. With the prius I had very few negatives.. I was worried about the battery but upon reading priuschat for days I already learned to love these cars. All fears about working on them quickly went away... I found one 1600 miles away for a great price.. I took a chance and put a deposit and flew to it (no the cost of the ticket and return gas didn't undo the good deal). I knew the front wheel bearings were going, and the tires were worn. It had a good history of services at toyota, it had two owners that both kept it four years so I assumed they were happy for long enough to pay off a loan and trade it in.. Three days later I pulled in my driveway with my new girl. Since then I've done both wheel bearings, coolant control valve (it was starting to fail when I bought it but I had no idea the sound it was making wasn't normal), belt, all fluids except brake and four (4!!!) standard headlight bulbs.. It's been one year and I'm SO glad I took a chance on a prius. With what I save in gas I could rent a pickup truck as often as I needed and still stay ahead. Add to an awesome vehicle this awesome community here and I couldn't be happier. This car busted so many misconceptions I had about the prius, I'm actually embarrassed that I bought the negative nonsense about them. the Seahawks training facility ?
1+ Resistance is futile. Your biologic and technological uniqueness will be added to our own. We are the BORG.
in 2010 - my final choice was either the Honda Insight or the Toyota Prius... The Prius won over the Insight. My decision was based on the following: My preference for the Prius over the Insight is base on my experience with 8-bit personal computers. Long ago , I mistakenly picked the Atari 800 over the Apple II because the Atari 800 had superior design and technology. While the Apple II had a larger user group - I felt I could learn the tech by myself.... I was wrong. Because Atari had a more sophisicated design it was harder to learn than the simpler less sophisticated Apple II design. Initially - Atari kept many of the details of the Atari design secret while the Apple II design was open sourced - so learning the Apple II system was very easy. I became the bottleneck. Apple II's large supportive and knowledgeable user group also made it easier to learn Apple II tech - freeing the Apple II user to focus on making useful applications - making the Apple II more useful than the Atari 800 in the long run. By the time Atari realize their error - the Apple II system and user applications had a significant lead over the Atari systems. Apple survived and the Atari died. Honda wasn't committed to making large numbers hybrids. The Honda only made a small number of 1st gen Insights and Honda wasn't committed to making a large number of 2nd Insights either. In 2010, Honda was focused on the Honda Civic - its version of the Toyota Corolla - to be its cash cow main car. This meant that learning how hybrids worked on a 2010 Honda Insight was going to be like programming the Atari 800 - a lonely endeavor... Toyota was committed to making a large number of hybrids and there was a large number of Prii on the road by 2010. While there was a quite a few Prius haters in the media - the Toyota Prius also enjoyed a large and supportive owner-driver community. The Prius was the defacto hybrid like the IBM PC was the defacto 16 bit business computer of the 1990s. I didn't want to make the same mistake twice so I got a Prius instead of an Insight. Which begs the question if I didn't buy a 2010 Prius what would I have bought? A 2nd generation Prius. Which sounds sort of obvious... doesn't it?
That sounds like my reaction when I first drove the Prius, it's so....."car like" and lots more power than I was expecting. I really miss the SKS when I occasionally drive my other car.
I agree with the misconceptions about the Prius. Toyota should do more advertising to enlighten the public about what a great automobile it is.
Before buying my 2011 Prius 2, I test drove a Honda Fit with 5-speed manual transmission. Liked the car but was not satisfied with the EPA MPG and also thought it was geared too low for highway driving. Bought the G3 Prius the same day. Two years later, wanted a car for mostly local driving. Shopped for a used G2 Prius but thought prices too high, so purchased a 2013 Prius C2. Now have both. Looked at a Nissan Leaf yesterday just out of curiosity. Would not buy one because warranty allows battery decrease to 75% capacity within 60 months, 60,000 miles.
Vw Phaeton. I own a prius but i would still like this one Volkswagen Phaeton 7999 EUR. Voluntari - Autovit.ro The price is the same with a G2 prius, the car is in perfect condition. It is a beauty.... I hate Prius`s rigidity , bad road noise on highway and cheap plastic inside....
I think that Toyota made the correct decisions regarding content on the G3 Prius. The primary requirements obviously were fuel economy and price. The road noise it not objectionable to me, and I like the structural stiffness and plain-Jane interior.
Ironic, because MOST people stiffen car chassis because they want to "thrash" their vehicles over off-road surfaces, NOT because they feel the chassis might fall apart on them as they drive through city traffic. Chassis stiffness is not the same as suspension stiffness. I'm contemplating adding a rear sway-bar because I want the front wheels to stay "planted" onto the asphalt during aggressive 'defensive' cornering (ie: avoiding others).