Prius now the world's third most popular car

[begreen]

What a difference from just 6 yrs ago when we bought our Prius. Back then Edmunds, and others were slamming the car. It's not perfect, but it sure has turned out to be a winner for Toyota.

http://cleantechnica.com/2012/05/30/toyota-prius-now-3rd-in-world-auto-sales/

 

[nate379]

I think we can all argee it's third on the list of world's most ugliest car too. Everytime I see one of those things I want to run it off the road!

 

[jebatty]

Jealousy for sure.

 

[velvetfoot]

I wish I could my MINI in a diesel like in Europe.

 

[begreen]

I rented a Crossman Mini diesel in Italy a couple years ago. It was fun to drive and pretty peppy too. Fuel mileage was good, but not spectacular.

 

[velvetfoot]

Yeah, but that's the crossover SUV 4wd version, no?

 

[nate379]

Nope. My decent looking Jetta gets 45-48mpg.

Jealousy for sure.

 

[begreen]

I think we can all argee it's third on the list of world's most ugliest car too. Everytime I see one of those things I want to run it off the road!

I'm not a fan of the Gen 3 Prius's looks either. The front end looks like a tweaked '50 Studebaker and the rear got a touch of the Jetsons. But our Gen 2 just smiles at ya.

 

[midwestcoast]

If I could go back to 2005 and do it all over again, knowing what I know now about what driving & maintaining a Prius would be like I would buy the exact same car. No question. 139,000 miles with no major work. Still getting ~50 mpg.
It's not my favorite Looking car. The rear has some bubble-butt going on. It's not gonna win a drag race or pull a big trailer, but for what we need from a car it has been awesome.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I have to give it credit for saving a lot of gas over the years. Just think what our own companies could produce if we cared about something other than having the worlds best fighter jets,aircraft carriers,and submarines.

 

[begreen]

It not only saves gas, the emissions are very low.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

It not only saves gas, the emissions are very low.

It probably has a high resale value being as popular as it is. Given there are so many large suvs with SINGLE commuter, very wasteful,if i had to commute i would be in one of the high MPG cars for sure. I live near a large public school,most mornings i see a long line of Expeditions,Suberbans,Mercedes,Hummers ect. many with one occupant(School Empoyees) enroute to school.
Ether School employees are wasteful or we pay then too much. Not sure which

 

[midwestcoast]

Or the

It probably has a high resale value being as popular as it is. Given there are so many large suvs with SINGLE commuter, very wasteful,if i had to commute i would be in one of the high MPG cars for sure. I live near a large public school,most mornings i see a long line of Expeditions,Suberbans,Mercedes,Hummers ect. many with one occupant(School Empoyees) enroute to school.
Ether School employees are wasteful or we pay then too much. Not sure which

Or they have families and feel (like seemingly everyone else) that as soon as you pop a kid you NEED a minivan or big SUV to haul all the people & stuff plus the dog and the weeks groceries. I can sure see where it comes in handy sometimes, but unfortunately you have to haul all that vehicle around all the time that you don't need it.
Personally I'd love a minivan for the few trips a year I could fill it, just can't burn the cash & gas the other 360 days I don't "need" it.
A friend of a relative told me last week that they bought a Suburban (seats 8) so that each of the 3 kids could bring a friend to travel with them I'm wondering 'how often does That happen?'

 

[Seasoned Oak]

The next question becomes if you generally need a large vehicle, do you buy a small gas sipper for those times when its just you. If you commute id say yes ,but otherwise you have to ask do i pay a $350 a month car Pmt. to save even a $100 on gas.

 

[Sisu]

Often we forget to do a life-cycle analysis of a product (ie. from cradle to grave). Here is some food for thought: (broken link removed to http://www.dosomething.org/blog/chatterbox/prius-not-so-green-afterall)

 

[GaryGary]

Often we forget to do a life-cycle analysis of a product (ie. from cradle to grave). Here is some food for thought: (broken link removed to http://www.dosomething.org/blog/chatterbox/prius-not-so-green-afterall)

Hybridcars.com has quite a bit on this "study" -- if you go there and search on "CNW" you get a whole list of articles on it.

My conclusion is the CNW study is complete nonsense.


Gary

 

[nate379]

I have several vehicles, all have their specific use.

The diesel truck I use to haul stuff.
The diesel Jetta is my commuter.
The 2 Jeeps are my toys, I use them like someone would use an ATV.
The Elise is my race car, though it does get around 30mpg too.

For a while I ran the truck as a commuter. It was running me about $600/month on fuel. With the Jetta it's more around $200.

The next question becomes if you generally need a large vehicle, do you buy a small gas sipper for those times when its just you. If you commute id say yes ,but otherwise you have to ask do i pay a $350 a month car Pmt. to save even a $100 on gas.

 

[begreen]

Hybridcars.com has quite a bit on this "study" -- if you go there and search on "CNW" you get a whole list of articles on it.

My conclusion is the CNW study is complete nonsense.

Gary

This "study" came out about 6 months after we got our Prius. I started investigating this guy and found that he was simply IMO an rural opportunist. He's cleaned up his website, though it is still not mostly about cars. Before it was mostly about customized, hot-rodded, low cost Chevys. The "survey" was in its rough form then and really not much more than an biased rant. But the industry darlings noted it and I suspect persuaded this guy to clean up thing so that it looked more legitimate. My read was that he was an opportunist that fed into a marketing push to discredit Toyota's efforts because they recognized it was a real competitive threat.

 

[Sisu]

Whether or not the study was unbiased and conducted using poordata, I do think that a proper life cycle analysis should be done of products, especially when touted as "green". I remember back to my university days, when a professor once told the story of a brand of round tea bags that were advertised as using "dioxin-free" since the paper used was not chlorine bleached. After the professor and colleagues tested the "dioxin-free" bags, the bags were found to contain more dioxins vs chlorine bleached paper tea bags. The reason being the glue used to seal the bags contained higher levels of dioxins.

In any case, a full and proper lifecycle analysis should be conducted; as fuel savings might only be part of the picture. The energy and waste produced from extraction of the minerals, production of the materials, assembly, use and maintenance, and ultimate disposal need to be properly answer how beneficial these products, whether a Prius or tea bag is beneficial to society and the rest of the planet.

 

[begreen]

Agreed. In 1996 Germany enacted Closed Substance Cycle and Waste Management Act for manufacturing to dramatically reduce waste. It requires a very large percentage of the vehicle be recyclable. As a nation they lead Europe in recycling. They recycle over twice what the US does (70% vs 33%).One big difference is that in Germany, the polluter pays by owning the product and packaging cradle to grave. In the US this cost is passed on the consumer and tax payer.

(broken link removed to http://earth911.com/news/2009/07/13/trash-planet-germany/)

 

[Seasoned Oak]

You sure cant find a cheap deal on a used one thats for sure. Nothing under $7000 and with about 180000 miles as well.

 

[PassionForFire&Water]

I'm leasing one since the last week of 2011.
Pay $199/month. Down was $2,500. They took my 12 year old minivan for $1,500. So, down was only $1,000.
Included is 2 years free maintenance and 15,000 miles a year.
Mileage overage is 15 cents/mile.
I need to admit that since I'm driving it, a lot of other drivers wants to just push me of the road, especially the pickup trucks dont' like me at all. Wondering why.
Acceleration is not great, but once it's up to speed it's wondefull driving. I'm hovering around 47.5 miles/gallon.
Looked also at the Chevy Volt, but at that time the price was close to $39,000 and I decided not to be the guiney pig.

 

[begreen]

I have driven around the world and I do not like driving in the Boston area at all. MA is the only state where I saw drivers consistently playing chicken with their cars.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I'm leasing one since the last week of 2011.
Pay $199/month. Down was $2,500. They took my 12 year old minivan for $1,500. So, down was only $1,000.
Included is 2 years free maintenance and 15,000 miles a year.
Mileage overage is 15 cents/mile.
I need to admit that since I'm driving it, a lot of other drivers wants to just push me of the road, especially the pickup trucks dont' like me at all. Wondering why.
Acceleration is not great, but once it's up to speed it's wondefull driving. I'm hovering around 47.5 miles/gallon.
Looked also at the Chevy Volt, but at that time the price was close to $39,000 and I decided not to be the guiney pig.

Sounds like a good deal and if you really like it you can buy it at lease end,if the numbers are good. Im lookin at a cruze Eco for my daughter, it gets less MPG but not so ugly. Those pickup drivers should thank you for saving all that gas for them to buy. I like the volt as well but the price difference between the volt and the cruze is like the grand canyon. Ill take a $149 lease and 40 MPG any day.

 

[semipro]

The new Honda Fit EV is looking pretty good to our family.
(broken link removed to http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/06/honda-fit-ev-most-efficient-new-car-in-us/)