Tell me how stupid I am (I bought a Prius)

Nashco wrote: This thread is cracking me up!

gofastbobby wrote: My brother spent a lot of money on his hybrid fusion to get 45-50mpg. He also got a very nice car. My little saturn gets close to 32-40 for $1000, and has a ton more "character"

Yeah, but his Fusion comes with a warranty and doesn't burn a quart of oil for every tank of gas. By "character" do you mean puke resin and cheerios under the back seat, a broken tape deck, and a funny rattle sound every time you go over a bump and turn left? Because that's the only character the last SC2 I drove had.

Heh. For what its worth, my other car is an SL2. Equally as nice as the Prius on the inside, nicer on the outside (no dings, its plastic) and I paid about 30% less for it. But, its lifetime average is 30.9mpg. There is a decent chance the Saturn will be replaced with a hybrid or electric car at some point in the future if I can find a different solution for towing/utility.

"Soul-less" hits the nail on the head. My poor old man was all excited for me to drive his. I couldn't wait to get out of it. The whole experience was very "E36 M3tiest GM product you've ever driven, with a different badge." Personally, I'd rather drive a 90's $2k honda that gets 35mpg, but that's me. I will say I was shocked by how big the cargo area is. About all I got.

I'm glad to see how much GRM forums loves Prii: 3 pages and counting in only 12 hours!

I bought an 07 Prius for $4500 about 2 months ago. Not sure where Bobzilla's statement about 5 years newer and less long-term this and that fits into my situation..

I like the car. It is not exciting to drive but it is interesting to drive if you understand how it works. As others have said, it gives you more options on how you interact with it than a typical car so it can be more interesting to drive slowly than many other cars.

And, as mentioned, it's actually more fun to push hard than most small-motor gas cars. Your typical 1.5 or 1.6 n/a compact has jack squat on prius power delivery, ESPECIALLY if you're comparing apples to apples (automatic trans). Prius also has more cargo room than the closest mpg competitors. TDI wagons get closest but they are hardly a foolproof prius foil. The prius is still better at several things.

Did i mention reliability? There's pretty much NOTHING more reliable than a Prius. That's why auto shops HATE it when their fleet customers switch to Prii.

What do i NOT like.. Hmm. I do wish i could exercise a little more control over when the ICE gets used. Sometimes i find myself lifting off the throttle repeatedly and getting back on to turn it off when i dont 'think' it should be running. Oh, the steering wheel is UGLY. And the front seats are just ok. I can see why lots of people don't like it. I guess that's about it.

Vigo:

EV mode switch? Gives you lots of ICE control at lower speeds.

You really did get a stellar deal on that 07. I was having no luck locating a reasonably priced Gen2 at all, even with high miles :(

I love the Prius, and every other high MPG car out there. They anchor the high ed of the CAFE standard so that cars like the SRT Grand Cherokee can exist at the opposite end. The higher the high mileage cars get, the more 9-liter beasts we can have.

Nashco wrote: This thread is cracking me up! Yeah, but his Fusion comes with a warranty and doesn't burn a quart of oil for every tank of gas. By "character" do you mean puke resin and cheerios under the back seat, a broken tape deck, and a funny rattle sound every time you go over a bump and turn left? Because that's the only character the last SC2 I drove had. <img src="/media/img/icons/smilies/wink-18.png" class="smiley" alt="

I was hoping someone would see the comedy in how I choose to rationalize my thriftiness. Yes at 245,000 miles it uses a couple quarts of oil between changes. As yes it rattles, ALOT.