An observation on Prius drivers...

[JulesMaximus]

Everyone here says Prius drivers are smug hipster doofuses but honestly I see a lot of elderly driving these cars. These are people on fixed incomes or working into their retirement years and they see gasoline as a volatile commodity so they buy the most fuel efficient vehicle possible.

What's really interesting is that this vehicle is popular with young people and old. Sign of the times? Maybe being frugal is cool?

 

[manimal]

Everyone here says Prius drivers are smug hipster doofuses but honestly I see a lot of elderly driving these cars. These are people on fixed incomes or working into their retirement years and they see gasoline as a volatile commodity so they buy the most fuel efficient vehicle possible.

What's really interesting is that this vehicle is popular with young people and old. Sign of the times? Maybe being frugal is cool?

My in laws test drove a prius for those reasons but the ride was worse than his 48 buick whatever that means lol


We ended up getting them a avalon.

The perfect old sensible person car.

 

[Bignate603]

Everyone here says Prius drivers are smug hipster doofuses but honestly I see a lot of elderly driving these cars. These are people on fixed incomes or working into their retirement years and they see gasoline as a volatile commodity so they buy the most fuel efficient vehicle possible.

What's really interesting is that this vehicle is popular with young people and old. Sign of the times? Maybe being frugal is cool?

You're getting three groups that buy them:
1. People that want to make a statement about being green
2. People that are bad at math (payback is terrible compared to normal small cars)
3. Old people, they'll buy anything that's made by Toyota

The only person that I've met that had a really good reason for buying one was a coworker that got his just to get the license plate that let him drive in the carpool lane without anyone else in the car. It saves him 45 minutes of commute time a day.

 

[punjabiplaya]

frugal isn't cool, it's a necessity for most

 

[AdamK47]

I think your perceptometer is off.

 

[superccs]

What oldster wouldn't want to live long enough to one day drive an electric car. Its as close as they are oing to get to driving flying cars that they were promised 50 years ago.

 

[Doppel]

You're getting three groups that buy them:
1. People that want to make a statement about being green
2. People that are bad at math (payback is terrible compared to normal small cars)
3. Old people, they'll buy anything that's made by Toyota

The only person that I've met that had a really good reason for buying one was a coworker that got his just to get the license plate that let him drive in the carpool lane without anyone else in the car. It saves him 45 minutes of commute time a day.

You need to update your FUD. As recently as this year a Prius could be leased new for tax, title, taxes and then about $180/month. That is a new car, no repairs, maintenance, excellent crash rating, etc. that gets 50 mpg and is a midsize car, and it has incredibly low insurance rates (because it is driven hugely by old people!). At the same time a Corolla could be leased for perhaps $30/month less but has combined fuel rating of 29, not to mention has less standard features (auto climate control, for example). You didn't buy your jeep for "pay back" but because you liked it for other reasons. And there are reasons to like a Prius beyond making a statement, such as its 550+ mile range on a tank of gas or an appreciation of the technology. In fact, it's the preponderance of viewpoints like yours that is the reason Toyota was willing to sell a 2011 Prius for as little as $21-22k back in February. People who do not look in depth to it don't realize how much they get for that cost.

The main demographic of Prius drivers does seem to be relatively old people. I really see a small number indeed of younger people driving them.

 

[T2urtle]

honestly, ive thought about owning one myself. Just go have one BUT i want to be able to lower the car and put 17-18's on it at the least. TINT out the windows as well. But with the wheels i might not be able to get 50+ MPG.

has anyone seen a modded up prius? Not a hellaflush but a clean FUNCTIONAL prius, most seem to be hypermilers.

 

[Zivic]

You need to update your FUD. As recently as this year a Prius could be leased new for tax, title, taxes and then about $180/month. That is a new car, no repairs, maintenance, excellent crash rating, etc. that gets 50 mpg and is a midsize car, and it has incredibly low insurance rates (because it is driven hugely by old people!). At the same time a Corolla could be leased for perhaps $30/month less but has combined fuel rating of 29, not to mention has less standard features (auto climate control, for example). You didn't buy your jeep for "pay back" but because you liked it for other reasons. And there are reasons to like a Prius beyond making a statement, such as its 550+ mile range on a tank of gas or an appreciation of the technology. In fact, it's the preponderance of viewpoints like yours that is the reason Toyota was willing to sell a 2011 Prius for as little as $21-22k back in February. People who do not look in depth to it don't realize how much they get for that cost.

The main demographic of Prius drivers does seem to be relatively old people. I really see a small number indeed of younger people driving them.

I choose not to own one due the damage mining for the battery back does to the environment. I still enjoy driving as well, so the prius doesn't over much enjoyment. When I view my vehicles as nothing more than an appliance I may take a more serious look into them.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

honestly, ive thought about owning one myself. Just go have one BUT i want to be able to lower the car and put 17-18's on it at the least. TINT out the windows as well. But with the wheels i might not be able to get 50+ MPG.

has anyone seen a modded up prius? Not a hellaflush but a clean FUNCTIONAL prius, most seem to be hypermilers.

Modding a prius is the first thing on my do not do list.

 

[thedarkwolf]

honestly, ive thought about owning one myself. Just go have one BUT i want to be able to lower the car and put 17-18's on it at the least. TINT out the windows as well. But with the wheels i might not be able to get 50+ MPG.

has anyone seen a modded up prius? Not a hellaflush but a clean FUNCTIONAL prius, most seem to be hypermilers.

We have two that show up for autox and one of them does pretty well lol. The one that does well is turbo charged, modified suspension, and sticky tires. Says he gets better mileage with the turbo since it now has enough power to get up to speed without struggling.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I choose not to own one due the damage mining for the battery back does to the environment. I still enjoy driving as well, so the prius doesn't over much enjoyment. When I view my vehicles as nothing more than an appliance I may take a more serious look into them.

Yeah, sitting in traffic on the freeway is real enjoyable. Corvette, Ferrari, giant suv, Prius...we're all going the exact same speed.

Tough day at the battery mines?

 

[xSkyDrAx]

We have two that show up for autox and one of them does pretty well lol. The one that does well is turbo charged, modified suspension, and sticky tires. Says he gets better mileage with the turbo since it now has enough power to get up to speed without struggling.

... D:

 

[Dr. Detroit]

My commute buddy owns a 2nd Gen one -sold his G35 sedan for it.

We have a 45-mile commute in bay area traffic. We drive it hard and fast when not in bumper to bumper grind and average 41 - 43mpg.

Its quite roomy, has a good sized hatch, and comfortable to drive.

Slow as hell with no TQ, loud - really loud, steering is beyond numb, and handles for shit. Interior is shit quality as well

Its a great commuter car.

 

[Zivic]

Yeah, sitting in traffic on the freeway is real enjoyable. Corvette, Ferrari, giant suv, Prius...we're all going the exact same speed.

Tough day at the battery mines?

everything is relative. I can count the number of times I have sat in traffic over the last 2-3 yrs on one hand. This doesn't really have too much to do with my argument that green aspect of these vehicles is a bit of fallacy.

I am not making the argument we need to drive corvettes or a ferrari, more so I feel there should be some enjoyment involved in driving other than calculating one's MPG

 

[MotF Bane]

Around here, a Prius is a status symbol. It says you love the environment, without actually loving the enviroment. And given the number of colleges around (MA), I've been led to the conclusion that an Obama/Biden '08 sticker is a dealer option.

The elderly either drive the Mercury Grand Marq, old Buick LeSabre, or the less-elderly drive a previous gen Camry or sometimes Corolla.

 

[T2urtle]

Modding a prius is the first thing on my do not do list.

that is on my must do list if i ever do buy one. i've always toyed with the idea but my 20 mpg g35 probaly will last me another 5 years unless something odd happens.

 

[exdeath]

I always notice two types of Prius drivers:

-those who hog the left lane going 20 under and refuse to move over.

-those who have a chip on their shoulder about buying a slower car than everyone else and needing to jack rabbit start and jockey for position with every car next to them so as to "punish" them for not being as "green" as they are.

 

[exdeath]

Modding a prius is the first thing on my do not do list.

I was just discussing this last night.

If I had infinite funds, I would mod a Prius with a cammed V8 swap. Esp with no cats so you get the gas fumes too, eg: exact opposite of everything a Prius stands for.

Oh the confused looks on faces of even the car illiterate as they stop in their tracks and think "wait, somethings not right here..."

The hilarious thing is that it's still registered as a Prius, a hybrid vehicle, so I could drive it solo in the HOV lane with a 4000 RPM stall converter and 4.88:1 gears.

Thats the only reason I'd mod a Prius.

Bonus points for pulling up to another Prius with Earth First and Apple stickers on it and getting dirty looks and comments.

 

[funboy6942]

Id like to see someone take the motor out of it and drop in a V8 for the hell of it. That be cool

 

[punjabiplaya]

all Prius drivers here are just really old. Everyone else drives a big ass pick up truck (not really)

 

[angry hampster]

Prius is not synonymous with frugal. It's synonymous with boring.


IF people were frugal, they would buy beater Camrys from the mid 90s.

 

[sjwaste]

The only thing I notice about Prius drivers with Maine plates is that they are usually going a lot slower than the rest of traffic. Many of them will even do it in the middle lane, creating basically the only reason we ever need to brake on the highway here.

 

[Zap]

If I had infinite funds, I would mod a Prius with a cammed V8 swap. Esp with no cats so you get the gas fumes too, eg: exact opposite of everything a Prius stands for.

Even better would be to stick with stock sized tires, and then do block long smokey burnouts. :awe:

 

[mmntech]

I don't see many people driving them here, but used car lots are full of them. Makes me think that either everyone is leasing them, or there's a lot of people that bought them and realized it was a mistake.

The Prius is the ultimate white bread car. It's what bland suburbanites buy when they're too smug to buy a Caravan with the stick figure family on the back, which all their bland white bread neighbours drive. Every time I see one, it always makes me want to buy something really obnoxious.