I recently read something with regard to the ForTwo, not sure where. It showed that the vast majority of americans who bought the ForTwo bought it because it was 'different' or 'unique' without any other major reasons behind buying it. They didn't buy it because it was good on gas mileage or because it was safer, or because it was etc. etc. etc.

The study also mentioned that the OVERWHELMING majority of people that bought a Fortwo would NOT buy one again.

prius=awesome marketing

Not really, it works.....as advertised.

You=don't know shit about them clearly

You guys don't know shit about business marketing.

My point is that a fuckload of priuses are sold on the perceived value of the prius. The perceived value is much much more than mpg. It is marketed as "green tech". That's probably over 50% of the reason why people buy it.

My dad has one and it has been in the dealership shop for half of it's 1 year life now. Constant problems with electrical shit, brake shit bla bla. Cute car though.

Maybe those that otherwise don't know anything about cars and would believe marketing that would tell them a car can run on piss.

The "other" 50% get it because it:
1)gets good mpg
2)very practical
3)comfortable

Every person "pro" prius in this thread mentioned those as the reasons why its a good daily point a to b car.
Not a single one of them mentioned anything about "green".


You want green get a bicycle

Ya, I'm pretty tired of the green argument. Never even crossed my mind when I was looking at and getting my 1st gen Insight.

And as far as car issues. Any car out there you can find cases of someone having issues with their car. Thats nothing new, overall though I bet you'll find positive reviews and edmunds shows good reliability for the series.

I burned Styrofoam today while yelling "Fuck the environment!"

All the more reason to buy a hybrid. Kill the environment one Nimh or Lion battery at a time!

You obviously have never seen a Smart or a MK1 Golf with a Busa motor in it.

The vast majority of the American driving public != the mt.net membership. Most of them are "those that otherwise don't know anything about cars and would believe marketing that would tell them a car can run on piss." Search your feelings, you know it to be true.

Exactly. I couldn't get a reasonable answer out of her as to why she got it, I know it was because it was cute and she wanted attention on the road.

10 years ago, I would say people bought the Prius for "green" reason. now a day, I leased a Prius, because it was a good deal. operating cost (mpg, free maintenance, no worth much, but still....), low insurance rates.

couple of months ago, special lease rates from Toyota. this was just after the brake fiasco.
Zero drive off (including DMV)
$249 / month x 35
15k miles per year
this is on a Model III, with bluetooth and Bose.

a couple of my buddies leased a lower end Prius
Zero drive off (including DMV)
$199 / month x 35
12k miles per year

I was referring to the Smart car with the Busa motor stuck between the seats. Or was it in place of the passenger seat? Forget.

I agree with faeflora, whether or not it's actually green, the fact of the matter is millions (I think?) of people have bought them, including numerous celebrities (don't get Jeremy Clarkson started), which makes it awesome marketing. No matter how much we hate it, it still sells.

As someone already said, MT.net users do not represent the general populace.

You have a frikken functional wing on your car. Consider this. How many nonfunctional wings have been sold?

Your assessment criteria obviously deviate strongly from the norm.

yesterday at Speedventures, Miata Challenge Day. Skipped last session in my Spec Miata, so I can drive the Prius on track, JUST FOR YOU.

Emilio and I both drove.

Track - Street of Willow CCW
lap time - 1:45.6x (fastest Spec Miata can do it in 1:28).
MPG - 15mpg
tire pressure - 36 / 48 cold, roughly 41 / 53 hot. Bridgestone Eco**** tire didn't chunk
balance - surprisingly good. little understeer. car will tuck in with a throttle lift. may be it is because the tire pressure trick.
brakes - again surprisingly good, better than many so called performance sedan. A little too much initial bite. braking deep wasn't a problem. stock pads held up find.
weight - ran with full weight, including spare tires and tools. plus a passenger. It doesn't roll as much as thought, guess may be because battery is down low ?

Confident it will do a sub 1:40 with good tires, minus passenger, spare tires, tools. If only I can turn off VSC.

again, very surprised with its handling and braking. VSC kicked in and beeps every corner. a bit annoying.

can't run a 1/4 charge of battery to save weight on an electric car though. aww.