We here at TTAC have gone out of our way not to characterize Toyota Prius owners as left-leaning tree-hugging pompous, uh, people. As the Toyota gas – electric hybrid's gone mainstream– sales north of 50k per month– we've taken pains (pains I tell you) to point out that its success is down to the fact that the Prius is a well-built, practical car that makes economic sense. And then I get this press release from Scarborough Research (fayre enough?) that boldly declares "Hybrid Vehicle Owners are Wealthy, Active, Educated and Overwhelmingly Democratic." [Fair disclosure: I've been personally overwhelmed by more than a few Democrats at dinner parties.] It gets worse/better. Thirty-three percent of hybrid owners belong to a health club (as opposed to 18 percent of the generally obese population). They're sixty-six percent more likely to have gone biking in the last year and twice as likely to practice yoga. They're also twice as likely as the average Joe to hold a college degree. Some 27 percent of Prius owners hold a post-grad degree. Forty-two percent of them have household incomes above $100k per year. All of which raises an interesting question: if the Prius appeals to such wealthy, active, socially conscious people, why did sales take off when Toyota lowered the price? Cheap, rich AND smug? What's that all about?
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I’ve read that the Democrat to “other” ratio is 60/40 for Prius owners. Count me as “other”.
I have also read over several years and in several places that the average Prius owner is an insurance company’s dream customer. Affluent, safe driver, age 55, good driving record, etc.
What’s the carbon footprint for importing Perrier water from France to CA?
I hate these cars. Every one I see on the road is driving under the speed limit in the left lane with a “war is not the answer” bumber sticker on it.
I tip my hat as I muscle my full size truck around them and open the throttle again, allowing more dead dinosaurs to enter my engine thanks to their conservation efforts.
As long as we are not forced to buy these ugly goofy things I don’t care what the Birkenstock crew drives.
Nice seat covers on that Prius in the picture though, assuming the guy loading the car works for the grocery store and isn’t riding in it.
they’re rich because they save money instead of pissing it away on rims, cell phones, shoes, and whatever the rest of the general slack jawed/mouth-breathing population wastes its money on.
this is why they respond to the price drop.
simple.
Ah, so Glenn Swanson is Glenn 126. I thought so, but wasn’t sure. I can’t say I agree with him a lot of the time, but he makes for entertaining reading!
My son and his wife bought a Prius about a year and a half ago as their first car. They were attracted by the fuel efficiency, low emissions, and comparatively low purchase price. Living in New York City, they are textbook examples of people who can make the most of the Prius’s parsimonious fuel use.
They also thought they’d get a huge federal tax credit of $3150, but this turned out to be a hoax due to the pernicious reach of the alternative minimum tax. Still they are quite pleased with the car, and they’ve been able to achieve average fuel economy in the 50+ mpg range (upper 40s in the city and low 50s on the highway, traveling at no more than 65 mph, which is the highest limit in the northeastern states).
Interestingly, they do meet many of the characteristics listed in your post, but they don’t own bikes, their health club is the YMCA, and I wouldn’t say they’re smug in the least. (I did teach both of my sons to be good Democrats though.)
And no, my son doesn’t camp in the left lane, so your Ram/Tahoe/Exploder is free to go around him! There’s not a single bumper sticker on it either!
Cretinx:
I would love to get that kind of mileage, but I am unable to visit project sites with something like this – so am stuck with something a LOT less economical than I would prefer; it’s the cost of doing business, really.
As for the smarmy comment about the slack-jawed consumer population – weak. I continually see these Prius owners sporting all of the expensive clothing (Patagonia anyone?), shoes, iPhones, etc. as anyone else. Not to mention that they are fooling themselves with the ‘organic foods are better’ schtick – No. They are just more expensive. We are a consumer society and Prius owners fill their trunks just as much as anyone else – they just have to make more trips…
So I understand Taxi fleets in N.Y city are going Japanese Hybrid.Did I hear or read somewhere that it was a city bylaw?
I think this might be a great test of Hybrids in general.
Wait till the cabies start paying the repair bills.
This is the real world with real drivers.24/7 with nasty drivers,and so so maintenance.
Nah! these vehicles will never stand up.
IMHO by 2012 the Hybrids wil be in the history books.
mikey: No, the NYC taxis are shifting from Crown Vics to Toyota Siennas (gas engines only) and Ford Escape Hybrids. I haven’t seen a single Prius taxi there yet (a little too small I’d think). The Vicky still dominates as of now, by far.
Car models do have to approved by the city for taxi use, but I don’t believe there’s a hybrid-only mandate, at least not yet.
BTW, my Prius-driving brother fits the stereotype quite nicely, including inconspicuous consumption and the compost pile in the back yard. He traded in his Integra of 5 years to get the first of the 2nd gen, and loves it despite the software bug that left him stranded.
mikey:
NYT: Mayor Plans an All-Hybrid Taxi Fleet
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/23/nyregion/23taxi.html
Columbia News Service: New York’s most recognizable taxi is about to disappear
http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2006-05-02/white-crownvic/
Interesting points:
Taxi drivers buy their own fuel.
Taxis must be retired after 5 years, so long-term durability is not that important.
The last time I was in NYC (2/07), I was quite surprised to see a Camry Hybrid taxi.
210 DELRAY 5 yrs of real tough driving?The repair bills will kill them.
Actually, I’m not Glenn Swanson. I just think there are two Glenns who write on here with Prius’s. I think Glenn S. lives in Texas? I live in Michigan.
Mikey, ask the taxicab drivers in Vancouver about Prius’s, they’re on their 2nd and 3rd cars already and I understand they have not had any major problems in 250,000 miles. Perhaps you’d better not diss the technology because if you’re lucky, your plant in Oshawa will actually be churning out hybrids within a decade, as a guess.
BTW I have to say I was late for work this morning because some knuckle draggers were going 45 to 35 in the only portion of my commute which is 4-lane (about 3 miles out of 17) stuck as rolling roadblocks on both lanes. It was a pickup truck, NOT another Prius, I might add.
Lane discipline is non-existant here in Michigan.
I’ve mentioned it once before about Prii. The company I work for uses them in the fleet. I do not like these cars but I respect them. They have held up to insane amounts of abuse. I’ll admit I was not expecting them to. They actually cost less, maintenance wise, than the Foci in our fleet.
I despise about 99.9% of Pious owners. Every single one I have met in person has been a smarmy I’m better than you pretentious Perrier drinking Apple using Birkenstock wearing patchuli smelling hippy.
Glenn is the only one I have ever spoken too that realizes it is my right to drive damned well what I please and hasn’t tried to force the “you are an evil person because you don’t drive a Prius” mentality down my throat.
I swear, Prius owners are just as bad as BMW owners, and I used to own a BMW. The emmisions that the Prius saves on is made up by the Smug released by their owners.
I drove a Prius once, I think it was broken. Damned thing would turn off everytime I came to a stop.
“I hate these cars. Every one I see on the road is driving under the speed limit in the left lane with a “war is not the answer” bumber sticker on it.”
I’ve got the exact opposite experience. More often than not, I see Prius drivers rocketing along at 15 OVER the speed limit. It’s as if they think the MPG benefits increase with speed…
Every Prius I’ve seen on the road has been doing one of two extremes…30 under in the left lane and doing it on purpose, or in the right lane doing a buck ten…
The company that owns the building where I work recently marked a section up front in the parking lot for hybrid and electric vehicles (do they anticipate a Tesla to grace the parking lot any time soon?) It is usually filled with Prii and Civic hybrids. I could say a lot about this practice, but I’ll just say that I really admire the woman who drives a Prius and does not park in the privileged parking but parks out in the back 40 with the rest of us.
A woman who works at the same company as me (in her mid-thirties) drives a Prius; that funky brown metallic color (meh). Still, it’s a very functional (if overt) design, unlike the ECHO-based previous generation.
Anyway, she drives that thing like she stole it; passed me more than once going up route 910 hill (45mph speed limit) doing 55-60 at the top of the hill going into a curve. Very little body lean for such a tall car.
If it weren’t for the lack of a telescoping steering column — well who knows — when 4 bucks a gallon hits, I might be willing to riske “poesur” status.
GLEN 126 : Vancouver is Canadas version of the left coast.I’m not suprised they love the Prious.
I stand by my comment.Hybrids make folks feel warm and fuzzy.Even though everybody including GM is on the bandwagon,I will be shocked if its still with us in 5 yrs.
I can see fully electrics making massive inroads.
We are gonna see diesels and more efficient gas powered.
Its gonna be a tough sell for people to accept lower powered luxury cars.As RF pointed out France, Germany and the rest of europe swallowed it.5$ a gallon gas will do that.
Cars are gonna be internal combustion or battery but they won’t be both.
Was it on here that I read the report that the reason the Accord Hybrid didn’t sell well was because it didn’t look enough like a hybrid. It may not have been here, but I have read (I remember reading it very clearly) that people like the Prius because it LOOKS like a hybrid. So basically, they could give SFA about the enviroment, as long as people think they care.
Ah, Mikey, so your left coast is as wacked out as ours in the general opinion of the flyover people, huh?
However, you can’t argue with over 56.5 mpg (US) – isn’t that about 70-71 mpg Imperial? – on an 800 mile vacation in Upper Peninsula (of Michigan) trip last April.
Three adults, several hundred pounds of food & luggage & two guitars. Admitedly, everything was “optimal” (temps in the 50’s F., snow tires finally off, no a/c needed, most speed limits of 55 mph but we did take Hwy 75 from the Mackinaw Bridge up to Soo to see the locks and back, which is 70 mph).
And no, I wasn’t going 45 in a 55, I was going the speed limit (Yeah, I know, “what a novel idea!”)
I’m 100% with you on electric cars, though. I can only hope that I can soon buy one. I’d like us to “skip” the “hydrogen economy” which makes no sense to anyone with 2 gray cells to rub together, and go straight to the “electron” economy. Preferably with solar cells & wind mills as much as possible.
Hopefully, it’s just a matter of time. We might then only need to go to a gas station once every month in the winter (because I’m pretty sure that neither Michigan nor Canadian drivers are going to be wanting to freeze our tails off in electric cars – they’ll probably have to have gasoline heaters, ironically!) Otherwise in our climate,with electric heat inside an electric car, the “150 mile range” would suddenly be “25 mile range” and whoops, I’m stopped in a snowstorm with no heat…..
Good thought glenn 126 where do you get the heat from? Has anybody asked Bob Lutz?
Glenn you live in north Michigan hows it work in slush.What about say last week slush all day then freezing cold at night.No problems with the electrics in the morning?Do you use a block heater?Do you have to? I’m just curios I’m not flaming.
We my wife and I are proud owners of an 04 Prius with 90K on it. Yes I do ride a bicycle. But I am also retired, a moderate Republican, no bumper stickers.
I am an environmentalist and conservationist. Also have a pickup for hauling stuff. Almost bought a Camry hybrid. Glad I kept the Prius. Don’t understand the anger that some people have toward the Prius. The public needs to show their appreciation for Prius owners’ desire to save fuel, because it conserves and helps keep their fuel costs down too.
Virtual: about that Honda Accord Hybrid, there’s a lot more to it than that. It was sold as the top-of-the-line model, with a V6 and electric motor. Trouble is, its fuel economy wasn’t much better than the “regular” V6 model and worse than the 4-cylinder.
What did Honda and others learn from this? People want an economical hybrid, in both initial price and low fuel usage. “Luxury” hybrids don’t make sense, no matter what they look like.
The Prius, as always, gets the best fuel economy of any hybrid (other than the quirky 2-seater Honda Insight, which has now been discontinued).
Rday, regarding anger, you mean something like this:
“The millionth Prius was sold last week. A cross between a Mazda and a miscarriage – IT’S embraced by celebrities, environmentalists, and the nexus of evil: the celebrity environmentalist. Leonardo DiCaprio helms a hybrid hackeysack, allowing his conscience to remain clear while [having sex with] truckloads of broads who may or may not have been born before the Lillith [sic] Fair.”
I won’t even “dignify” the author (if that’s even the correct word) by providing his name.
This being America, let people drive what they want. If they want to be all smug and rub it in your face, you are free to tell them where to shove it.
As near as I can tell, the people who get cranked about the Prius “image” have guilty consciences over Global Warming and their probable contribution to it or are Detroit Fanboys jealous of Toyota’s success.
And, while it may be the case that some Prius owners are obnoxious “greenies” of some sort, all the Prius owners I happen to know are pretty normal people (insurance agent, marketers, IT workers, chemical engineer) who live in the suburbs and have children.
I plan to get one. Where I live, you can’t go 200 yards without stopping at a red light and the lights are v-e-r-y long. A car that switches off its ICE whenever it’s not needed and uses recaptured braking energy for acceleration would make perfect sense for most of the driving that I do.
Driving gently, I currently get 24-25mpg around town in a 2700lb 4-cylinder car. I ran a little experiment a while back and shut off the engine in my (now departed) stick Korean crapmobile whenever I didn’t need it (like coasting up to lights and waiting at intersections). Mileage improved from 28 to 35mpg but that was a real hassle. Why not switch to a Prius and get 40+?
Those of you who think that the owners will be killed by the repair bills should go look at the Prius repair history and related information on TrueDelta. It looked pretty darned good to me.
And the last time I checked, “smug” was not a greenhouse gas.
KixStart:
I have no qualms about my contribution to “Global Warming”, and I’m hardly a Detroit Fanboy. There are only three Toyotas I would ever drive and thats one more than any Detroit makes. The only real motivation I have to keep Detroit alive is so I get a paycheck, but I work contract so win or loose, I still get cash.
The Prius people I know are pretty normal and down-to-earth: it’s simply about saving gas.
210delray:
Ah, so Glenn Swanson is Glenn 126. I thought so, but wasn’t sure.
Ummm, no.
I can’t say I agree with him a lot of the time, but he makes for entertaining reading!
Thank you! (I think…) ;-)
glenn126:
Actually, I’m not Glenn Swanson.
I’m the real Glenn Swanson (and I’m addicted to cars).
Also, I revel in certain aspects of presidential politics– can you tell? (In particular, and perhaps oddly, I enjoy gleaning what I can about the work done by campaign managers such as Carl Rove and James Carville. Go figure.)
I just think there are two Glenns who write on here with Prius’s.
There is more than one Glenn who posts here, but one of us does not own a Prius.
(That would be me.)
I think Glenn S. lives in Texas?
Actually, I’m a proud resident of Connecticut.
(The “Constitution State,” according to my license plate.)
Carry on. :-)
Ahhh, it’s these conversations that really make me want to buy another Land Rover….
Hi Mikey, Well here’s the down-side of the Prius, coming from a Prius owner. No car is perfect, right? Right. And I’m not a Toyota employee so I’m not going to pretend that my car is perfect. I like it for what it is and accept the fact that human beings designed it – therefore it cannot be 100%. (Besides which, nothing is perfect to everyone under every circumstance. If anyone thinks that is the case, let them try to haul a new boxed 27″ TV in their Porsche. Or get 60 mpg with their SUV. Or 0-100km in 5 seconds in a Honda Civic IMA hybrid).
For Canada/northern Michigan Prius ownership, you definitely need separate snow tires (& wheels if you’re smart). Mine are Bridgestone Blizzaks on four alloy aftermarket wheels (www.tirerack.com).
Here’s why. The traction control can’t be turned off in a Prius (and no doubt, some other cars too). The reason, as I understand it by reading info online (accuracy unknown), is so as to not “overspeed” and damage the electric motors (while spinning the tires).
Now, my wife’s 2007 Hyundai Sonata also has this feature of not being able to spin the tires, too, but it also has an “ESC off” button.
So with a Prius, the only down-side to owning one way up north with ice/slush etc. is that you cannot be pulling out in front of people from side roads and always expect to get out of their way. So, you have to wait a few moments to get out when there is a space. Otherwise, it is virtually identical to driving a mid-sized four cylinder front wheel drive car in winter.
Mikey, I’ve never had any hybrid system glitches at all, even in -10 F. with high winds and the car parked out in the company parking lot. Don’t forget, this 2008 is my 2nd Prius, and the 2005 had 48,200 miles on when traded in, and two winters under it’s belt, as well. No block heater in either car. It “sort of” already has one built in, in a sense. There’s a “thermos” type bottle and pump under the hood, which takes hot engine coolant and sequesters it on shut-down (it sounds weird as you’re walking into the house from the garage to have the car suddenly make a pump noise), then pumps it into the engine head on start-up, which enhances warm-up (and more or less eliminates HC and CO pollution on start-up, after catalyst treatment).
This means the Prius heats up about 3 times faster than my wife’s Sonata. However, way up north here, we tend to need to either put the Prius on “max heat” or keep our coats on in the worst of winter. Guess that’s another slight foible to the car.
So if I were Toyota, I’d probably do an “Alpine/Canadian” package to include a “semi-off” ESC button (which allows some wheel spin but halts the RPM before motor damage can occur), put a layer of Tyvec in the roof & doors of the car to insulate it better, add teflon panels under the door bottoms (for when you kick the boots off getting in) and teflon panels on the inner fenders and four fender mud-flaps, and a 2nd set of full winter floor mats.
I did buy full winter floor mats (took the ones I got for the ‘05 and kept them for the ‘08 tho they are gray and the new car’s interior is beige – big deal, eh? – they get slimed with muck and ice and gook anyway). I also got four mud flaps but alas, the weather turned before I could get them on. Gotta get my buddy with his heated garage to help me fit them one of these weekends…
I’m amused that people continue to struggle to draw the right image of hybrid owners out from their shoebox full of stereotypes. Some have become so confused they can’t understand how a price drop could lead to increased sales, or how hybrid buyers can justify consuming, well… anything at all!
First off, vanity plays an important role in the purchase as demonstrated by the vastly greater sales in the visually unique Prius compared to it’s competitors that share their body shells with more plebeian models. Considering also that hybrids don’t break even in costs for the typical owner, the extra cost must be justified as a luxury. Simply then, like any good luxury car hybrids are good at making their owners feel better about themselves.
Now, don’t let your own opinion on global warming colour your perspective on hybrid owner’s character. They’re tree huggers and eco-freaks only if you’re not, and this isn’t about your relationship with them it’s about their relationship with their cars. Hybrid owners are simply entry-level luxury car owners, but for a new type of luxury that is about assuaging their guilty conscience rather than their discomfort.
Hi Glenn Swanson. Yeah, I’ve shared your addiction to cars for virtually all of my time here on planet earth. It’s incurable, I think.
Not that I want to be cured.
My dream garage would include the two cars I now have, plus a modest* (?!) collection of collector cars; ‘63 or ‘64 Studebaker Hawk (black, red interior, 4 speed, Twin Traction, front discs, power brakes steering and air); an early 1960’s to early 1970’s Citroen DS; a 1932-3-4 Packard eight convertible sedan; oh, how about a ‘57 DeSoto hemi convertible just for fun, and why not a 1920’s Model T touring car for Sunday afternoon summer rides? Well, that’d be a start, anyhow…
How about you? And anyone else, for that matter, since we’re dreaming?
*in some circles – like Jay Leno!!!
A bit off topic, but here’s how the taxi biz works in NYC:
New York issues only a limited number of taxi medallions. These medallions must be attached to a the hood a yellow cab when it is in service. The medallions are traded on the open market; currently a NYC taxi medallion will set you back at least $250K.
Most hack drivers don’t own their cars or medallions, neither are they employees of a taxi company. Instead, hack drivers lease the cars they drive on a per diem basis — I believe that the current lease fee is $200+/day. The driver pays this fee up front and is given a car with a full tank of gas. He must buy his own gas during the day, and return the car with a full tank.
The minute a hack driver slides behind the wheel, he’s already in the hole for $200. Does this sound like a job only a desperate person would take? Think about that next time you get into a NYC cab.
I’m amused that people continue to struggle to draw the right image of hybrid owners out from their shoebox full of stereotypes.
Is this any different than the stereotype of the much-hated ’soccer mom’ who everybody thinks uses a Ford Excursion for the sole purpose of ferrying her two-year-old to daycare while yapping away inattentively on her cell phone?
j6, I can speak for every Prius owner I’ve spoken to as well as myself (bearing in mind that I’m in Michigan, not California…) and can tell you that it isn’t a “lookatmeeeeee” car at all.
It’s more akin to 1950’s Volkswagen Beetle owners smiling and waving at each other with the knowledge that they know something other driver’s haven’t figured out yet. And just like the 1950’s beetle owners, now that there are getting to be so my Prius’s on the road, nobody waves anymore. Pity.
Although I personally see your point about luxury in a sense, since my intended next purchase in 2005 was a Hyundai XG (a sort of a low-rent Bentley look-alike) with leather & lots of bells & whistles. Instead, I got a sort of a Citroen-esque future-mobile which gets 45-50 mpg instead of 18-22 mpg.
quasimodo – “Is this any different than the stereotype of the much-hated ’soccer mom’”
Different stereotype, but pulled from the same small shoebox.
Twenty years from now the Prius will be remembered as the revolutionary design that it is! It will join the ranks of such Icons as the Model T, VW bettle, and Caravan.
Like it or not this is the most significant vehicle to come along in the last 50 years. It is a successful concept that works very well.
The car itself has proven itself to be rock-solid reliable with very good longevity.
We are in the infancy of Hybrid design and developement. Only a FOOL would knock a new concept that has been a runaway success from its introduction to the marketplace.
Has anybody ever thought about the fact that the Prius might outsell other car-hybrids because it has a far more interior space? The Civic Hybrid isn’t that big inside. The Prius being a hatchback has greater interior versatility.
Personally I’m more in line with advanced Diesel than the hybrids. Just more crap to go wrong. I would rather have a much simpler system like ICE.
I wouldn’t mind the Volt either. That’s a rather elegant solution to the problem of a large country where most people don’t commute much more than 30 miles roundtrip to work but still want to roadtrip. Now they just have to make it work.
Interesting the 3 year old prius with 90k on it.
there is more to conservation than what kind of car you drive. In the end it’s how much fuel you use. The guy with the hummer that commutes 5 miles a day is going to burn less fuel than the prius driver that commutes 50 miles per day. And it has nothing to do with the brand of sandels being worn. If you are a conservationist conserve, don’t just buy a high mileage car and drive all you want. Lifestyle has more to do with it than car brands.
Every Prius I’ve seen on a highway has been moving along pretty well…at least 80 mph. So the ones around southcentral Pennsylvania aren’t blocking faster traffic.
They also seem popular with “techheads” who want to drive the latest and greatest.
mikey: Just because a car fails to hold up as a taxi doesn’t mean it won’t still be popular with retail buyers. On the flip side, I don’t see many retail customers driving around in Crown Victorias (or Grand Marquises or Town Cars).
Glenn 126 Thanks for the info.WhatdoIKNOW1:I,m not knocking the Hybrid tech per se.I just don’t think it gonna be around for the long term.
Toyota is certainly the leader in thinking outside the box.I will be truly impressed if they work out as cabs.
Geeber:The Crown Vic will go down in history as the last of the great highway cruisers.Most of the buyers have either given up driving.Or the other alternative.
I,m sure that Taxman 100 will have something to say about that last comment.It does break my heart to see the Vic get replaced by a Toyota
The Prius owners I know are perfect examples of why CAFE will fail to reduce carbon footprint and that a carbon tax is what is needed. The owners I know drive longer distances, drive unnecessarily, heat their houses excessively during the winter, and fly a lot. One even also owns a suburban and uses it for weekly skiing trips to Lake Tahoe! Another has $200/month electricity bills.
In NYC they have been using Hybrids of all makes as both Taxis and as Government vehicles. The word is already out that the Hybrid Highlanders, Camrys, Priuses, Altimas, and Civics are performing rather admirably in these tasks.
The irony here is that these cars are punching big holes into the whole “Body on frame” arguement of increased durabilty. One fact that cant be denied is that these unibody cars feel much better after a year or so of use in our pothole filled city than their BOF counterparts.
While a body of frame car is easier to repair, nothing beats NOT having to repair the car at all!
“As near as I can tell, the people who get cranked about the Prius “image” have guilty consciences over Global Warming and their probable contribution to it or are Detroit Fanboys jealous of Toyota’s success.”
As near as I can tell, the people who get cranked about the Prius “image” are idiots.
The claim that Prius sales skyrocketed just because they lowered the price is ridiculous. They were easily selling every one they made at the original production levels, so they roughly doubled the build capacity, and now pretty easily sell every one of them (not as easily as before, but still a lot easier than they sell an average Toyota, to say nothing of cars in general).
Also, can the “bbbut they just bbbuy it because it looks like a hybrid”. It’s a midsize car with a huge amount of cargo space that gets better mileage than the Civic Hybrid. Frankly, you’d have to be a fool to buy a Civic at anything but a huge discount over the Prius.
M1EK-Correct, the Prius flat smokes even it’s best competitor (the Civic, forget GMs sorry wannabes) on value. It sells ‘cuz it’s the best in it’s category by a margin anyone can see.
Interesting survey. I saw a different one in Readers Digest this year (from autobytel I think?) that gave a very different picture. They had slightly more Republicans than Dems buying hybrids, 49% not college educated (memory number), and a far lower average income.
I wonder what the truth is?
FWIW, all the hybrid owners I know are pretty normal. Shoot, even “our Glenns” seem as normal as this group gets.
Cheerio,
Bunter
How can you judge a person based on what car they drive? Don’t they teach you this kind of thing in kindergarten? Perhaps you’d like to call all Silverado drivers inbred rednecks with shotguns in the back? As a matter of fact, I used to do some environmental work and I once got a very generous donation from a woman who had a yellow H2 and Dodge Ram SRT-10 in her driveway.
My mother drives a Prius because she has a long commute, gas prices in the northeast are high, and it is bulletproof. It’s also very roomy and has lots of cargo space. 60,000 miles on the clock without a single rattle, squeak, or mechanical problem.
I know I shouldn’t judge people by the cars they drive, but I often do. But even dumber, it seems to me, is it to judge cars by the folks who drive them. Especially since most of what I think I now about those folks is what I’ve imagined from looking at their cars. See how circular this kind of judgment gets?
Documented survey info, like this, is a bit more instructive. I suppose I fit the Prius profile pretty well, but that doesn’t mean I want one. In my mind, the use too much gas. As long as I can buy a relatively clean-running diesel vehicle like my VW TDI, I’m not interested in the hybrid hype. I’ll take my 40 mpg, using 50% renewable biodiesel, in a vehicle that responds like a real car, thank you very much. I’ll defend today’s best diesels against gassers on any front you choose, be it emissions, durability, driveability or serviceability.
My main reaction to the Prius, therefore, is envy. It’s promoted by tax breaks and welcomed in carpool lanes. It gets the glory & accolades, while my normal-looking Golf is out there quietly saving the world, or, at least, living lightly on the highway.
The Prius’ success should be a loud message to VW’s nitwit bosses. The cryptic one-inch-tall TDI badge on the back isn’t enough to reach the ignorant and distracted masses. Here’s how you succeed in the US of A. Take your new 50-state-compliant TDI engine and put it in a unique body, then advertise it to the max. Make an obvious commitment to new technology, instead of offering halfhearted conversions in limited quantities. Because if you’re not making that commitment, buyers will sense that hesitation and mirror it in their own buying decisions.