My second beef with the car, is the lack of accelerating power in its normal mode. Many times it feels like its straining. Switch to power mode ,and all is good.

The steering is excellent, probably due mostly to the fact that it is low and wide.

Inside visibility is very good, much better than I anticipated. To me riding in this car is similar to riding in a high tech minivan.

Put this all together and you get a car thats comfortable and fun to drive. But what really makes it fun is the frozen gas guage. When I fist picked up the car i had to do some chores and before i knew it I had put over 100 miles on the car. The gas guage didnt move at all. This is a great feeling folks. Forget about all the price comparisons, you will not believe how how little that gas guage moves, its amazing.

I first drove an older Prius that a dealer friend had picked up. The prior owner was the proverbial old lady. She put 200,000 miles on this old Prius
It never had a brake job. this car felt like a brand new car, and the brakes were excellent.

Anyway, I love mine, if you are looking for a high tech performance car, this probably isnt the car for you.

But if you like a comfortable car thats fun to drive that just happends to get aprox. 50 mpg,
I recommend you test drive one, and buy two.

You could tell them all that. But you would be largely wrong. You may not like it but that can’t be helped.

The amount of energy it takes to build a car is (surprise) roughly proportional to the amount of material in it. The Prius weighs less than the least expensive Jeep Wrangler.

*I must have had a bad day when I wrote the above. Sorry to sound so angry at Prius drivers – I don’t hate you all.
With regards to the environmental cost of production, please read into the types of metals used to make the magnets/batteries etc in hybrids and you will see that the potential for pollution creation from the extraction of such metals is far more than you would get from the extraction of Iron Ore and Alumina used in your bog-standard car.*

The styling has finally come around. It’s amazing they can make it look as good as it does and still have the lowest drag of any production car. I like the interior. It has visual interest, the seats are comfortable, and the plastics are nice for the price point. It’s got a lot of bells and whistles for 23k. Power everything, cruise control, stability control, hill brake assist, 6 disc changer with 8 speakers and aux jack for my ipod, auto climate control with air conditioning, hands free entry/exit and engine start/stop, Bluetooth, trip computer, a myriad of controls on the steering wheel, ABS, etc.

I average 50mpg on my 70 mile round trip commute that takes me over a mountain pass. What some call a non-engaging drive, I call relaxing. It’s got decent acceleration if you put your foot down. The utility of the hatchback is great. It’s extremely reliable. The resell value is off the charts.

I don’t feel like I’m paying any premium for a buying a hybrid. In fact, I’m very pleased that I can get so much car for the price.

If you must have a sporting drive and can only own one car, is this the car for you? No. But does this car serve the purpose of many? Judging by the sales figures – Definitely.

None of the cars has had batteries replaced including the 2001 model. Whatever algorithm controls the battery life, it works.

The ‘01 model had to replace the AC condenser (warranty) and the 12V battery once. The only other thing ‘wrong’ with the car is the plastic covers on the headlights are now yellow. The 10 y/o brake pads are original. I kid you not. The tires were replaced by non-oem rubber once about 5 years ago and still look good. I park my car next to this car at work, so I see it age.

The 2nd gen Prius is driven by his daughter, zero problems, parked on the same parking lot, nothing replaced in 4 years.

I drive a ‘00 bmw and have spent – as expected, trust me on this one – more money on this car than what it cost to replace the battery packs in all these Prius together. :P

The excuse of Prius unknown battery pack replacement cost over long-term ownership is very weak.

I would take the new 2010 prius model over my 330 any time of the day for an errand in downtown Vancouver (as I do often). It just plain makes sense.

You can have whatever opinion you want, but it’s objective truth who is doing the scientific research and who is just making stuff up.

-

And yes, it is difficult to argue with them unless one is a technical expert on the subject. But faith in technical experts – scientists – should never be absolute, because sometimes the most brilliant minds make the most egregious errors.

This isn’t a few folk’s hypothesis. The amount of scientific material supporting anthropogenic climate change is incredibly massive worldwide with no dissenting views as to the general trends within the scientific community. It really is analogous to evolution or might as well newton’s laws. It shouldn’t surprising if it’s hard to get grants or even avoid ridicule for those opposing the idea of gravity.

With a background in psychology, you should know that without the benefit of external processes like scientific methodology, most people tend to make snap decisions and spend disproportional amounts of effort in post hoc rationalization of them. This is exactly the trend seen in denialism as people have a strong desire to believe in amateur self-determination over years of meticulous study and thought. I would highly recommend these couple of vids for those with a sense of curiosity for the basis of these errors:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h9XntsSEro&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T69TOuqaqXI

My background is psychology and finance, and in my experience the most passionate, statistic-filled “new era” arguments always come at the peak of a bubble. And yes, it is difficult to argue with them unless one is a technical expert on the subject. But faith in technical experts – scientists – should never be absolute, because sometimes the most brilliant minds make the most egregious errors. Especially when the devil’s advocates among them have been silenced through coercion, ridicule and the withdrawal of funding. Those are big, loud warning bells in my world.

Maybe this has nothing to do with humans causing climate change, but it is an important contribution to the discussion. With science and politics being so deeply intertwined, we can marvel at the men in white coats but we also need to keep an eye on the men in black coats too.

You have it the other way around. It would be beneficial to read the comments linked above: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/omb-memo-criticizes-epa-co2-ruling/, where the arguments are clearly made, and I conclusively show that the denialism camp pretty much exclusively consists of purposely non-scientific crud. Dissenters should feel free to take the challenge issued in that thread.

In brief, people should be disgusted that such backward treachery is allowed to stand.

My entire point is that Global Warming is the new Geocentrism. If Galileo were alive today, surely he would not be joining the chorus of UN-sponsored scientists who agree unanimously on climate change and keep telling us to shut up and drive a Prius. He would be taking a hard look at the other 3,999,999,900 years of climate data which they ignored, and standing up against a hail of ridicule and scorn to present a dissenting opinion.

Anyway, the more frenzied the defense of the Prius becomes, the more I am convinced that it is nothing more than a social phenomenon that we’ll all be chuckling about in 20 years from now. And it’s okay if some of us feel that way, agenthex. There isn’t room on the bandwagon for everyone :)

It’s funny you should mention him, because in his day, people were equally reluctant to abandon Geocentrism as non-descriptive of the physical world.

Btw, next time you want to bring that “controversy” up as an analogy, I’d suggest Copernicus because Galileo is an even greater embarrassment to the anti-science crowd.

Back in those times, science awareness in the general population lagged behind research about a couple hundred years, so on the bright side we’ve made some progress since then.

Luckily Galileo did not subscribe to this definition of “science”.

Interesting. It’s been a while since I’ve actually seen someone who was purely anti-science. I’m curious, what do you think of the long historical 100% losing streak of such a position?

Big lies?? Unlike the totally unsubstantiated, absolute bullshit promulgated by the Global Hoaxers, Evolutionists, et all?

“No, actually it’s much worse, most of their data is fake:”

You mean like all the “missing link” PROOF “discoveries” that actually HAVE been proven to be fake? Give me a break.

No there are not, in much the same way as Evolution or the Round Earth. This is one of the big lies devised by the anti-science crowd: concoct a “debate” such that ill informed laymen think that there are two sides.

-

My point is that things are not always as we humans think they are. We get caught up in the moment, obsessing over some specific set of data while excluding all others.

It’s funny people who don’t understand science at all think this, because that’s exactly what anti-science is all about. No, actually it’s much worse, most of their data is fake:

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/omb-memo-criticizes-epa-co2-ruling/

There are smart scientists on both sides of the Global Warming and Peak Oil theories, the only certain difference being in the level of public support, and therefore government backing and media coverage, that each currently receives. But it is not my desire to open that can of worms here.

My point is that things are not always as we humans think they are. We get caught up in the moment, obsessing over some specific set of data while excluding all others. The surest sign of this folly is when we stop debating with each other, and start ridiculing instead. Thank you, by the way, for providing a classic example of this behaviour.

We’ve been here many times before, in everything from tulip bulbs to dot-com stocks, and each time we fool ourselves into believing that “this time things are different”.

Oil is different since there’s a finite, decreasing supply and relatively inelastic demand. A minor bubble in the last few years as people clued in to saudi field curves doesn’t change the reality that more difficult extraction equals higher prices.

It’s not a coincidence that the it’s same people subscribing to climate change denialism and infinite oil theory. It really takes a special kind of intellect to pretend to be capable of divining knowledge that alludes scientists who are orders of magnitude smarter.

A Corvette does what it is designed to do on a track. Interior isn’t good. It doesn’t deserve 5 stars because it does what its owners are looking for well when it has the flaws that it does. Most Corvette owners are going to be perfectly happy with their purchase. Not a 5 star car.

This Prius, much like the Vette, does exactly what it was designed to do well. It has faults as well. One shouldn’t ignore these faults and give it a 5 star rating.

It would be nice to get a honest rating on the car instead of a 1 star (which was wrong) and a 5 star which was in retaliation for the 1 star.

And I’m 6′ 1″ and never felt comfortable in the front seat of the previous generation Prius. But the more adjustable seats and telescoping steering wheel make the 2010 Prius very comfortable for my lanky frame.

… and did you know that disco record sales were up 400% for the year ending 1976? If these trends continue… AAY!

Here is the Truth about Gas Price Trends: In real, inflation-adjusted terms the price has been falling since 1918 and will almost certainly fall in nominal terms as the 2003-2008 price bubble exhausts its final dead-cat bounce:
http://www.inflationdata.com/Inflation/images/charts/Oil/Gasoline_inflation_chart.htm

We’ve been here many times before, in everything from tulip bulbs to dot-com stocks, and each time we fool ourselves into believing that “this time things are different”. I don’t really hate the Prius as much as I pretend to; I just hate the human folly that it represents.

My 2004 Prius’ controls all route through the touch-screen, including the nav system and even the satellite radio.

Although there are days that I can’t see it well due to glare from the sun, I think I would miss the MFD in the 2010. Does anybody know where they put the navigation screen if you purchase that option?

Michael Karesh: Thank you for your observations regarding your experiences with the helpfulness of Prius owners. I have experienced much the same thing; people just willing to help.

Quick Comments:

1. I’m not worried about batteries. As mentioned previously, the computer keeps them from experiencing deep-discharges, so they should last longer. So far no problems for me.

2. Nickel Metal Hydride batteries are recyclable. There’s a manufacturer bounty for Prius battery packs. Plus, they’re modular. Failures are extremely rare, and don’t cost that much because only the bad modules are replaced, not the entire pack.

3. My favorite tires for the Prius are the Michelin Hydroedges. I keep 42 PSI all around; the fuel economy is markedly better. It’s a firmer ride, but I used to own a Trans Am and a Corvette, so I’m good with that.

And a general comment to all:

Not all Prius owners are “greenies.” I am most definitely not green, and I think the global warming thing is just the bogeyman of liberal politicians and members of the mainstream media. So you can take your “people who hate cars” and “smug” comments and shove them.

It’s simple. I love the car. It’s been a great commuter, hauler (people AND cargo), hurricane evac transport, and.. yes, hooner.

So far, 5+ years and almost 85,000 miles. It has never stranded me and it has had to be repaired about one tenth as often as any godforsaken General Motors car. So there!