From Wikipedia, a NY Times article in 2007 said that according to a survey, only 37% of Prius buyers cited fuel economy as their motive for purchase, where 57% said they wanted to make a statement about themselves. This is unfortunate, but then, there’s nothing new about cars serving as props for egos.
Guess I’m color-blind here. Now that you mention it, does anyone know why amber turn signals were often excluded from U.S.-market cars, i.e. Beetles? Was this another bit of petty Federal regulation? I remember getting a replacement amber turn-signal lens for my ’67 MGB & wondering why most were all red.
I really hate those clear rear signal lenses. If the sun is low in the sky and behind you, it makes it darn near impossible to see whether any of the bulbs are illuminated.
I don’t know how this design meets the federal requirements (along with the 1990s trend of grouping the parking/turn lamp right next to the much much brighter headlamp).
It’s unfortunate that these cars developed that reputation. My wife bought one in 2005 and we sold it in 2009 with 70K+ miles on it. Nothing ever went wrong with it, unless you count the rubber foot-operated parking brake (Brougham bait!) cover falling off and needing to be glued back on. We moved four times over those four years, and the amount of stuff you could load in the hatch was impressive. And I made several long-distance trips for work at, erm, elevated speeds, and it took it all in stride, returning an honest 40+ MPG overall. Lots of good times in that car.
It wasn’t much fun to drive, but the ‘smug’ thing overlooks the fact that it was just a good, practical car. And professional-activist neo-hippies who want to make a statement typically can’t afford one, so I don’t think that really reflects the owner base.
Atleast I’m not driving a slow, ugly piece of shit. These cars have some the worst interiors I’ve ever sat in. The driving experience is terrible too.
The only statement these make to me is “Idiot who thinks he/she is saving the world” and “I’m going under the speed limit because its safe”
No thank you. I’ll keep my V8, and pay more for gas, but get better everything else. Or just a turbo 4 cylinder/ diesel car that gets nearly the same MPG, but doesn’t have a battery stuck up it’s ass.
One more thing to consider: As the batteries age, the charging system loses efficiency. What you end up with is a ton of dead batteries being hauled around by a tiny engine. Who wants that?
I live in Priusville (Seattle) and of the several people I know who own one, nobody has ever had a battery failure yet (most of them in the 100K-200K mileage range now). And my next-door neighbors are still driving a Gen 1 (Echo body).
And to add another of GM’s deadly sins (of omission); if GM had continued with their EV program, keeping the original design team together, THEY could have easily come up with the Prius first (. . . but with the build quality of a, um, 2002 Malibu?).
There is a MY 2001 local that is used everyday and is still with it original batteries so some of them must have been good… Not that I like the prius but this one must be well over 200k and looks like an old toyota flat green paint and all.
I was at the St. Vinnie’s in West Bend Wisconsin about a month ago and there was a Prius parked in the lot. When I walked by, I had to laugh. The owner had taken the big chrome 5.7 LITER HEMI MAGNUM badge off of a Dodge pickup and stuck it on the back of the car. Did a super-sano job too; looked stock.
It also had a Hornady ammunition gimme sticker and a Ducks Unlimited decal, Not stuff you usually see on a Prius.
That said, it I were a hybrid owner, I would prefer that others did not go around with personalized license plates like this that just reinforce stereotypes.
It’s like an AMG driver with a “2 RICH” plate or a Camaro with a “Panty Dropper” windshield banner.
it is interesting how many people hate those cars&i can not really blame them,but I need to mention my next door neighbor has a 2001 prius(model with trunk)with close to 300 k miles on it&still daily driver&she claimes that battery is still stock&still returns close to 42 mpg.she drove that thing to east coast more than 8 times from Portland to visit her daughter in Atlanta.it does make my 1979 450 sel(10-12mpg)looking really bad.all that being said I still would not trade one hubcap of my 450 for a new prius.
Well, if a majority of the people who buy these cars do so because they want to make a statement about themselves, then, Prius drivers are a lot like everybody else.
I have a similar plate on my Yaris. It reads (the mileage I actually get) MPG.
I tried to get other plates; couldn’t. Tried:
PD FOR
PAID 4
PD 4
TI 3VOM (Hold it up in a mirror to understand; it’s to be read by the guy blocking your way in front of you)
The last, was in reference to how the stolid Scandinavians drive like…eighty-year-olds. That’s the KIDS. The eighty-year-olds, drive like they’re piloting their wheelchairs.
Anyway…all of those were turned down by my state. But I got the MPG plate.
Needs a new brake lamp.
From Wikipedia, a NY Times article in 2007 said that according to a survey, only 37% of Prius buyers cited fuel economy as their motive for purchase, where 57% said they wanted to make a statement about themselves. This is unfortunate, but then, there’s nothing new about cars serving as props for egos.
I think that’s actually the turn signal in mid-blink.
The plate could also stand for Mortimer P. Gahlenridge, who was born in 1967 🙂
Guess I’m color-blind here. Now that you mention it, does anyone know why amber turn signals were often excluded from U.S.-market cars, i.e. Beetles? Was this another bit of petty Federal regulation? I remember getting a replacement amber turn-signal lens for my ’67 MGB & wondering why most were all red.
I really hate those clear rear signal lenses. If the sun is low in the sky and behind you, it makes it darn near impossible to see whether any of the bulbs are illuminated.
I don’t know how this design meets the federal requirements (along with the 1990s trend of grouping the parking/turn lamp right next to the much much brighter headlamp).
Off he goes in a cloud of his own smug. “Thaaaanks!”
Most of my car-minded friends refer to the Prius as the “Pious”.
It’s unfortunate that these cars developed that reputation. My wife bought one in 2005 and we sold it in 2009 with 70K+ miles on it. Nothing ever went wrong with it, unless you count the rubber foot-operated parking brake (Brougham bait!) cover falling off and needing to be glued back on. We moved four times over those four years, and the amount of stuff you could load in the hatch was impressive. And I made several long-distance trips for work at, erm, elevated speeds, and it took it all in stride, returning an honest 40+ MPG overall. Lots of good times in that car.
It wasn’t much fun to drive, but the ‘smug’ thing overlooks the fact that it was just a good, practical car. And professional-activist neo-hippies who want to make a statement typically can’t afford one, so I don’t think that really reflects the owner base.
Atleast I’m not driving a slow, ugly piece of shit. These cars have some the worst interiors I’ve ever sat in. The driving experience is terrible too.
The only statement these make to me is “Idiot who thinks he/she is saving the world” and “I’m going under the speed limit because its safe”
No thank you. I’ll keep my V8, and pay more for gas, but get better everything else. Or just a turbo 4 cylinder/ diesel car that gets nearly the same MPG, but doesn’t have a battery stuck up it’s ass.
One more thing to consider: As the batteries age, the charging system loses efficiency. What you end up with is a ton of dead batteries being hauled around by a tiny engine. Who wants that?
^ The oldest Priuses are approaching their teenage years, and that’s not exactly how the (fairly rare) failures have happened.
Not that I’d personally want a Prius – but the technology is darned impressive for its purpose.
+1
I live in Priusville (Seattle) and of the several people I know who own one, nobody has ever had a battery failure yet (most of them in the 100K-200K mileage range now). And my next-door neighbors are still driving a Gen 1 (Echo body).
And to add another of GM’s deadly sins (of omission); if GM had continued with their EV program, keeping the original design team together, THEY could have easily come up with the Prius first (. . . but with the build quality of a, um, 2002 Malibu?).
There is a MY 2001 local that is used everyday and is still with it original batteries so some of them must have been good… Not that I like the prius but this one must be well over 200k and looks like an old toyota flat green paint and all.
He got that plate because his first choice, DOOSH, was already taken by some guy with a ‘Vette.
Could have used DEUCHE?
I was at the St. Vinnie’s in West Bend Wisconsin about a month ago and there was a Prius parked in the lot. When I walked by, I had to laugh. The owner had taken the big chrome 5.7 LITER HEMI MAGNUM badge off of a Dodge pickup and stuck it on the back of the car. Did a super-sano job too; looked stock.
It also had a Hornady ammunition gimme sticker and a Ducks Unlimited decal, Not stuff you usually see on a Prius.
I have no problem with hybrids or the Prius.
That said, it I were a hybrid owner, I would prefer that others did not go around with personalized license plates like this that just reinforce stereotypes.
It’s like an AMG driver with a “2 RICH” plate or a Camaro with a “Panty Dropper” windshield banner.
it is interesting how many people hate those cars&i can not really blame them,but I need to mention my next door neighbor has a 2001 prius(model with trunk)with close to 300 k miles on it&still daily driver&she claimes that battery is still stock&still returns close to 42 mpg.she drove that thing to east coast more than 8 times from Portland to visit her daughter in Atlanta.it does make my 1979 450 sel(10-12mpg)looking really bad.all that being said I still would not trade one hubcap of my 450 for a new prius.
Well, if a majority of the people who buy these cars do so because they want to make a statement about themselves, then, Prius drivers are a lot like everybody else.
True enough.
But sometimes WHAT the message is, can be annoying.
When someone wants to say, I’m sexy or I’m rich and powerful – that’s one thing.
But the message off the Pri-Us seems to be along the lines of: I CARE. More than YOU.
I have a similar plate on my Yaris. It reads (the mileage I actually get) MPG.
I tried to get other plates; couldn’t. Tried:
PD FOR
PAID 4
PD 4
TI 3VOM (Hold it up in a mirror to understand; it’s to be read by the guy blocking your way in front of you)
The last, was in reference to how the stolid Scandinavians drive like…eighty-year-olds. That’s the KIDS. The eighty-year-olds, drive like they’re piloting their wheelchairs.
Anyway…all of those were turned down by my state. But I got the MPG plate.