One thing I've noticed with just about everyone I've asked who owns a Prius here in CA, most said they bought it because they were sick and tired of our high gas prices and the gouging. It was a way to "get back" at the oil companies and stretch the times between fill-ups. ***It had nothing to do with being green, but had everything to do with saving money at the pump.*** I would have to assume this mentality carries on throughout the rest of the country, just at a more relaxed rate thanks to lower gas prices everywhere else. But again, I think most who buy cars like this are thinking how it will help them stretch their dollar, not save the planet.

 

Looking over real pics, and not focusing at the back or front in huge detail, Prius is going to look fine in real life... no wonder most media didnt pan it but called it exciting which was interesting at the time.

 

there was a study that found that hybrids that look the most like hybrids like the Prius sold the best. It is a status thing. People didnt want the camry hybrid that looks like a regular camry

 

does look better in those shots, thanks for sharing.

 

Thats just the thing, you don't really save money at the pump. You do if one compares the Prius to, say another $28,000-$34,000 car. Thats just it though, the current Prius is not comparable to other cars in that price segment except for in price. Its more comparable to a Corolla, Chevy Cruze, Elantra, etc. Even though they get better mileage than all those cars, if you compare them on equal footing and you look at the price premium you're paying...you have to save a lot of gas to get to where you're saving any money.

Thats why I'm happy to see them actually making some improvements to it as a car. That negates the argument that really its more similar to a Corolla.

 

Current local specials (here in SoCal) for the 2015 Prius is now $3000 off MSRP with 0% Financing.

This may be the best time to buy the "old" Prius, because the MPG difference is not that significant.

Some people may want the updated styling and handling, but I'm pretty sure most people that buy Prius are looking at nothing but MPG and price.

 

if you pay $28-$34K no it's not gonna actually save you money versus a Corolla - but as someone said above -- some people rather stick it to oil companies by getting 55mpg rather than 34mpg with a Corolla.

Me personally, I bought a used a 2010 Prius w/15k miles on it in 2011 for about $18K and had it for a couple of years averaging 60mpg and filling up once every 3 weeks versus every week. took about 10 gallons of gas each time - daily commute was approx 45 miles. Great daily beater/commuter car! Zero issues.

 

So... if you don't look at it.. it looks fine.

Most media won't pan it because they'd want to be invited back to other Toyota events in the future.

 

Some say, the Prius interior looks like Darth Vader peeing into a squat toilet... All I know is.. it does!

 

LOL!

 

but the problem with 'saving money' like that is you have to drive a 5 year old prius 45 mi. a day - i'd rather drive something i'm not going to immediately hate.

 

it was a year old when I bought it.... I loved it when gas was so high....even if it went to $5/gal it wouldn't kill me

 

Toyota is blacklisting media that writes poorly of their vehicles? Since when? Wouldnt every media that ever wrote about previous Prius designs be blacklisted by now?

Please dont spread false information. It is not funny.

I still remember how you wrote about Lexus discontinuing IS350 for IS300 few months ago and many people bought it.

 

Bottom line is, its an economy car suspension. Its not ideal, doesn't deliver the best performance...the plus is its cheap...and thats why carmakers use it.

Going away from that in this generation Prius is a big upgrade.

 

You can drive normally in Prius and still save a lot of money compared to other car you drive the same way.

Of course, it all depends what you need personally.

But Prius does save a lot of money overall, over other mid-sized vehicles... It used to be a lot bigger inside than Corolla too.

For the sake of argument, yesterday I check Fuelly data for Prius and new Mazda 3 - Prius is significantly bigger vehicle inside, and Mazda 3 is rated 40 MPG at the highway... On Fuelly, few thousand people get 48 MPG on average with Prius and 32 MPG on average with Mazda3.

That is significant difference and not only one - Prius is very cheap to maintain (brakes for instance are several times cheaper over the life of vehicle), and very reliable with great used value. Thats why Prius often wins KBB cost of ownership awards, it is cheap car to buy, use for 5 years and sell later on.

That is also the reason Toyota probably made it look a bit crazy - to make owning it a statement. Hey it is a Prius, not just another car.

Until I saw those real life pics from few feet , I thought they might have gone way too far in their design (for instance; i cant get over cancer rear lights of Mirai), but looking at those pics It seems they are not crazy afterall. Details do look wild, but overall it is way nicer than Mirai.