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Comments
Thing is, those should be $10-12k, not even what they're asking base.
RSHolland and p0926 from Edmunds were also there, we all laughed, pretty much.
I think you have to feel the texture of it...it's so...thick. Like an art school student made a rough carving. Then they cast it out of plastic.
The text on that makes me think it is wood with like a pressed in texture too. What's the point in that?
Remember the PT Cruiser when it came out? Heck, even the NA Miata. I paid 1/3rd the price that the original buyer did and mine only had 26k miles.
75% in 18 months.
Keep in mind they lowered the price.
They're selling like crazy, despite leases being $20-30 or so more than (to be fair) older competitors.
It's somewhat better with no cargo/passengers, but that kind of defeats the purpose.
Have you driven one at the limit?
CR took theirs to their slalom manuever and it did shockingly well. Quicker than the X3, Evoque, Passat (2 models), Jetta GLI, Civic Si, A6, E350, M35, 9-5, even the Cooper Countryman.
Thing is, it's a tall hybrid, it's not supposed to beat cars like that. It humiliated them.
Passat TDI ain't significantly quicker, either.
No matter, the name "Prius" will get you behind someone merging onto a highway at 31mph...
What does the Prius V compete with?
Closest thing I can think of is the Ford Escape hybrid. Not exactly known for its handling, or ride for that matter.
I test drove a V6 model and the ride tosses your head side-to-side, it was downright annoying. The wheels crash over bumps, too. And it's not like hard, low rolling resistance tires on hybrids are going to improve things.
Prius V is not nearly as bad as people think:
The pseudo hybrid minivan rides better than a Prius, too. Since Toyota expects Prius v customers to come from crossovers and SUVs, making it not feel like a small hatchback was a key goal. Pitch and Bounce Control is the hallmark feature that uses the electric motor's torque output to alter load transfer longitudinally in order to keep the ride as flat as possible on uneven road surfaces. The suspension was then tuned to keep the drive nice and tidy.
Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/alternative/1106_2012_toyota_prius_v_five_te- st/viewall.html#ixzz1lj1uRDlt
Here's their test of an Escape hybrid and Jeep Liberty diesel (gone, but something that may have been an alternative):
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/suvs/112_0503_2005_suv_reviews/overview.html-
0-60 is roughly the same for all 3: slow, but par for its class.
Hybrid haters will hate.
Escape is almost more of a small truck than a tall car.
Beige haters will hate. More material for people who don't like cars, don't like driving, don't like feeling alive in any way.
You didn't look (naturally, no surprise) but the Motor Trend figure 8 and skip pad numbers were respectable, too.
For that size I think I'd go with a Mazda5 since it offers a manual trans, and because Ford is denying us its small Focus-based wagons, for now at least.
Does a manual hybrid exist, or could it?
You must not have a family to haul around, but those of us who do get it - some times you drive something you have to drive. My roadster doesn't exactly meet all my needs.
Prius V is fairly big and roomy. It would easily accommodate a family of 4 and a large dog, plus a week's worth of luggage, and get 41mpg on cheap regular gas on the way.
It's not a sport car, but it's not a pig, either. It actually zips around well for a tall hybrid, better than many small crossovers it targets in advertising.
Luckily nobody out there can give me permission to drive what I want :P ....but I grew up in a family and we always had normal sedans for family use.
Comparing a tall wagon to an AWD vehicle might not be completely apples to oranges. But I am not doubting the V will sell, as they sell every normal one they can.
You win. LOL
All that needs is to ditch the hybrid entirely, build an Si model with the Civic Si's engine.
Sedans? You had it good. We had a 72 (?) Buick Electra coupe. And a Vega coupe. Later a Z28. Dad was nuts. The trunk of that Buick was roughly the size of Deleware, though.
Comparing a tall wagon to an AWD vehicle...
You can get a FWD Escape hybrid. It's not like they're going off road, right?
Some rough data from the EPA web site:
Loaded Prius V: $29,990, plus $1229 annual fuel cost
Loaded Passat TDI: $32,950, plus $1699
Loaded Jetta wagon TDI: $28,940, plus $1750
Loaded Escape hybrid FWD: $33,080, plus $1613
So the Jetta is a little cheaper up front, but the Prius V breaks even after 2 years.
The Escape makes little sense to anyone, just get the nicer Passat.
The 'V is easy to justify from a cost stand point.
Either my mom or dad or both had a 4 door car. When I was very little my mom had a Thunderbird the size of that Buick - but it was big enough for little kids. My dad once had a S-10 Blazer, but my mom had a normal 4 door. People with kids are too high maintenance today. My dad never owned a 4 door SUV or minivan until I was a teenager.
I think AWD vehicles will almost by definition have different suspension needs no matter the power generation. Passat nowadays is the dumbed down American spec model probably no more fun to drive than a Camry. Jetta might be nicer to drive, and you don't have the Prius stigma. Personal preference I guess.
At least I got a window seat. My little brother sat on the hump and to this day he has a complex.
Loaded Passat TDI: $32,950, plus $1699
Loaded Jetta wagon TDI: $28,940, plus $1750
Loaded Escape hybrid FWD: $33,080, plus $1613
You had the REAL competition named earlier: the Mazda5. Fully loaded at $25K, a $5K savings vs your little group here. And with a moonroof at that price, which the Prius doesn't offer does it?
Of course, the only one of the three that you can get a manual with in the fully loaded model is the Jetta Wagon TDI, right? Or can you?
The Mazda5 makes about 25 mpg combined, and is about $5000 cheaper. It would need 225 extra gallons of gas per year for 15K miles of driving (the Prius V makes 40 mpg or so), so at $5/gallon, you would not begin to see the savings from the hybrid until the 4.5-year mark, eh?! ;-)
Of course, the Mazda5 is faster, holds a lot more, and seats six, not five. So there's some extra utility there, might be worth a few bucks to the right buyer......
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
We have a Mazda 5 and it's been a lot of fun. It's really a blast to drive and has much better steering than my Acura TL. Love the visibility, tight turning circle, and sliding doors. My only complaints about the 5 are the somewhat chintzy interior and the fact that it eats tires. I actually don't need tons of power, but I do like really good steering, which it has. I also don't like the new redesign, but ours is an '07 and we have 75K on it. So far, pretty much nothing has gone wrong with it.
Still, I'd pick that with a manual and fabricate a bracket to build-in a Nav system like I did with my minivan. :shades:
Toyota now makes the Highlander and Sequoia SUVs and the Sienna minivan in Princeton, Indiana, where the company now employs nearly 4,000 workers. Toyota plans to export some of those Highlanders to other countries."
Toyota to move Highlander hybrid output to Indiana from Japan (chicagotribune.com/)
On another note, the stock was ~$65 back in November. It closed over $80 today. It peaked around $134 back in '06 and was ~$94 around a year ago.
No of course not. I drove it like a normal person would drive a car.
It had a lot of road and wind noise.
It reminded me a lot of our '04 Escape.
Like now, not when it was new.
With 5 people plus luggage on the highway, the engine/cvt acted and sounded like it was being tortured.
I did not notice any handling issues and no reason to expect any. I only drove it unloaded.
The hybrid (more comparable) has a less refined 4 banger and I doubt it sounds any less tortured.
Hybrids are optimized for city use anyway.
Seems like fintails 10 Most Hated
RX makes the list, along with the LS and IS-F. Tacoma as well.
It's true, too. I paid $22k for mine 4 years ago and it's still worth around $17k. Resale for the PRHT is absurd, why not just buy new?
Sort of the opposite of large lux cars.
On popular mass market makes, depreciation isn't such a big deal - but some think used is the only way to go for anything. If I could buy a brand new example for 5K more than a 4 year old one with say 30K miles on it, I'd do it.
"The agency said it had received six consumer complaints as well as several reports from Toyota about fires in the driver’s door. Investigators said the condition appeared to be caused by a malfunction of the master switch that controls the power windows.
"One owner told the agency that a burning odor, and then flames, came from the door. “The police and fire department were notified and no injuries were reported. The vehicle was destroyed,” the owner wrote."
http://www.npr.org/2012/02/10/146694946/u-s-investigates-door-fires-in-toyota-ca- mrys-rav4s
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/01/11/lincoln-mkz-concept-arrives-smokin-hot-in-det- roit/
Not quite, at least not yet.
The probe could affect as many as 830,000 vehicles, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday in documents posted on its website. The vehicles have not been recalled.
Getting a little ahead of yourself? :P
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I'm not too crazy about the new MKZ, either way. I guess it's an improvement, but the Fusion it's based on looks better.
Gimme a 2l EcoBoost AWD Fusion. They look fantastic, like an Aston Martin met an Audi, and had this love child.
I notice Lincolns are much more popular in the Michigan area we visit at the Ann Arbor edge of the Greater Detroit sprawl.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
True, but 100% of them. For Toyota it's 6 out of 830,000.
Nowadays they take photos each step of the way and track batches of parts from suppliers, so I'm sure they will narrow it down. We should soon see a recall for that smaller number of vehicles.
Ahhhh. The glass is half full.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I think they build-in some rather huge incentives. As in $8-10,000 worth.
48 grand for the new Explorer or Durango is a bit rich IMO... yikes
Highlander should get a re-do soon, right? Camry did, and it's based on that, so it should follow soon. I think they need to re-content it a bit, let the RAV4 sell to the cheapskates, and move the Highlander very slightly upscale, reduce overlap on those 2 models.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46366373/ns/business-autos/t/us-probes-door-fires-tr- ailblazers/#.Tzl6s3rex8E
The agency has received 12 complaints of smoke or fires in TrailBlazers
Twice as many as for Toyota, so why wasn't GM being investigated from the beginning? Why target the import branded vehicles first, with half as many complaints?
I bet GM knew, but begged them to announce the Toyota problems first. PR Damage Control. Smoke screen. Maybe they gave them extra time to narrow it down to fewer vehicles:
GM believes the condition is restricted to the 2006 and 2007 model years
Yep. That was it.
A NHTSA spokeswoman said the agency is in the process of finding out if GM and Toyota Motor Corp. got switches from the same parts maker, and if any other vehicles had them.
You can't make this stuff up...
Does CTS make door switches and parts?
.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,