Thanks for all the input, folks. If I do get one, it won’t be until the beginning of next year, and this info will help us decide.
Klondike
Hey, I’m happy if people buy cars that get better gas mileage, no matter what their reasoning. I was seriously considering a hybrid just because I’m lazy and anything that means I have to go to the gas station less often is good.
One downside is that there can be waiting lists for them. This is why I ended up not getting one. My car got broken into last year, and I decided it was more economical to take the money from the insurance company and put it and my car (as it was) toward a new car. I couldn’t get a hybrid, because there was, IIRC, a 6-month waiting list for them in the Bay Area at the time, and there was no way I was going to drive around with a broken window for six months.
I have a feeling Keweenaw is a member of the UAW. Am I right?
However, I can add little more to this thread as I have never driven, nor owned any hybrid vehicle. Am I a dirty commie because of it?
I’m not UAW or union. I do live in Michigan, where the health of the domestic auto industry is vital to the overall local economy.
I have a 2005 Prius which I got last December, with about 9,800 miles on it. I love it, and would be happy to share the pros, but you asked for cons:[ul]
[li]Even with high gas prices, you might not save money long-term on the Prius because it’s so much more expensive than a comparable car. [/li][li]It’s a very light car. In a stiff wind, you can really feel it moving. Obviously, this helps with the gas mileage, so it’s sort of also a pro.[/li][li]The rear window is really tiny, as mentioned.[/li][li] A complaint I have often heard is that the Prius is not very powerful and doesn’t accelerate well. However, I haven’t had a problem with it. [/li][li] Repairs will probably be more expensive than a regular car.[/li] There have been some reports of random stalling, which is a bit worrying.[/ul]
Yet previously, you wrote:
(Boldings mine.)
So, you’re O.K. with foreign-made vehicles as long as the foreign country maufacturing them is Canada, but not if the foreign country is Japan?
Can you please explain your logic?
You get extra credit if you can do so without using the phrase Yellow Peril.
Well, the latest issue of Consumers Reports says that the EPA milage figures given for hybrid cars are significantly over rated. (They report that ALL the EPA numbers are higher than real-world milage, but hybrid ones are over rated more than others.)
Even so, hybrid milage is still quite a bit better.
Also, milage may depend on weather. Up here in Minnesota, hybrid cars really aren’t hybrid during most of the winter. The computer keeps the gas engine running, instead of turning it on and off like normal, when the temperature is very low. (A good idea for reducing engine wear.) but this does lower the gas milage during the winter. That might be a downside depending on where you live.
I was referring to US based auto companies that have some manufacturing operations in Mexico and Canada.
I had intented to keep my comments Prius focused, I apologize for the hijack.
I hate the Prius. I especially hate seeing hollywood millionares like Tom Hanks drive around. These guys dosen’t have the I could really use the money I’d save getting 50 vs. 35 mpg. They just want to look/be environmentally responsible. They have no regard for what a declining US auto industry will mean to our economy.
That said, they do drive a little nicer than I expected. Quieter than the Civic Hybrid. Of the ones mentioned so far I actually liked the Escape Hybrid the most.
When the U.S. auto industry was clueless as to what American car consumers in the '70s and '80s wanted, the Japanese came in and woke Detroit up by selling boatloads of small, zippy, and more important, *reliable * cars to Americans.
Detroit adapted, and didn’t die off.
Second verse, same as the first …
Now, Japan has been at the forefront of hybrid technologies.
Those concerned about “what a declining US auto industry will mean to our economy” should remind Detroit that it’s time once again to adapt.
That would seem to be more productive than whining and bitching about consumers making free-market choices, don’t you think?
Aw, we should lay off Keweenaw a bit. His heart’s in the right place. I work for a major competitor to Toyota, and although I respect them as a company, I wish all of our customers were as USA-focused as Keweenaw. If you ever want a friends-and family-discount, well, I can’t give you one without knowing you. Hey, I’m balthisar! Good to meet you.
Toyota is about to invest several million dollars in Michigan, which is a positive influence on our state (Michigan) economy with the decline of the Michigan-based manufacturers. The sad fact is the US-based employers cannot compete anymore having a Michigan-only manufacturing base. I don’t want to get us moved to The Pit, so do your own research and form your own opinion about how labor unions affect different manufacturers (and no, not all Toyota facilities are union-free). Don’t think product – we Americans still dominate, after all. Also, notice also that I’m writing from sunny Mexico where we are currently launching a serious (good) competitor to Asian dominance – I like this car, and it takes a lot for me to say that. Consider how putting this car here also benefits Michigan – it added a shift at a Michigan facility to make up for the product lost here!
Yea, right on. Detroit has been dragged, kicking and screaming and by force of (ugh) government regulations, into every new safety modification. And only improved their cars when forced by the German and Japanese competition.
Millions of people have bought the imports ever since VW started with their beetles, just because the U.S. auto industry could or would not provide cars as inexpensive, reliable, good looking and fun to drive.
The day they do, these same millions will likely buy 'em. But, the industry never seems to get it. And until they do, free trade will prevail.
If a Prius is very light, as vix1 said, then it probably doesn’t handle so well in the snow.
…However, looking at her, and KlondikeGeoff’s locations, that probably isn’t as much of a concern for them. 
Hey, it snows in the desert…I’ve seen it. If you really are in the high desert, you might want to make sure that the engine can handle the thin air by talking to local owners. I know some cars that don’t hack it in the high desert. A certain Calais I knew once…didn’t like the San Raphel swell