Hybrid Car Ranked Best For 2004 (Look out, OPEC!)

AP ^ | 11-20-03

[Dead Dog]

Prius, Ugly and Slow. For those who hate themsleves, and hate life. Private Transportation, For Liberals.

[glock rocks]

Is 'car of the year' awarded to the manufacturer who pays motor trend the most for the "award?"

[kaktuskid]

Wait until you have to replace the battery (3k to replace)

[NautiNurse]

[kaktuskid]

What an BUGLY piece of crap!

[jsbankston]

Wait until you have to replace the battery (3k to replace)

I would rather pay for a new $3000.00 battery than give $3.00 to the Saudi's for gas to run my current car.

[jamz]

My thoughts exactly...

If they didn't look like a danged suppository I'd even consider buying one.

Fugly is more like it...

[BrooklynGOP]

What's the 0-60 like? 20 seconds?

[TBall]

Cool, bump.

[mgstarr]

I work for the company that publishes Motor Trend. The answer is no.

[Question_Assumptions]

Actually, they have a decent 0-60 because I think they can use both the gas and electric motors at the same time along with a constant velocity transmission for quicker acceleration. Edmunds rates them at a 12.8 second 0-60 and a 19.3 second quarter mile at about 75 mph.

[Question_Assumptions]

Correction. The 12.8 seconds was a 2001 Prius. The new one does 0-60 in around 10.5 seconds.

[BrooklynGOP]

Edmunds rates them at a 12.8 second 0-60 and a 19.3 second quarter mile at about 75 mph.

Ack! Still way too slow for me.

[sirshackleton]

Wait until you have to replace the battery (3k to replace)

My thoughts exactly. I've actually heard a figure higher than that (closer to $5K altogether with installation, etc). So all that money you saved over the life of that car ends up going towards an expensive battery. Supposedly, the battery is expected to last 8-10 years before requiring replacement, based on what I've read. So if it doesn't end up affecting you (you only keep the car 5 or 6 years), it may still affect the resale value. What would you pay for a used Prius you know would possibly need a brand new $3k-$5k part in two or three years?

To be fair though, most of the people I know who own own or have driven like it. It's no performance machine, but some of them say it's unusual to visit the gas station more than once during a two week period if that.

[kaktuskid]

I would rather wait for the new 25mpg Corvette!

[richtig_faust]

There are probably only 3 mechanics in the country that can work on the damn things and the parts have got to be astronomical in price.

[tiamat]

jsbankston wrote:

I would rather pay for a new $3000.00 battery than give $3.00 to the Saudi's for gas to run my current car.

************************

Amen.

I see this as a "good first step".

If only it were American, I'd want one!

I'll wait a few years and see what the makers do and let them get the bugs out.......

I don't really care how it looks. I want it to be reliable!

Tia

[stevio]

If you want it to be reliable then you want it to be Toyota.

[steppenwolffe]

I see this as a "good first step".

If only it were American, I'd want one!

I'll wait a few years and see what the makers do and let them get the bugs out.......

Zactly! This is only the beginning. We will develop a whole arena of technology around this.

The first computer I ever worked on was the size of a small room. I typed cards with little square holes and fed them (the cards) into the room-sized computer. Today, 25 years later, my personal computer is about 1000 times as efficient at 100th the size.

These cars will evolve into a similar phenomenon. Now might be a good time to start buying stock.

And we will break our dependence upon raghead oil.