If you get 60 you are in the minority. By that I mean you are the first person I have ever seen to claim near 60. I have had ONE customer claim 50 as a max. Most see 45 average if lucky. In my area the Pocono mountains are lumps compared to the PNW. 40-42 is more the norm here. I had people who traded gen1 Prius on Gen2 who wanted their Gen1 back because the mileage was better. If you have a heavy foot I have seen them in the low 30's. A Camry Hybrid at 40? I have never seen it and I doubt if I ever will.
The emissions issue while important is overblown. A standard PZEV camry is extremely low as well as are many other cars. The next generation of "clean" diesels are excellent too. Also no matter what the commercial shows, bunnies and trees do not come out of a Prius tailpipe. The overwhelming problem with emissions is lack of maintenance and/or poor quality/incorrect maintenance. Just because the MIL doesn't light up is meaningless.
You mention the Lupo etc. I do not want that car. I would like to see a Rav 4 Turbo-diesel here in the US along with a Corolla and Camry Turbo-diesel with some legroom.
The Prius is an expensive small car. You can do nearly as well for far less with a Yaris or Corolla stick. It takes quite a while to recoup that money laid out in MPG.
They (Prius) require specialized training to repair. They do have issues just like anything else. You cannot just take them to the corner garage. Well I guess you can but that doesn't mean they will be repaired correctly.
Try towing something with a Prius-not recommended btw- or for that matter ANY hybrid. Friends towed 2 motorcycles to Daytona with a Highlander hybrid and averaged 12 mpg with a low of 9! Great mileage huh? My Tacoma V6 towed 2 600lb ATV's, a 600lb motorcycle and a 250lb dirtbike plus 2 adults and gear to Canada by way of Maine and VT 3 years ago and averaged 14. I have several friends who tow with their VW diesels and average mid 30's while towing.
On my post about my VW I believe it was misunderstood what I was referring to by POS. I was referring to the VW. While the engine is great the rest is junk. VW does not have near the build quality of Toyota.
All I am saying is that a Prius makes no sense at all to me for my needs. Perhaps for you they do.
Thank you for adding that final point, that the Prius makes no sense
to you, but that it may make sense to other people. I see the Prius as a technological leading edge, and as a transition from our current, high fossil fuel use ways, to more responsible habits.
Technological leading edges are always expensive, and there will always be people who think they make no sense whatsoever. Just think back 20+ years to when portable cellphones were being introduced. They were big, bulky, heavy bricks with batteries that only allowed you to talk for a few minutes before requiring recharging. A few leading-edge people bought them, but most people were asking "what's the use"? But enough people bought them so that the cellphone manufacturers like Motorola put more investment into designing better, smaller, lighter ones with much higher-density batteries. And where is the cellphone today? Almost everyone has one, and some people rely on them so much that as soon as service becomes unavailable, they cannot go about their usual business (witness the crash last year of the North American Blackberry service).
I see cars like the Prius as comparable to the cellphone. As they have become more mainstream (witness the Toyota Camry Hybrid, the upcoming Saturn Dual-Mode Hybrid, etc.), more and more people will start to think of them as answers to the big problems such as pollution, and not just a "what's the use"?
Another happy prius owner! :thumbup:
