Smart people buy Priuses

It should be noted of course, that -

1. Smart people do a lot of things, not all of which are necessarily smart, and

2.Therefore, whether or not some smart people do a certain thing has very little to do with whether or not that thing is a "smart" thing to do.

Bob M.

"If everybody else jumped off of a cliff, would you?"

A lot of smart people bought Edsels too!

Jeff DeWitt

True enough. I've even heard that a few smart people voted Republican.

Yesss... and I've heard a lot of folks that thought they were smart who voted Democrat.

Jeff DeWitt

I know a lot of smart Republicans who voted for a moron named Bush who thinks he's the Messiah and will never vote Republican again.

Not true.

Before this continues to veer off into Yet Another Endless Political Shouting Match, let's get back to the original subject:

Is there any real reason that we believe that buying a Prius (or more generally, any comparable hybrid) at this stage of the game is really a "smart" thing to do, or is the current spate of hybrid-buying really more about image than sensibility?

I'm pretty certain that hybrid drivetrains do show a good deal of promise; I am, however, far from convinced that the purchase of a hybrid can actually be justified NOW on purely rational grounds.

Bob M.

:-)

It's very well justified if the goal is to buy a car which minimizes air pollution and petroleum consumption. Mass transit or a bicycle would of course be even better for those goals but they are not useable in many situations. And if the goal is to minimize the total cost of ownership of a car, one should buy a used Kia or the like.

In September, 2004, I bought a Prius for about the same price as a comparably equipped Camry would have cost, and I've averaged 46 MPG since then. Let's assume the Camry would have gotten 30 MPG. I've driven 72,000 miles and have used about 1565 gallons of gas, whereas the Camry would have used about 2400 gallons. Is that rational enough?

That's funny, I know of a smart guy named Bush who keeps outsmarting a bunch of Democrats in Congress.

Just what have those guys accomplished this year?

Jeff DeWitt

What is it going to cost to replace the batteries when they go bad? How about those two motor/generators?

Some of us keep our cars for a really long time, I've got well over

300,000 miles on my little Cherokee and have no plans to replace it. What is going to happen to a Prius as it gets really high mileage? Those cars are a lot more complected then a conventional car.

There is a lot to be said for the KISS principal.

I think the current hybrid technology is very much a transitional technology, much as the turboprop was. Technologies like GM is developing for the Chevy Volt are going to become a lot more common than current hybrid technology.

Jeff DeWitt

For starters, gained consensus with Republicans who see the end of the line, and forced the emperor to use a lame veto numerous times.

For starters.

Censure and impeachment yet to come..

He outsmarted them so much that the wrested both houses from his party's control.

Bush is smart only in comparison to those who think that he is smart.

What makes you assume that they're going to go bad?

*Any* technology is transitional technology. But I'd rather have a hybrid now than have a gas guzzler now. It's like computers; no matter when you buy one, a better model will be coming along sooner or later.

That wasn't Bush, that was the Republican Congresscritters spending too much time playing games and not enough time actually doing what they should have been doing, along with a bit of corruption.

So the Democrats took power, they are playing even more games, getting less done, are even more corrupt, and have a lower approval rating than the Republicans they they replaced, and an approval rating less than have of the Presidents.

See, he's outsmarted you too!

Jeff DeWitt

What makes you think they won't? EVERYTHING wears out eventually. That isn't a dig against Toyota, that's real life/

Well to a point, but basic automotive technology hasn't changed that much in over 50 years... the engine and drivetrain in my 1960 Studebaker Champ isn't much different than the engine and drivetrain in a new F150... V8, stick, driving the real wheels.

The Prius is very different, and when things settle down again the drivetrain in a mainstream car may be quite different from today, but it won't be much like a Prius either.

Jeff DeWitt

>

_IF_ I end up having to pay for any of those, how much more will I have saved on gasoline by then? I'm already down 835 gallons, and at an average price of about $2.35 per gallon over the time I've had the Prius, that's a savings of almost $2000 already.