How safe is Prius?

You want the optional airbags.

Actually, I want a Lexus

:-)

Natalie

What's wrong with what you have? It's not U?

Nah, I love my Echo, but I'm not getting a Lexus until my last teenager is out of the house (In about 2 years).

My insurance is already ridiculous.

Natalie

Two years will fly by fast. You'll have a hybrid before too long. mark_

Hybrid? Me? Not bloody likely

Natalie

If you don't buy a hybrid you'll be impressing only like minded people. Generally backwards and uninformed. Red Neck comes to mind. mark_

Was that really necessary?

Natalie

I thought you'd get a chuckle out of it but I guess I was wrong. Sorry. mark_

Actually, I should have laughed - my neck is soooo far from red...

Anyway, I thought it was out of character for you to troll me, so I just wondered. I haven't totally ruled out hybrids forever, but so far I don't see any real benefit in getting one right now, with a) The ridiculous cost of such a small car (Yeah, gas prices suck, but still), b) There still seem to be some significant bugs with them. I just don't see that all being fixed in 2 years (When my youngest leaves home)

:-)

Natalie

It is a real shame that Congress doesn't raise the fleet mileage standards dramatically lumping cars and SUV's into single fleets for calculation purposes. Car manufacturers would have to lower the price of hybrids to make them standard if they wanted to sell any big SUV's.

Well, we can't avoid a chance at screwing the consumers, now can we?

Natalie

Perhaps not. Although, it does seem that SUV's aren't really being used as "light trucks" circa 1975 (was that about when CAFE came into being?). They seem to have taken the place of the station wagon. I wonder what the average horsepower of a "light truck" is today compared to 1975. I doubt it is lower than '75, and light-trucks didn't seem all that limited back then.

What if.... to be classified a "light-truck" rather than a passenger car, a vehicle had to have at least 50% of its length dedicated solely and exclusively to the carriage of cargo, with no provision for that to be converted to carry people? That would seem to keep the pickup trucks and cargo vans of farmers and tradesmen "light trucks" while classifying SUV's as the passenger cars they seem to have become.

perfgeek

Someone was sitting inside their 2006 Prius sorting thru some paperwork and I happened to walk by. I've never had a chance to talk to someone in person about the newer ones so I took a chance and the guy obliged. I learned he travels a lot between western MA and the Cape, likes to drive fast and hard (72 mph came up quite often), gets 45 mpg, and had nice looking side door strips added to protect from dings. He showed me the camera's monitor (I thought that was pretty cool). His wife drives a Lexus. He drives a Prius. I thought of you Natalie for some strange reason.

I'm sorry, but 72 is barely illegal, not even close to fast, and doesn't look like it is too hard to achieve. a 600/700cc smart car/K class jap/Aixam 500 can acheive that and get 40+ to the gallon. I was driving through birmingham last weekend, and you would swear that a minimum speed limit of 80 had been introduced. Even the police and HATO vehicles blasted past 70, and they weren't chasing anyone.

Did he happen to mention how the ride was? Smooth, choppy ect.

That's only about 7 mpg more than my Echo, for crying out loud.

LOL hubby doesn't like the pious...um Prius

:-)

Natalie

Er, you're not married to "Mike Hunt(er)", by any chance? ;-)

I've been thru B'ham and FatLanta. I tried driving through FatLanta with my

Up here in Chicago, depending on the time of day and location, even the SLOW lanes get up to 80 mph. And there is no place in Cook County that the speed limit is higher than 55.

Charles of Schaumburg