I just bought a new Toyota. Should I feel guilty?

I just took delivery of a new '07 Prius. I looked at Ford, GM & even Chrysler products ...but nothing in their smaller vehicles appealed to me. At the beginning of my car shopping, I really wanted to buy an "American brand", but the D3 don't really have anything to compare with the Prius, and very little in terms of great small cars.

Actually, I do feel a bit guilty ... but I also feel let down because the D3 have not kept up with Toyota and others in the area of appealing, small, fuel-efficient cars. Mr B

Reply to
Mister Bear
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No, its not your fault the D3 are crap. Its only by hitting their pockets that you can expect them to catch up - if they dont and they fold then thats their own lack of foresight.

Reply to
Coyoteboy

Of course, you realize that now you have a Toyota, you'll never look at anything else again...

Reply to
Hachiroku

It's their job to provide you with cars you want. It is not up to you to provide the people who work at the Michigan 3 a job.

The only thing you would be doing by buying a car you don't want is to perpetuate the Michigan-3 stuff, which, to you, is an inferior product.

If the Michigan-3 car makers want your money, they will have to earn it. And, in this case, they haven't.

If there is a restaurant down the street that supports a big family with lots of kids, should you go there or should go to the restaurant that servers food you like better?

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

I had one American car - a Plymouth Duster - from '72 - '76. After that have bought a Datsun (later, Nissan), & then all Toyotas. I've never felt guilty. Reason being: the handwriting was on the wall back in the early - mid-70's & the American auto makers did zilch about it. Nada, nothing. OTOH, some of the Japanese auto makers were - & still are - making what I want: quality & reliabilty for a decent price. So... they're the ones I buy from.

Cathy

P.S. I'm kinda jealous of your Prius... (I drive a Corolla)

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Reply to
Cathy F.

M. Bear,

Don't feel guilty. The more you drive your new Toyota, the more you'll love it. Guilt will soon be replaced with happiness.

Reply to
RK

If you are in a union, make 80K a year, have all your medical insurance paid by your employer, can retire in 30 years with a 33K a year pension and full health insurance paid. Then yes you should feel guilty. For the rest of us that never had this kind of pay and benefits we get along best we can, and if that means buying a Toyota that's what we do.

Reply to
Moe

It's your money you can spend to where your choose. As long as realize it will take you five years before you will even begin to save ANY money on fuel because of the premium price you paid to get a hybrid that is made in Japan, the profit on which Toyota will not pay a single penny in US corporate income taxes, and you are willing to spend thousands more to replace the battery pack, along with the disposal cost, at some point down the road if you ever expect to sell it, why should you feel guilty?

You might want to feel duped perhaps, but not guilty For instance you could have driven home a fully loaded 4 cy Focus or Fusion, that get up to

38 MPG, for around $8,000 or $9,000 less. The money you would have saved on the purchase of a Focus or Fusion would have covered ALL of your fuel cost for longer than the average new car buyer keeps a new car or eight years or so, WOF ;)

mike

Reply to
Mike Hunter

Actually, the company that sells the cars to the dealers (Toyota of America or something like that) does pay corporate taxes.

Except that the Prius holds its value a lot better than a Focus does.

One thing that is not figured into the price of a Prius is the environmental cost of the motors, electronics and batteries. These will be disposed of at some point. And they take oil and other materials to make. That might negate a lot of the benefits.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

I understand that you feel a bit guilty...though you shouldn't. Poor management by greedy executives and CEO's should exculpate you for your decision to buy the Prius.

Reply to
whatthe?

Better do a search of the IRS site, if that is what you believe.

mike

Reply to
Mike Hunter

No, since the "big 3" aren't offering up anything for the fuel conscious consumer (to be fair though, GM is running a website to pick "which" small car to manufacture; they all look like imitations of Toyota or Honda cars). Plus there is that pesky quality issue. If Ford had brought their "Ka" to the US I probably would have bought that but opted for a Toyota Yaris HB, instead. Probably would have shaved $3000 off my new car price, too, if Ford had done that.

Reply to
Seerialmom

They did...it used to be called the Festiva. 3 cylinder time bomb. I did see one a few weeks ago...probably the last running one in existance!

Reply to
Hachiroku

You should buy it, a rare one off 'oddball' like a 3 cylinder Festiva should be worth a lot of money to a collector some day. LOL

mike

Reply to
Mike Hunter

UGH! Yes, I like oddball cars...oddball Toyotas that will run their wheels off, that is.

Reply to
Hachiroku

I do:

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Toyota's US corporations (which are the operating arms of Toyota in the US) are required to file tax returns. You can read this for details or theUS Tax code:
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Happy reading!

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

Reply to
Viperkiller

That's not guilt. That's pity.

Reply to
Viperkiller

That's the one I had. At the last minute I changed my mind (after they trucked the car up from NJ) because they had a red short hatch on the lot (I think the long hatch was the Coupe and the short hatch was the Hatchback). I liked the red and I liked the roll down windows in the back.

The salesman got a little exasperated with me for changing my mind the day I went to sign the papers, so I stayed with the silver coupe. Perhaps this was 'serendipity', because that car served me very well for 6 years and

244,000 with one water pump, a set of tires, and an E-Brake cable! I did two 'tune-ups' myself, and all the oil changes. AFAIR, that's ALL the work it had done on it.

Now I liked Toyotas a lot before this car, but this car and my Hachiroku really cemented my relationship with Toyota. Both of them were real gems.

Can you imagine how I would have felt had I bought the X-11 (some of them DID last a long time; I think the X-11s got more attention than the run-of-the-mill Citation...)

Reply to
Hachiroku

Of course they must file a tax return, who doesn't? The question is how much US federal corporate income taxes do they pay after the credits for taxes paid to Japan? LOL

mike

Reply to
Mike Hunter

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