Prius drivers get last laugh

[babylonsister]

Prius drivers get last laugh
By Dan Vierria | Sacramento Bee


Justin Wages became "one of them" when he bought a new Toyota Prius hybrid three years ago.

"I always had really high-horsepower racing cars, so all my friends on that side give me the tree-hugger, hippy stuff," says Wages, who lives in the south Placer city of Lincoln. "My Prius gets 53 mpg, but if I take the back roads, drive slow and am careful, I've gotten 62 mpg."

Described as looking like an orthopedic shoe, a doorstop and much worse, the hybrid gas-electric Prius nonetheless has become a no-brainer for drivers with a yen for low emissions and high mileage. The Environmental Protection Agency ranked the Prius No. 1 in 2008 fuel economy – 48 mpg in the city, 45 highway.

"It's kind of ugly, but when you're getting 48 mpg, it grows on you," explains Jason Smith, 46, of Carmichael, owner of a 2007 Prius.

The Prius, like the Corvette and the Porsche, comes with an avid fan base and brand loyalty as standard equipment. It may be homely – and it's certainly no muscle car – but Prius owners are thicker than peanut butter and defend their high-mileage hybrids with monastic resolve.

"The Prius, by far, has the most model loyalty," says John Roth, sales manager at Roseville Toyota and Scion. "The people who trade one in buy another."

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/44663.html

[Lance_Boyle]

1. they also get laughed *AT* by us TDI drivers

who have been enjoying 50MPG for decades in our regular-car-looking diesels. And we have the added advantage of being able to fuel up entirely petro-free... something the smug prius folks must find irritating as they stand at those pumps, feeding Exxon and BP. :D

[postulater]

3. What is a TDI?

[IndianaJones]

4. turbo diesel. nt.

[RedShoes]

5. I'm with postulator...what is TDI?

[mod mom]

2. I've mastered the driving-getting 49.8 w A/C in 93 degree heat!

I love my car. I have about as much room and not much less acceleration as my last car Saab turbo station wagon-around town!

[IndianaJones]

6. 0.15/mile for my Olds vs 0.27/mile for the Prius over 5 years. Heh. nt.