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An encounter regretfully avoided Today whilst at the fuel station, I had a rather one-sided encounter with a smug Toyota Prius-driving oaf. The guy was fuelling up his car and wearing the most ridiculous grin. I did not think my face conveyed any surprise at such an improbable expression, but it must have – as soon as he saw me glance at him, he said “it makes me laugh to think how much less I spend on fuel these days”. My instant response was “it makes me laugh to think that there are people who will pay $40,000 for a Toyota Corolla”. I lie – that’s what I instantly thought. To the oaf, I simply smiled and nodded – a technique I find useful and effective if I wish to limit interaction with a whole manner of people best avoided – from the vexatious to the unhinged. This time, however, I wish I’d spoken my mind, for taking smug Prius owners down a rung or two is surely the most worthy of pursuits.
I blame my parents – they raised me to be too polite.
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Why verbalize a response when the jack off motion works just as well?
His smirk was misplaced. These cars aren’t cheap to run(Link) at all.
At least he was making an effort. How many of you drive SUV’s?
Perhaps he *meant* to say “how much less fuel I use”.
I know some Prius owners who consider the cost of gasoline to be much, much higher than simply the cost at the pump, which misses externalities like providing the means for Iran to obtain nuclear weapons, etc., etc.
Under such circumstances, the Prius makes much more sense.
The return on investment from owning a Pius (that’s not a typo) is falling as fast as retail gasoline prices, and they are in freefall around here.
Prius drivers can be pretty annoying, yeah. There’s a family of them that lives near me and flies a flag with a picutre of the Earth on it instead of the more typical American flag. I wouldn’t mind going a round with the dad over what I assume his opinions on international law are – but I don’t, as a general rule, like to discourage people from buying hybrid cars. Yes, it’s currently uneconomical, but so are many inventions before they become popular. None of us would have bought a TV in the 40s, for example – but it’s a good thing at least some people did.
I have no problem with innovative car companies leading us out of dependence on oil. I have neither the money nor the inclination to support this just now, but I would note that buying a Prius is at least a responsible expression of environmentalist politics. More typically, dedicated environmentalists go around pestering their representatives for ever-more-painful economy-killing regulation and trying to shut down companies they don’t like with puerile protests. Putting their money where their mouths are and buying $40,000 cars is at least one bit of adult behavior in a sea of whining.
Joshua is correct. Personally, I wouldn’t rate buying an SUV or a prestige car like a ferrari. But if people have the money and it’s what they want, good luck to them. Why sneer? I thought this website was about individual choice after all.
That the prius is not as economical as at first glance was obvious to anyone with an ounce of sense and/or the ability to type “battery replacement costs interval” into google. Throw in the fact that there are cars out there already that get similar mpg. However, there is no doubt that oil costs are going to continue to rise and that we need to start looking at alternative options. Hybrids may turn to be a dead end (I believe so) but it’s at least a try.
Even then, there is the “gee whizz” factor of being an early adopter of new technology. I suspect that is what many Prius owners are really motivated by. There’s definitely something to having something that nobody else around you has yet.
Yes, that they put their money where their mouths are is a good thing.
However, I have always considered people who start conversations with strangers just to be confrontational to be fair game.
I would have responded.
I’d have laughed in his face for being a smug greeny!
But then if it had been me he wouldn’t have opened his mouth because he’d see I was filling up my own Toyota which has a big fat turbo, drinks fuel for fun (the bits it doesn’t dump down the exhaust anyway!) and looks like it could eat a Prius for breakfast and still have room for a Yaris or two!
Damn I wish Toyota would go back to doing what they do/did best (fat turbo engines for MR2, GT4, Supra) and drop this green malarky.
The next technological innovation for powering cars has most likely not been invented yet.
> At least he was making an effort. How many of you
> drive SUV’s?
Not me. I have two vehicles: one is a 2.5 l 4WD station wagon that does about 30 mpg, 0 – 60 in a little under 9 seconds, and has a bit over 200,000 km on the clock. The other is an 1100 cc motorcycle that does about 60 mpg, 0 – 60 in a bit under 4.5 seconds, and has nearly 100,000 km on the clock. Both were made in 1995, both have wonderful boxer engines, and my current plan is to keep each of them for at least another 100,000 km.
I commute on the 1100cc one but not, interestingly enough, because it uses 1 litre of fuel a day vs 2 litres for the Soobie — that barely pays for the cost of annual registration, let alone the capital. It’s because it costs $0 to park in the city for the day, vs about NZ$10 for the car. That nearly but not quite covers the capital costs of the bike. Fun and convenience have to be worth something 🙂
Doesn’t Dave have his man drive a Prius with his suit in it whilst he ostentatiously cycles to the Palace of Varieties?
You should watch episode 2 of South Park’s 10th season (first half) Smug Alert! it captures your experience hilariously. Available on i-tunes if you have a US account