TOYOTA PRIUS [merged threads]

[GasJunkie]

like i said, people purchased these cars for the sole purpose of saving money at the pump. NOT for the sole purpose of saving mother earth (this is only secondary). if you look at the various ad campaigns from Ford (Escape Hybrid), Toyota (Prius), and Honda (Hybrid and NGV Civic and Accord), they all have one thing in common. the ads emphasize the fuel consumption of these vehicles. various slogans such as "not thirsty" with a picture of a gas pump next to the hybrid/electric car or a picture of a stack of coins clearly support my belief that the message is about saving money. these cars are being marketed to entice people who are sick and tired of paying too much at the pump. however, like i said before, majority of buyers tend to become one dimensional when making big purchases (such as cars for instance) and only focus on the benefit at the pump without regard to the initial investment required.

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[eggman]

Maybe we'll see another Hybrid here but not the Prius.

[niky]

We're probably not going to see any other hybrids, unless the Luxury car manufacturers bring theirs in.

Hybrids are just too expensive... the Prius is actually the one closest to Philippine saleability, as it's cheap compared to most other Hybrids... and the chances of it being sold for under 2 million pesos are still slim. (CBU+taxes=ouch).

I'm waiting to see if Hyundai is willing to put out a small-scale run of their Hybrid system (a much simpler one than Toyotas)... and I think we're all waiting for the Hybrid Fit/Jazz... maybe that'll force Toyota to consider the SKD or CKD route to get the Prius firmly into the ASEAN market.

[userfriendly]

The Prius might not be enviromentally friendly and it will take years to recover the cost of the car vs a petrol engine; provided you don't have to buy a new batterys after 8 years. But it seems tailor made for our traffic situation in Metro Manila. Imagine stuck in traffic for hours and not using a single drop of gas cuz your using the battery and its recharged by the brakes.

[niky]

Until the battery runs out. Battery discharge in hot weather traffic was a problem on the first generation Prius... after the batteries run down (due to AC use), the engine would kick in anyway. I'd really like to be able to get my hands on a second generation and take it to Tutuban Center at Christmastime... that's the acid test of whether this one will be viable for the Philippine market.

Still... after talking to the Toyota people... considering an optimistic price estimate is still at 2 million pesos... I don't know if it's worth it yet. My 2 liter car can go about 250,000 kilometers on the extra million plus pesos (at 9 km/l kung walang birit)... a Korean subcompact would be able to go 600,000 kilometers (at 17 km/l) on the extra cash you lay out for the Prius... :shock:

And how many people keep their cars here past 200,000 kms? (I do, but then, I used to do 100,000kms every two years).

I guess my original estimate of 400,000 kms before break even versus a subcompact was a bit optimistic... :lol:

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Hey, I forgot to consider the gas that the Prius itself uses.

If we include that... and consider that the Prius itself is subject to gas price calculations... ignoring PMS, since costs are in favor of the subcompact anyway... A Prius versus a Getz... 35 km/l for the Prius, 17 km/l for the Getz 1.1... The Prius will break even with the Getz (at 42 php/l) at about 1.25 million kilometers.

With the Ford Lynx RS? At 344k kms only.

[GasJunkie]

Until the battery runs out. Battery discharge in hot weather traffic was a problem on the first generation Prius... after the batteries run down (due to AC use), the engine would kick in anyway. I'd really like to be able to get my hands on a second generation and take it to Tutuban Center at Christmastime... that's the acid test of whether this one will be viable for the Philippine market.

Still... after talking to the Toyota people... considering an optimistic price estimate is still at 2 million pesos... I don't know if it's worth it yet. My 2 liter car can go about 250,000 kilometers on the extra million plus pesos (at 9 km/l kung walang birit)... a Korean subcompact would be able to go 600,000 kilometers (at 17 km/l) on the extra cash you lay out for the Prius... :shock:

And how many people keep their cars here past 200,000 kms? (I do, but then, I used to do 100,000kms every two years).

I guess my original estimate of 400,000 kms before break even versus a subcompact was a bit optimistic... :lol:

----

Hey, I forgot to consider the gas that the Prius itself uses.

If we include that... and consider that the Prius itself is subject to gas price calculations... ignoring PMS, since costs are in favor of the subcompact anyway... A Prius versus a Getz... 35 km/l for the Prius, 17 km/l for the Getz 1.1... The Prius will break even with the Getz (at 42 php/l) at about 1.25 million kilometers.

With the Ford Lynx RS? At 344k kms only.

Agree, we're still to poor for that car.






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[russpogi]

The 2nd Gen Toyota Prius on display at the World of Toyota event at the Metropolitan Park, near Toyota Manila Bay dealership.

[mikmik316]

Kahit cguro nde environment friendly ang Prius eto na lang isipin nyo...

Given the extra cost of building a Prius... Would you rather give the extra $5,000 USD to the Japanese which are building better technology or would you give the $5,000 USD to the Arabs???

I guess one factor why those artistas are making a bold statement is because they would rather give their money to the Japs rather than to the Arabs.

[niky]

Errh... one question... who's giving money to the Arabs? Many oil companies are multinationals, AND most of the USA's oil supply comes from Canada and Mexico... so... give your money to the Japanese, who are threatening to completely destroy the US auto-industry, or give it to those friendly Canucks?