Toyota Prius, Motor Trend 2004 Car of the Year

[PCMarine]

Originally posted by: nan0bug

Originally posted by: NFS4

You're entitled to your opinion, but I just think you shouldn't overlook the fact that the Ford Taurus and Cavalier sell well for a good reason - because what you get for the money is a pretty damn good car that doesn't cost you an arm and a leg when something unfortunate happens and you need repairs.

They DON'T sell well to the American consumer. They sell well to FLEETS and RENTAL agencies. 45-50% (possibly higher these days) of Taurus and Cavalier sales go to fleet agencies.

Compare that with 4% for the Accord and roughly 8-9% for the Camry.

Now compare a Taurus or Cavalier to a Camry or Corolla and you'll see where the crap comes into play.

I see more Ford Tauruses on the road on any given day than Camrys or Accords combined. I guess it depends on where you live, but to say that the Ford Taurus doesn't sell well to the american public is simply foolish. You're totally ignoring used car sales in your argument, anyway. The trend is reversing, I will concede that much. Toyota is lining up to sell more cars than Ford this year.

All I'm saying is that the Ford Taurus isn't as crappy a car as you believe. Yes, it has the rental car stigma. Yes, it might not be quite as refined as other offerings. Yes, it will have a poor resale value. These things may matter to you, and thats fine.

However, the fact is, a fully loaded 2003 Taurus on the used market sells for $1000 less than a base model Camry, $3000 less than a base model Passat, and $4000 less than a base model Maxima. The base model accord rings in at just under what a fully loaded Taurus does, but it comes with less space and a 4cyl engine. If you want a fair comparison, go ahead and compare the consumer ratings of the fully loaded SEL sedan or wagon to the consumer ratings of any of those base model cars. Pretty close, eh?

If you are looking for a the best bang for the buck in a 4 door sedan, the Taurus simply can't be beat.

Hell yeah, Ford Taurus representing

I'm 17 and I bought a 2000 taurus SE FFV (with lots of options) for $4,700 and it was definetely a great value. The insurance is dirt cheap and the gas mileage is decent. I doubt you could find a camry, accord, etc. with as many features for that price. My Taurus has a V6, power everything, cruise, power seats, premium stereo with 6 disc changer (though I put an aftermarket pioneer deck in), 16" alloy rims, heated mirrors, etc. My Taurus mops the floor with a comprable $4,700 camry, accord, etc. in almost anyway except for gas mileage.

 

[RossMAN]

When did the Taurus do away with the ugly ass egg shape?

 

[Cfour]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: Cfour
It's things like this that made me cancel my MT subscription months ago...

Ohh, boo hoo. Cry me a river. Can you name me another car for '04 that was nominated that is as important and as significant as the Prius? You simply can't, b/c none of them even come close.

Acura TL -- Rebadged Accord with a fancy audio system
Acura TSX -- Rebadged European Accord
Audi A8 L -- Nice to look at, but how many can afford it? Still heavy for it being aluminum based
BMW 5 Series -- Bangled styling, expensive as hell, nothing truly innovative
BMW Z4 -- two seat convertible; yeah, that's practical
Cadillac XLR -- $70,000 Corvette with a retractable hardtop...ooooook. So what else is new?
Chevrolet Malibu and Maxx -- STILL can't go top a Camry/Accord, nothing special about it. Soon to be rental car fodder
Chevrolet Aveo -- rebadged Korean car that goes to the bottom feeders
Chrysler Crossfire -- rebadged Mercedes SLK with a new body and meager performance/high price tag
Ford Freestar -- rebodied Ford Windstar with a trick third row seat. Been there, done that.
Jaguar XJ8/XJR -- aluminum body/structure? Audi did that TEN YEARS AGO!!
Mazda RX-8 -- Return of the rotary, but it still can't beat a 350Z
Mitsubishi Galant -- looks like crap, nothing special, huge 3.8 liter engine with poor fuel economy
Mitsubishi Lancer/Ralliart/Evolution -- The Evo hardly qualifies as anything significant. Sure it's fast, but that's about it
Nissan Maxima -- Meh, nice features, but nothing significant
Nissan Quest -- same as Maxima
Pontiac Grand Prix -- rebodied previous gen Grand Prix, nothing special
Pontiac GTO -- nice performance, nice interior, decent performance, but nothing significant.
Scion xA, Scion xB -- cheap, but underpowered. Not fully available in the US yet
Subaru Impreza/WRX/STi -- same as Evo
Suzuki Verona -- nothing significant here
Toyota Camry Solara -- nothing significant, moving on...
Toyota Prius -- we've already covered this
Toyota Sienna -- best minivan on the market by far...but all it did was mooch off features of other minivans
Volkswagen Phaeton -- overpriced blandmobile...get an A8L instead.



I think that about sums it up

Nice long reply for my short little post
Basically, I disagree with the criteria used.. I don't consider the Toyota Prius to be the "Car of the Year". It is simply not something I wish to read about, so as a consumer in a competitive market, I chose to subscriber to an alternative magazine. I want to read about RWD, V8s, Benzes, Caddy's, BMWs, etc... not "tuner" 4-cyl stuff, and certainly not hybrid crap. I hope I don't ever buy one of those things in their current state. Not to mention the fact I never received 2-3 of my issues last year.

 

[Amorphus]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
OK fine it wins!

this would have come much faster if it was a Nissan Prius.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: Cfour

Nice long reply for my short little post
Basically, I disagree with the criteria used.. I don't consider the Toyota Prius to be the "Car of the Year". It is simply not something I wish to read about, so as a consumer in a competitive market, I chose to subscriber to an alternative magazine. I want to read about RWD, V8s, Benzes, Caddy's, BMWs, etc... not "tuner" 4-cyl stuff, and certainly not hybrid crap. I hope I don't ever buy one of those things in their current state. Not to mention the fact I never received 2-3 of my issues last year.

Motor Trends reviews pickups, SUVs, economy sedans, sports coupes, supercars, luxury sedans, etc. Same goes for C&D, R&T, and Automobile.

Simply put, none of those other cars amount to a hill of beans in significance compared to the Prius. As stated before, the Prius' "Synergy" hybrid system will be the basis for the hybrid versions of the Camry, Highlander, RX330 and Sienna. The Synergy powertrain will also likely make its way into the next generation Lexus GS.

 

[0roo0roo]

walked beside one in the parking lot as it creeped towards a space... creepy silent...

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
walked beside one in the parking lot as it creeped towards a space... creepy silent...

Yeah, I have to be extra careful around pedestrians. Pedestrians often don't look and just walk out into the street with any car, but seem to do it more with my Prius because they can't hear it.

Anyways, what to get: 2" hitch or 1.25" hitch for bikes?

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
walked beside one in the parking lot as it creeped towards a space... creepy silent...

BOO!

 

[RSI]

IMO there are already many cars getting superb gas mileage today. The Honda Civic, or the Toyota Echo for example... Get insane gas mileage and are just normal cheap cars. The new Echo hatchback is quite stylish with some decent rims. For the price that's hard to beat. I think the Prius has made significant advancements since its previous versions and also has made significant progress in its category altogether - but that wouldn't make me buy one. So it gets 60mpg or so? A civic gets 49mpg, an Echo gets 55mpg. That is zero difference to me... Unless you're driving and burning 2-3 tanks of gas per week you will rarely notice the difference between a few miles per gallon.

The truth is pretty much all economy cars of today are quite efficient. The only cars that are not would have to be sports or luxury cars, or SUVs. And even all of those are becoming increasingly efficient if you compare them to cars decades ago.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: RSI
IMO there are already many cars getting superb gas mileage today. The Honda Civic, or the Toyota Echo for example... Get insane gas mileage and are just normal cheap cars. The new Echo hatchback is quite stylish with some decent rims. For the price that's hard to beat. I think the Prius has made significant advancements since its previous versions and also has made significant progress in its category altogether - but that wouldn't make me buy one. So it gets 60mpg or so? A civic gets 49mpg, an Echo gets 55mpg. That is zero difference to me... Unless you're driving and burning 2-3 tanks of gas per week you will rarely notice the difference between a few miles per gallon.

The truth is pretty much all economy cars of today are quite efficient. The only cars that are not would have to be sports or luxury cars, or SUVs. And even all of those are becoming increasingly efficient if you compare them to cars decades ago.

That's true. But we can't continue comparing todays cars to those of the 60s/70s. If we still do, we'd never improve further.

The Pruis compared to cars of today, is much better. And it should be compared to a Camry not a Civic or Echo. It gives Camry space (even bigger trunk space actually), Camry price, with almost no emissions and extraordinary mileage.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN

Originally posted by: RSI
IMO there are already many cars getting superb gas mileage today. The Honda Civic, or the Toyota Echo for example... Get insane gas mileage and are just normal cheap cars. The new Echo hatchback is quite stylish with some decent rims. For the price that's hard to beat. I think the Prius has made significant advancements since its previous versions and also has made significant progress in its category altogether - but that wouldn't make me buy one. So it gets 60mpg or so? A civic gets 49mpg, an Echo gets 55mpg. That is zero difference to me... Unless you're driving and burning 2-3 tanks of gas per week you will rarely notice the difference between a few miles per gallon.

The truth is pretty much all economy cars of today are quite efficient. The only cars that are not would have to be sports or luxury cars, or SUVs. And even all of those are becoming increasingly efficient if you compare them to cars decades ago.

That's true. But we can't continue comparing todays cars to those of the 60s/70s. If we still do, we'd never improve further.

The Pruis compared to cars of today, is much better. And it should be compared to a Camry not a Civic or Echo. It gives Camry space (even bigger trunk space actually), Camry price, with almost no emissions and extraordinary mileage.[b/]

Yup, you can't compare it to a Civic/Echo b/c it's more larger inside (and as far as cargo capacity goes) than those tin cans

 

[Eug]

Fortune Magazine agrees. Mine is still due to come in January. Apparently Lucy Liu just ordered one, too.

Anyways, I saw one the other day, which happened to be parked just across the street from my 2001 Prius. It actually looks very nice in person, and obviously is better looking that the 2001 model (which has a stumpy bug look kinda). I didn't get a good look inside though since the people seemed to be in a rush.

 

[busmaster11]

Just read the article. Very impressive. 60mpg in the city, great acceleration, and a Toyota for 20K and a 2000$ tax write-off.

Perhaps the big three can squeeze out something like this in 10 years. Maybe 8, with the way bush is kissing their collective arses...

 

[KokomoGST]

Well, I can at least understand their pick... I kinda suspected that since they make a big deal out of "significance"

It's another way they can pick any car they want to... almost arbitrarily to some degree.

I really don't care since it's not an enthusiast's car... for me, the Lancer Evolution is the most significant. An M3killer for 15gs less... the STi wasn't as significant since it isn't as fast around the corners. I guess it's tough to think for the "average consumer"

 

[Freejack2]

.