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Laura Thieme

Bizresearch President – 10 years - 2007

Fisher College of Business Lecturer on Search Marketing

OSU Russian Studies Grad – 1993

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25th September 2007

Toyota Prius Hybrid - Is it Worth It? 1 reply

The Toyota Prius Hybrid - Is it Worth It?
by Laura Thieme

I’ve had the chance to test-drive the Toyota Prius Hybrid on two occasions. Should you consider buying the Toyota Prius, or taking it out for a test drive?

I took advantage of an opportunity to get an extended test-drive of the Prius in Dallas through Enterprise Rent A Car. I thought it was great that Enterprise offered the car, however, they do market the car currently as an “exotic”, which of course costs extra. I encourage you to stare them straight in the face for at least a few seconds, and you might find they lower the daily rental rate and possibly even drop it to the regular rate.

I was fascinated by the car and would have enjoyed more of a tutorial from Enterprise. I found many of the agents know very little about the “exotic” car. I will claim “female novice” on my first Enterprise experience. The concept of pushing a button to turn on the car and pushing a series of buttons or various things to initiate the car and shift into gear was out of the ordinary. Often, my car simply did not start. Not at all. Didn’t even turn on. Sometimes it would turn on, but wouldn’t shift into gear. I actually got stuck at a client site and couldn’t get the car to shift into reverse gear for the LIFE OF ME. Very frustrating, sad, humiliating and quite funny and yet sad experience. Did I say “sad”?

Toyota Prius - Laura Thieme does a rent a car test drive

When the car was actually moving in the forward direction, I thought it was zippy, enjoyable, and fascinating to learn about through trial and error. I’m posting videos to Google Video so you can see what the inside of the car looked like. In a geeky kinda way, I really enjoyed the Prius and would have liked to learn more about how it worked. Mostly due to the LCD screen which demonstrates directional arrows feeding the battery or draining the battery.

Here’s a suggestion: If you’re going to give me a large LCD screen, why don’t you offer an infomercial, Toyota? Give me a 30 second demo like the airlines do of what I need to know about the car to get it to shift into gear. Second, offer me more helpful videos that explain how the car works. That would possibly be a real hit with those of us who are willing to check out the hybrid. I think the LCD screen is distracting, so if you could tell me everything I need to know in the video, perhaps I’d watch that less and keep my eyes on the road.

I did save on gas money. I drove from Dallas to Corsicana Texas and back, and around town, and only used up a tank of gas, or perhaps a little less. The extra money I spent on the car itself, probably around $20, I saved in gas money. And I can say I finally got to test an alternative car. The rental savings, “cool factor”, and knowing I was requiring less gas - that was worth it in itself.

I’d like to learn more. I have now rented this car twice. And once I figured out the ‘key’ to putting the Prius into reverse, it wasn’t so bad to drive. Just remember this - if you test-drive the car, remember to have your foot on the brake when you turn on the car. There is no “neutral” gear, so put the brake on, turn on the car, and the zero MPH should light up on the mileage lcd window in the dashboard. Then you should be able to drive the car without a problem.

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One Response to “Toyota Prius Hybrid - Is it Worth It?”

  1. cars » Toyota Prius Hybrid - Is it Worth It? says:
    September 25th, 2007 at 11:03 pm

    […] Life in Guelph Ontario Canada wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt … you offer an infomercial, Toyota? Give me a 30 second demo like the airlines do of what I need to know about the car to get it to shift into gear…. And I can say I finally got to test an alternative car…. I actually got stuck at a client site and couldn’t get the car to turn on or put it in reverse for the LIFE OF ME…. I even had to involve the client’s fleet maintenance manager, who also had problems getting the car to reverse…. […]

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