To all of you that traded you Jeep for a Prius in "Cash for Clunkers"

[summitlt]

I work at a tire and service shop. Being winter in maine, its snow tire season. I see that the Jeep Cherokee, along with a lot of other nicer trucks were traded for Hyundais and Yotas. Heres my experience with a Prius.

Newer prius came in for snow tires. Had some regular all seasons with decent tread on them. Had to travel about 300 feet from where the car was parked to the entrance of the garage. Probably 4 inches of fairly wet snow on the ground. Not good for a car, but my cherokee had absolutely no problems in 4 wheel. 2 wheel it wanted to kick sideways but was doable if I had to. Keep in mind that no other cars had any problems getting into the shop that day.

So I get in back out of the spot, put it in drive and give it some throttle, nothing really happens so I give it more. Eventually holding it to the floor. Im overwhelmed by the sound of... nothing. The traction control light is on, signifying that the ground is slippery. Thanks for the update.

I held the car to the floor for the full 300 feet. While never seeing the speedo go past get this 4MPH! The traction control is so overwhelming to the car that i wont let it do anything. I cant imaigine driving this thing on the road in the snow. It doesnt move, wont let you move. Youd get somewhere faster walking, literally. On the way out, i searched for a traction control off button, nope. Doesnt have one. What a USELESS car.

 

[Darky]

Except that from what I've heard, flooring it in snow tends not to help. Especially with traction control. If traction control senses wheelslip it'll cut power. Besides, any newer car with traction control would be likely to have the same problem.

 

[xjtrailrider]

Our Taurus and Windstar both had TC and in the snow you had to back off the throttle to pull out (as you should anyway in the snow).

But I agree, the Prius is just not what i consider a car. I rented one a year ago for a buisness trip and it broke down before I got out of the parking lot, I had them bring me a Focus instead and it was a great compact car for the highway.

While everyone else was getting in on the C4C deals, we traded the Windedstar for a new Hemi Commander and all of my XJ's are still in my driveway. Mr "O" is not getting them:eyes:

 

[JRW7072009]

I don't like the new TC even the new 4x4s are coming with it now. In the new Tundras when you lift them and take a corner to fast the TC kicks in and it feels like the ABS its kinda scary.

 

[tbburg]

A prius is something you OWN to be proud of. It makes you feel good.

It's not supposed to be practical.

 

[bjoehandley]

Except that from what I've heard, flooring it in snow tends not to help. Especially with traction control. If traction control senses wheelslip it'll cut power. Besides, any newer car with traction control would be likely to have the same problem.

My Sister's '06 CHarger has TC and it does the same thing, she went to pull out of the parking lot at work and climb a hill last winter and the car got hung up and the computer wouldn't let her power her way through it block to even try and climb the hill:smsoap:

 

[tbburg]

Didn't they used to put override/disable buttons in cars with TC?

 

[bjoehandley]

The Charger's have them, she only had owned the car for a couple weeks to a month at the time and she couldn't figure out how to disable it (she was in a bit of a panic at the time since there were people behind her.)

 

[MaxxXJ]

TC is for people who dont know how to drive a car =X i could only imagine what drifting would be like in a car with TC i've even heard of TC being on the vette...

i took my xj to the ski slopes and if i wouldnt of had 4wd i would of just sat there in the middle of the road until help arrived...

 

[CherBear]

TC is for people who dont know how to drive a car =X i could only imagine what drifting would be like in a car with TC i've even heard of TC being on the vette...

i took my xj to the ski slopes and if i wouldnt of had 4wd i would of just sat there in the middle of the road until help arrived...

Go buy a Prius.
Add underglows
Attempt to "Drift"
Report results to us.

 

[MaxxXJ]

Go buy a Prius.
Add underglows
Attempt to "Drift"
Report results to us.

one condition... you supply me the $$ to go buy one =D its kinda hard to squeeze blood out of a turnip =) my pockets cant hold onto cash for very long, i own an xj remember?

 

[Johnnie Walker]

A prius is something you OWN to be proud of. It makes you feel good.

It's not supposed to be practical.

How does this make anyone feel good. Theses are total POS' They dont get the advertised awesome mileage people think they do, they are overpriced, they look like crap, and with all of the batteries; its not environmentally friendly, can we say SOLID WASTE?! Better off with a TDI, or a standard gasser that gets just as good of mileage. Honestly, they have done it right in europe.. small/medium diesel powered vehicles that get great mileage and can tow stuff. Yes, a TDI can tow a boat and still get great mileage.
So far, for 2 years, the TDI has won green car of the year. That's right, a NON-hybrid beat the Prius POS, better ratings than one of the vehicles that is supposed to be the "latest and greatest" thing to help our environment. Last year was the Jetta TDI, this year the Audi TDI. Basically the same as the Jetta/Golf TDI.

 

[xcm]

How does this make anyone feel good. Theses are total POS' They dont get the advertised awesome mileage people think they do, they are overpriced, they look like crap, and with all of the batteries; its not environmentally friendly, can we say SOLID WASTE?! Better off with a TDI, or a standard gasser that gets just as good of mileage. Honestly, they have done it right in europe.. small/medium diesel powered vehicles that get great mileage and can tow stuff. Yes, a TDI can tow a boat and still get great mileage.
So far, for 2 years, the TDI has won green car of the year. That's right, a NON-hybrid beat the Prius POS, better ratings than one of the vehicles that is supposed to be the "latest and greatest" thing to help our environment. Last year was the Jetta TDI, this year the Audi TDI. Basically the same as the Jetta/Golf TDI.

youve steped into a conspiracy! (or at least one of the best marketing campaigns in world history)
imagine the people who arent in cali, they havent even seen the fleets of douchebags in prius' driving socal highways.

 

[Big Kev]

My wife's grand cherokee has TC. Is has 2 stages of being turned off, half and all the way. Push the button and it will do half and then hold the button and it will go all the way off. Or if you put it in 4 low it will automatically turn off the TC. But I have played with it in the snow and not had any problems, I just turn the TC off for fun when the streets are empty.

I did have some issues with a rented magnum a few years ago trying to get it up a snowy hill. Once I found the TC and turned it off and was able to get some spin on the wheels I made it the rest of the way up the hill with out a problem.

I am not big on all the electronics controlling a vehicle any way, I will stick to my XJ.

 

[JNickel101]

How does this make anyone feel good. Theses are total POS' They dont get the advertised awesome mileage people think they do, they are overpriced, they look like crap, and with all of the batteries; its not environmentally friendly, can we say SOLID WASTE?! Better off with a TDI, or a standard gasser that gets just as good of mileage. Honestly, they have done it right in europe.. small/medium diesel powered vehicles that get great mileage and can tow stuff. Yes, a TDI can tow a boat and still get great mileage.
So far, for 2 years, the TDI has won green car of the year. That's right, a NON-hybrid beat the Prius POS, better ratings than one of the vehicles that is supposed to be the "latest and greatest" thing to help our environment. Last year was the Jetta TDI, this year the Audi TDI. Basically the same as the Jetta/Golf TDI.

:thumbup: :yelclap:

 

[GoSlowGetStuck]

i've even heard of TC being on the vette...

Active Handling (or Stabilitrak, or any of the other 50 names it has) is slightly different, it's not so much about detecting wheelspin, instead it it is comparing which way you're steering the car to which way it's actually moving (sliding), and then braking individual wheels to bring the car back into line with where you've got it pointed.

I've heard a few Vette owners claim it's saved their life/car during spirited driving. Some of those people drive them year-round. Yes, in places where it snows.

I like TC in FWD cars (though in general I hate driving them), in anything RWD I'll take my chances keeping it straight.

Boo Prius. Yay diesel. I'm curious what kind of mileage you'd get out of a Prius if you removed all the batteries and got all that extra weight out of it.

 

[RedHeep]

FWIW, nobody was buying a prius using their clunker money.

3 of the top ten vehicles purchased were 2 trucks and an SUV. There was nothing "mileage related" about cash for clunkers. It was an excuse to pump money into the auto industry, but it did update a ton of vehicles with new safety equipment and take a bunch of old vehicles off the road.

So we basically sold the cars to consumers 3 months early so the dealerships are empty now in December and we gave stupid people safer cars. Anything we can do to prevent darwinism.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/07/autos/cash_for_clunkers_sales/

 

[kastein]

Prius... that is not a car, that is a LUNCHBOX!'

(Achmed the Dead Terrorist will never get old, I swear)

 

[Darky]

My uncle owns a Prius and he loves it, although he's looking into replacing with a Fusion hybrid. He could care less about it's supposed environmental impact, he likes the mileage, and yes, he gets just about what it's advertised as. Why people aren't getting the advertised mileage is the same reason they don't get the advertised mileage in any car. They don't drive it the same way the EPA does when they rate them. Most people drive their cars alot harder than the EPA testing. I've tried convincing him into the Jetta TDI, but he wants to buy American this time around. The only vehicle's made in America that can compare to the mileage numbers are hybrids, and the best of them is the Fusion. Plus he also is a fan of the fact that Ford didn't take any bailouts.

 

[Darky]

TC is for people who dont know how to drive a car =X i could only imagine what drifting would be like in a car with TC i've even heard of TC being on the vette...

i took my xj to the ski slopes and if i wouldnt of had 4wd i would of just sat there in the middle of the road until help arrived...

:doh: