How will Toyota's decision to manufacture the 46 mpg Prius in Mississippi affect your...?

Nelle

...purchase decision?















http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/bu...hp&oref=slogin































Toyota to Make Prius in the U.S.































"Toyota Motor of Japan said Thursday that it would build its popular gas-electric hybrid sedan, the Prius, in the United States for the first time as it tries to meet surging demand and struggles with falling sales of big trucks.































Starting in 2010, Toyota plans to make the Prius at a new factory in Blue Springs, Miss., that was originally intended to assemble sport utility vehicles. Toyota said shifting production to the Blue Springs plant, which is under construction, will help it alleviate shortages of the Prius, which gets an average of 46 miles a gallon and has months-long waiting lists at most dealers...































...Sales of the Prius declined 33.7 percent as a result of tight supplies...































...Mr. Wiseman said the changes show that Toyota still has a ?long-term commitment to our North American operations? despite the weakened market."

Red

It won't. The Prius is such a finicky car it doesn't actually get 46 mpg typically, not to mention the environmental impact (if you're concerned with such a thing) of manufacturing THAT kind of car. Besides, I can buy a VW Jetta TDI that's a few years old and half the price of a Prius that DOES reliably get 40 MPG or so in town.

Vipassana

Why would it remotely matter?































What part of that is supposed to be interesting?































That there's a Toyota being made in the US? That happens all the time.































That the Prius gets 46 mpg? My CRX does 62mpg.































So...what's your point?

JerryJ

It won't, other than the concern that the quality may not be the same. If you only get 46 mpg in the Prius you are doing something really wrong.































2004 Prius MPG from the logbook. (Complete years only):















2003-2004 -- 50.8 mpg 17,628 miles















2005 -- 52.6 mpg 14,688 miles















2006 -- 56.3 mpg 16174 miles















2007 -- 57.3 mpg 18384 miles















2008 -- 59.9 mpg 21755 miles















2009 -- 61.4 mpg 16177 miles















2010 -- 65.2 mpg 12134 miles

Doran

I have been buying and driving Toyotas for more than 25 years and it really doesn't matter where there have been built. Currently I have two Toyota with one being old enough to be 100 per cent Japan parts & labor and a 2005 that is so mixed that I am not sure what or where you could call the origin. They are of equal quality and equal in trouble free service. My 1989 4X4 is totally Japan content ect and has been a wonderful vehicle for 190,000 miles but the 2005 has the same great characteristics and will probably go the same number of miles. I was upset when the new truck plant went into production in the US but then two years ago I was near the plant on business and actually was able to go on the tourist tour.































Toyota builds vehicles with the same methods and processes as they did in Japan no where the car or truck is built. They have extensive training programs for new employees in the Toyota way of building cars and are generally a great employer so the employee turnover is small. Parts are sourced world wide but the standards are the same for the part no matter who or where it is made. Substandard parts are just not accepted no mater where it is built. Awesome morale at the truck plant with enthusiastic employees who strive to build good cars.































Toyota is still a very special vehicle and retains values better than most cars.

Michael

Not at all. We are keeping the two 2002 Prius we have in the family, at least until one of them needs some sort of repair. They are old, less efficient technology, and actually get only 46 mpg in the short trips we make with them, as opposed to the official average of 50 mpg for the current Prius or the official estimate of 29 mpg for the CRX (sorry, V, it's the same test procedure)... but the NY Times has had poor fact checking as long as I can remember anyway.































www.fueleconomy.gov

Bill S

Until the Prius can tow my travel trailer and my ATV/trailer I won't buy one.































Seems like a lot of money to spend on a car that in 3 years you'll have to fork out a few thousand $$$ to have the battery pack replaced, which isn't covered under warranty. I can buy a lot of gas for the extra cost of that car. Now granted if all I were to use it for was for a long commute to work it might be ok, but then again the extra cost of the car in the beginning doesn't seem worth it to me. My 1993 Ford Tempo got 42mpg on the highway at 75mph with the AC on in the summer and it wasn't even a hybrid, I wish I still had that car now.