@YourMama: Oh, I know right. Because that car he trashed was TOTALLY a 10 second car...yeah right Hollywood. It's the worst when kids think they're like that stock.
@Paradox: I'm saying that if you're going to get a Toyota, you might as well get one that's going to last more than 8 years and have some muscle to it. I'd rather buy the gas for the Mach IV than pay a specialist to have to explore the cramped depths of everything in the Prius's trunk and under the hood once you get some miles on it.
The Prius is assembled between Takaoka and Motomachi, Japan, which makes it a foreign car, that's not a bad thing. If you're buying a car from a company based in Japan then you should expect to get a car that is assembled in Japan.
It's hard for motor vehicle companies to keep plants running in America with unions and worker's rights when they can do it a lot cheaper and in different conditions elsewhere. My car is 35 years old, was built and assembled in America (specifically Wisconsin, although AMC had plants throughout the US and Canada), and it has never broken down or needed anything that wouldn't fall under expected maintenance for any car that's driven a lot. (Oil, filters, gaskets, sparkplugs, shocks, brakes, wipers, tires, and an upgrade to FM radio and CD player)
Buy a Prius, then get back to me in 10 years on how much you've spent on it from purchasing it, giving it gas, having someone else do tight tune-ups and maintenance on it, your replacement batteries, the electronics that fail on it, etc.
I'll start keeping track of how much I'm spending on my '72 Gremlin right now if you want
