# Prius UberX Driver Observations please...



## UberXTampa (Nov 20, 2014)

I have a Prius and it is in top shape. at least 30% of the riders have never been to a Prius before and they ask me a lot of questions. Most of the time they state that they were pleasantly surprised at how quiet and smooth the car was and it was more spacious.

This brings me these questions:
1. Do riders know it is a Prius before they select me?
2. Do they cancel or not choose me because of misconceptions -- small, uncomfortable, etc... -- about a Prius?
3. Do you feel like you pay more for owning a Prius in form of losing customers than you save on gas? Or put it this way, can you make more trips if you had another car, say a VW Passat?
4. Is there a car that strikes a good balance between customer choice and fuel/ownership economy?

Best Regards!


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## drivernotfound (Nov 5, 2014)

UberXTampa said:


> I have a Prius and it is in top shape. at least 30% of the riders have never been to a Prius before and they ask me a lot of questions. Most of the time they state that they were pleasantly surprised at how quiet and smooth the car was and it was more spacious.
> 
> This brings me these questions:
> 1. Do riders know it is a Prius before they select me?
> ...


The UberX icon is a Prius. (proof:


http://imgur.com/D4JRwpw

) They should be expecting a Prius. Anything else would just seem weird.  I'd tell them to address all Prius related questions by logging into http://priuschat.com where there are several lifetimes worth of posts dealing with every single intricacy of the vehicle.


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## buster11xx (Aug 13, 2014)

I have a prius (second uber car after an Equinox). I get a lot of questions about it-- My driver rating improved after I got it-- I even have people tell me they are glad to be in a Prius because all drivers of this kind of car are the nicest on the road! Mine is a "4" with leather and other stuff. Many say they are surprised how nice it is.


1--yes, as soon as you accept the rider gets your picture, name and description of your vehicle
2--it is possible but not likely. Most of the other cars on the road on an X ride as just as small
3--no, and 53 mpg is better than most anything on the road for this job.
4--I think you have it, there are cars that are more comfortable but why spend more money on a new car? If you loose out on 3 $10 fares a month you are farther ahead than an additional $300 car payment.

Don't overthink this. You are driving against Civic's, Corrola's, Cruze's--Your car is fine!


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## UberXTampa (Nov 20, 2014)

buster11xx - I appreciate your taking time to answer all my questions and give the reassurance. I really like my car for its high MPG and low maintenance costs. at this pace I will put almost 50K miles a year on it. I will go as far as the car stays that way and then get another younger Prius.


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## Woober (Oct 12, 2014)

I drive a Honda Civic and with the standard stick shift transmission it gets about the best gas mileage of any car out there other than a Prius. Never had any complaints. Some old time users who expect Black Car like service might be a bit disappointed but 99% expect an economy car with UberX. Might consider a Prius for my next car, but not sure if the increased cost of a Prius would be made up in gas. Most trips in my town are short hops.


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## Fauxknight (Aug 12, 2014)

Th only nicer option I would go with is a CT200h. It's still a Prius but labeled as a Lexus so you don't get the Prius hate, and the price tag is pretty much identical to a higher trim Prius. Unfortunately the CT200h for various reasons isn't quite rated for the same MPGs as a Prius, making it not quite as good of a choice economically.

Personally I use my PriusC, a little small for the job, but I get a lot of the same comments. I also recommend PriusChat for any Prius owner.


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## Fauxknight (Aug 12, 2014)

Woober said:


> Most trips in my town are short hops.


Long periods of multiple short city mileage hops is precisely what hybrids, the Prius in particular, excel at. You'll note that the hardcore hybrids get higher city mileage ratings than freeway, 51/48 for the Prius and 53/46 for the PriusC. If I can keep off the freeways, my C gets close to 60 mpg on an Uber night.


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## elelegido (Sep 24, 2014)

I drive a Camry Hybrid. Late at night pax are blitzed and a lot think it's a Prius. Others say, "wow, this is a lot more spacious than a Prius". Still others say it's a really nice car. Others, on the phone, say something like, "yeah, I'm in a cab", indicating that it's just generic transportation to them. The other 97% of people don't say anything about the car; they probably don't care.


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## UberLuxbod (Sep 2, 2014)

A very popular car for run of the mill Private Hire in London the Prius.

Able to take huge mileages and more than a few are as old as 2005 and have spent their entire life being worked.


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