The internets have been abuzz with news that anti-environmentalists have vandalized Toyota Priora in the Golden State. Autobloggreen dutifully reports one hybrid flambée in July, and vaguely alludes to seven Priora attacks back in April. The site ends its blog with a condescending if PC plea: “Come on, people, this is ridiculous. Just because some SUV and some hybrid drivers act like jerks, that’s no reason to get violent. Let’s just live and let live.” Tracing the story back to Edmunds Inside Line, we learn “Violence Against Prius Hybrids Hits All-Time High.” Yes, “In the most brutal of a spate of attacks against the Japanese import this year, investigators concluded that a fire that consumed a newer Prius on a residential street in Los Angeles seven weeks ago was the work of an arsonist.” While the April outbreak seems real– “All of the [seven] attacks occurred at night while the cars were parked and unoccupied. Weapons included large rocks, bricks, and a motor vehicle used to ram a Prius”– are we sure there were no other vehicles involved? And connecting those dots to a single incident some three to four months later is a bit of a stretch. Common sense suggest that any coordinated “anti-green” group would claim responsibility for their actions. Maybe this last one was insurance fraud, or a neighborhhod vendetta, or… a technical glitch. Perhaps the police/Toyota suppressed vital information. Anyone care to speculate?
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It might have been a bunch of die hard diesel enthusiasts? ^_~
Maybe it was Bob Lutz
I would rather guess that some Prius owners were not satisfied with their cars and tried to raise some money to buy a Diesel! ;-)
Perhaps the police/Toyota suppressed vital information
O’rly? Naaahhhhh
But what if… was a technical glitch?
No no, unthinkable, holy Toyota is uncapable of that.
Probably a Hummer dealer.
Or possibly the Prius tendency to make like a laptop and self-immolate?
I bet it was the cruise control switch.
Really? I’m innocent 3000 miles away,that and I don’t like fire.I never park beside the imports in the GM employee lot.I don’t think anybody is nuts enough to burn one.I’ve heard rumours of people throwing bread crusts on the hood though.
Nothing like trying to scrape Seagull crap from a black convertible top eh.So mikey doesn’t park even close to an import.
I agree with RF its not coordinated,however now that its on the net,who knows what the crazys will do?
Were starting to see more of them here,though not in the numbers you have in the US.Road rage is an issue in Ontario.I can this problem heading north with some Prius driver shooting for 60 mpg.
You got love following some moron driving at a snails pace.
My guess is that some cars get vandalized. Some of those cars are also, in fact, Prius Hybrids. Correlation is not causation!
Prius has become a symbol of Japanese automotive success in the US and at the same a car to blame for all the big3’s failures :)
Its probably a bunch of disgruntled SUV drivers/diesel users.
Well, Mikey, you’d better check the VIN tags through the windshield on all the cars you park next to.
First digit on 1981 and newer cars; 2 = Canada.
1 and 4 = USA. 3 = Mexico. K = South Korea (you know, like in the CHEVROLET Aveo?) J = Japan.
S = UK.
So with NAFTA replacing the Auto Trade Pact between Canada and the USA (1965), which added tons of hours to Canadian labour hours for exports to the US (far more than imports from the US over the years), does that mean you’d park next to my Montgomery Alabama MANUFACTURED Hyundai Sonata, but not my Japan manufactured Prius? I’ve been to Montgomery and seen the cars being built – the plant is a full scale manufacturing facility; saw U.S. Steel in rolls, massive presses, paint shop (exterior – we weren’t allowed in but we saw footage of the operations), body build area, engine plant and obviously assembly plant.
Would you park next to a Chevrolet Equinox? It might be made just up the road from you, in Ingersoll, Ontario – but it’s got a COMMUNIST CHINESE engine. Well, the VIN tag starts with a 2, probably, eh?
I know you feel, that being CAW, you have to draw the line. But it’s getting really difficult to tell “real” American and Canadian produced vehicles from “fake” anymore, isn’t it?
BTW the fire departments in these fires came right out and stated that they are not faults with the Prius cars, but are known to be arson attacks.
Phil,
The Prius isn’t using lithium ion batteries (yet) like laptops. And notice the front of the car is burned, not the middle or rear? The batteries are not in the engine compartment on a Prius so it was definitely not a battery related issue in the picture attached to the article.
To compound the issue, Lithium Ion batteries tend to burn until they are gone.
I agree that there probably is no connection to the vandalism/arson/fires, and I’m pretty sure if there was a fire issue there would be more press about it already – see the F150 and SUVs built off that platform that tend to spontaneously combust.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/proscriptus/2420538163/
Payback for being stuck behind someone hypermiling?
Oh, and lets not even talk about all of the Prius idiots who roll through stop signs and take turns way too fast so they don’t have to accelerate as much on the other side…
Still, it’s a cowardly move to attack someone else’s property.
Oh, and we’re sure this isn’t an insurance scam? People can’t afford stuff like they used to.
Really menno I don’t give a rats ass what anybody drives.For the safety of my prized
Firebird I don’t park it beside imports in the GM
employee parking lot.
My guess is, after driving one yesterday….it was the Prius owners themselves.
Remember when asian cars were being vandalised in Detriot? I think its a case of being a bully. If you read posts here — More Edmonds really, people make fun of Prius drivers as wimps, fags and Obama supporters (Opps that’s me minus the Prius)– not real men. Look at the loathing of others for what they drive on the other side – waht do people right about Hummer drivers and you’ll get the idea.
Reminds me of this old article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701808.html
I guess it sucks when the shoe is on the other foot.
To make the comments about being stuck behind a hypermiler Prius driver is like saying they deserve it.
We don’t even know the reasons, yet people pigeonhole a whole group of vehicle owners and suggest that it’s due to slow driving? Puh-lease. We’re not all the same, and I don’t drive my Prius slow.
No, what you’re missing is that what’s wrong is wrong.
And vandalizing somebody’s vehicle, NO MATTER THE REASON, is wrong.
Period.
Criminal acts hurt everybody, which damages our economy and our society as a whole.
A bunch of Escalades got together and decided to show the Priuses who is the boss. There were no human beings involved.
This is really weird because in the back of my Jeep I saw just this last Monday morning a Prius brochure and a California map with circles drawn on it. My name isn’t Arnie, but my Jeep is another Chrysler product just like Christine… ???
Really, if it were some anti-green group, it would probably be UAW members who are in bed with the same politicians that are in bed with the green groups. I always thought that was a strange mix.
After setting fire to Hummer dealerships and burning down new homes under construction, the environmentalists are on the receiving end. Hopefully the cars all belonged to ELF members.
This is obviously the work of the Volt Transformer, he must be a Decepticon.
What has autoblogreen had to say about attacks on SUVs?
Too bad Al Gore wasn’t trapped inside at the time. BTW, How much Co2 does a burning Prius put out?
mikey said: some moron driving at a snails pace… in reference to Prius drivers shooting for 60 mpg.
As long as they stay to the right, more power mileage to them.
What really pisses me off are drivers (usually old women in Cadillacs and Buicks) who lope along in left lanes causing rolling roadblocks.
Morons and Prius drivers are not mutually exclusive.
This is the best answer I’ve read for this =)
ppellico :
My guess is, after driving one yesterday….it was the Prius owners themselves.
Hey it’s possible
quasimondo
I thought the guy in your link was a real he-man for buying a HUMMER, and I sympathized with him. Then I read where he’s 32 and lives with his mother. He deserved it for that fact alone.
I see two likely possibilities and a certainty:
1. Insurance fraud.
2. Arsonists who want to see if the batteries make a cool flame.
And, media folks trying too hard to make the news, rather than reporting it.
Bet that’ll teach Toyota to buy surplus Ford switchgear.