Posted on 01/25/2012 8:42:52 AM PST by jakerobins
STUDIO CITY (CBS) — A SoCal woman says the energy efficient window installed in a neighbor’s condominium is melting the plastic components on cars parked in her carport.
Heather Patron of Studio City was dealing with a mystery regarding her Toyota Prius.
“The side view mirrors were melting,” says Patron. “Anything that was plastic on the car was melting.”
Toyota told Patron nothing was wrong with the car. After having the mirrors replaced, she noticed the mirrors on the car parked next to hers were also melting.
(Excerpt) Read more at losangeles.cbslocal.com ...
“May they all dissolve into puddles of viscous, gooey, plastic”
It’s normally too cool in my area for them to melt. Most of them just sit alongside the road, halfway up the mountain, recharging their batteries so they can make it the rest of the way up.
Maybe they didn't use enough mirrors.
Gee whiz, I love my Prius. I’m as notliberal as they come but I hate taking the time to stop for gas. I’m always late for this, late for that and too rushed to stop. I’ve had it for 5 years and its still over 400 miles on an 8 gallon tank so I don’t have to stop much or worry as much about rationing, like we had a decade or so ago. What’s wrong with that? I can beat all the young kids out, starting from a traffic light so pickup is good enough for me. Don’t think you will see anything but don’t tread on me on my bumper either.
I’m sure the Prius is a fine car...but so is a Ford Focus.
Base model Prius - $26,400 gets you 44/40 mileage
Base model Focus - $16,500 gets you 26/36
At $3.40 a gallon, the breakover for the Prius owner (not including higher insurance and taxes) would be 344,000 miles.
Or try a Hyundai Elantra - $15,345 gets you 29/40
The breakover would be 623,000 miles
Ergo, this car owner is not right in the head.
I imagaine the breakover on the windows is even worse.
But mentioning it is a Prius in the headline is a good hook. Grabs the readers.
Heck, if I was a headline writer, I might just make that "fact" up, because it makes for a more attractive story.
for the record, I didn’t write the I-hate-Prius post.
Was that before or after the cannonball stunt?
:-)
The Prius is a fine car with some excellent engineering. My problem with the Prius is the tax credit for purchasing it. I do not believe that Toyato asked or lobbied heavily for the tax credit. I believe the tax credit applies to all hybrid cars.
My other problem with many Prius owners (probably not you) is their attitude about saving the environment. This attitude has creeped into local laws with some states allowing hybrid owners to use HOV lanes with only one occupant. Hybrid cars are not saving the environment. Their impact is probably about the same as a very low emissions vehicle.
Apparently it is a REAL problem.
http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/window-reflections-can-melt-vinyl-siding
It might be even worse than that — I doubt that battery system will make it to that crossover point. Working that into the equation might very well show that it never breaks even on the capital investment(s).
Yes and while I like Myth Busters, Archimedes they ain’t.
I didn’t buy my Prius to save money. It was cheaper than the Volkswagen Passat I had before it, that car had been pushed up in price point by the company that year, making it ostentatious and a staement I didn’t want to make. The Prius had a great saftey record, great repair record and I wouldn’t need to stop for gas so often. A Ford Focus was not in the picture. This is not a sensible argument, we have lots of different car companies, and models because people look for different things but by all means attack Prius owners as stupid liberal tree huggers. I will continue to fight for smaller Government, individual responsibility, drill here now, and confuse all the folks who think it makes me part of a club to own a Prius.
Park the car somewhere else or buy a cover for it....duh.
I’m shocked Gubmint motors didn’t steal this excuse first for Volt usage.
Yep, that's the story here, a newer technology that will require tweaking.
Reflecting sunlight OFF your property means it goes somewhere else and may cause damage there.
Currently, property owners who MODIFY natural drainage on their property can be held responsible if that storm drainage damages another's property. We may see similar law in sunlight reflection.
A lot of people do drive a Prius for the purposes of vanity and moral narcissism.
My wife drives one to save money on gas. She has a long commute for work. We bought it brand new in 2005, and it has saved her thousands of dollars.
They really are great cars, unlike the Commie Volt.
Oh, I should add that it is supposed that Archimedes used reflected sun light, no one knows exactly how he set fire to the Roman fleet. Only that Archimedes figured out some means of setting the fleet ablaze via a “heat ray” of some sort.
....seems to me the double glazed windows have a partial vacuum inside....this causes a slight curvature of the glass....(concave for those in Rio Vista) and resulting long focal length with concentration of solar energy. ...
The law of unintended consequences....
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