Neibor lady loves her Prius

[Bakemono]

My neibors are DIE-HARD Ford people, so you can imagine my shock when the came up from Illinois this weekend and the wife pulls into their driveway with a Prius.
So, today I went over to talk to them and we got to talking about the Prius. The neibor lady said she loves it, that its "so cool" and that she gets 50 mpg on average with it (and thats driving most on rural country roads).
I asked them, "Now, do you see why I love Toyotas so much???" They said, "Yeah, Toyotas are really nice. We love our Prius."
I said to her, "you'll have to take me for a ride around the block in it sometime", the next thing I know she tosses me the keys and says, "you can drive it if you want."
I was like, "Sweet!" (No way in HELL am I going to turn down the chance to drive a Toyota!!! )
I must admit, nice car and its got a lot more power than I expected. Its kind of spooky when you first take off from a stop, its dead silent. Then, when you hit about 40 mph the gas motor starts. I'll admit, it kind of startled me at first.
Cool little car , but I think I'll wait for the '08 Tundra hybrid to come out.
Maybe Ive been a non-Toyota owner for too long, but that Prius is built like a luxury car. It makes all the Fords my family have (and my parents have an '04 F-150 SuperCrew and an '05 Explorer XLS V8) look like they were built my a high school shop class!
I was also surprised when my neibors said they ordered their Prius and they only had to wait 6 weeks for it. She also mention that on the day they went to order their Prius that there were 8 other people there at the same time who were also ordering Prius'.
Cool stuff and its like Ive said before, ANY day that I get to drive a Toyota or a Yamaha is a GOOD day!
Cap'n

[epinionator89]

Well that's good. I want a Prius so bad I've been asking Dad if we can drive thirty miles to the nearest Toyota dealer to just test drive one. He'd have to drive, but the technology is so amazing

You're dang lucky, and your neighbor is even more lucky to have the money to buy one. We only have $4000 saved up

[Tideland Prius]

Glad you liked the Prius lol. Most people will snub it until they sit inside. Then it's either the roominess, the features or the drive that'll amaze them (or all 3). It's not perfect of course, we have a number of dislikes about it but overall, another well made Toyota.

epinionator, start saving faster! haha. Or, just get it when it comes out with a redesign in 2008

[Bakemono]

Yeah, its kind of weird. You push the "START" button and the gauges comes to life but nothing happens. Then you step on the gas and still its ghostly quiet (just the whine of the electric motor), its kinda spooky. My neibors call it, "stealth mode".
Then, when it needs it, the motor fires up (also kinda startled me the first time). You might not believe it, but that car has got balls for what it is. Its really not a light car. Then, when you want to park, you just push the "park" button. Weird, but very cool! I hope Toyota puts the start button on all their vehicles in the future.
Their's had the DVD nag system, which has voice recognition (for preset directions).
All in all, a good time but that cars got WAAAAAAAY too many buttons and gizmos for me. Im sure that eventually a hybrid will be in my driveway (waiting for the Tundra hybrid). If Toyota offers a Tundra hybrid in a regular cab/4x2 configuration, Id opt for one. The MPG pays for the hybrid cost very quickly.
I was asking my neibors about the fuel costs, check this out: she can go 450 miles on 11 gallons of gas! Yeah, thats right: 450 MILES on 11 GALLONS. She said her old Suburan would have cost her $90 to fill up EVERY WEEK whereas he Prius costs her about $17 a week. Like I said, that car pays for itself quickly.
That Prius is just an amazing feat of technology and even I, who have read a fair amount about the Prius, was floored by all of it.
My neibors really researched it though, talked to a lot of Prius owners and they really heard nothing bad about it and lots of good, so they bought it.
Im just happy to see another Toyota in the neiborhood again. Too many Fords and Chevys for my liking!
Its kind of funny too, every time we talked about cars I suggested Toyota to them and now they FINALLY get what Ive been talking about all these years.
Cap'n

[Tideland Prius]

hehehe. I love stealth mode. I got the EV switch so I can have the engine "forced" off, so to speak. That way, I can press harder on the accelerator without having the engine turn on. Just don't freak out the old lady at the shopping mall carpark! hehe.

Don't forget bluetooth connectivity that comes with the nav package.

Fuel cost? yeah. It's exactly 1 year and 5 days since I got my Prius. I've spent Cdn $811 on fuel over 18,880kms or US$689.35 (at 85¢ US per Cdn$1) for 11,800 miles.

So far, my record tank was 836km or 522.5 miles and pumped 37 litres or 9.788 gallons.

[epinionator89]

Originally Posted by Tideland Prius

epinionator, start saving faster! haha. Or, just get it when it comes out with a redesign in 2008

I doubt it'll stay at $20,000 by then. The only chance I have at a Prius are the 01's which still (according to KBB) cost about $15,000. How good are those, by the way?

[Tideland Prius]

Aww.. okay then.

The 2001s are nice if you're into sedans instead of hatchbacks. They're much shorter so they're much easier to manoeuvre and have a super tight turning radius. It's about the size of a Corolla inside. It doesn't have folding rear seats and gets about 45mpg on average maybe more. I've heard of Classic Priuses getting similar mileage as the current generation. The gauges are in the centre (as opposed to slightly offside in the new one) and the gear shift is a gun-grip type shifter. It might impede with radio controls when it's in "D". Otherwise, it's fairly well equipped, most people would've worn out the stock tyres by now so they should have better tyres but note the Classic is more susceptible to mileage change. Changing from an LRR tyre to a regular tyre will drop the mileage.

hmm, what else. The centre console is quite low making it easy to slide from driver to passenger seat and vice versa. Makes it easy to exit the passenger side if the driver's side has a lot of traffic going by. The screen is smaller (at 6.5" vs. 7") and of course the graphics are a bit simpler but the basic layout is similar to the new one (and any new Lexus with a screen for that matter).

Just note it won't be as powerful as the new one and it won't stay in EV mode for as long as the newer one.

[Bakemono]

I also love the gauges on that Prius. Center-mounted, in the dashboard and DIGITAL. Loooooove digital gauges.
Cap'n

[84Cressida]

Captain, your rehabilitation is almost complete. All there is left is getting you back into a Toyota.

[Bakemono]

What rehabilitation? Just because Ive been a Ford owner for the past 7 years doesnt mean that I havent been a Toyota enthusiast for that time.
Cap'n

[84Cressida]

It was a joke to humor you.

[Tideland Prius]

The 01-03s are centred. The 04+ are slightly off centre. Closer to line of sight.

[epinionator89]

Is it just me, or are Prius drivers some of the best on the road? I have never seen one tailgate the person in front of them, they accelerate only as necessary, they anticipate stoplights, they're careful about others, and overall drive like everyone should. I have not had a guy in a Prius cut in front of me, blow their horn as I'm trying to find a certain address, pass me at excessive speeds or generally get irritated for no apparent reason. It's probably because they want the best gas mileage, but still, I oddly get very relaxed when I'm on the road with other Prius drivers. Now that is what I call innovation

[Tideland Prius]

Mileage :P

Tailgate forces hard braking which means no regeneration
Hard acceleration is wasteful
Higher speed = more fuel used (~60mph should be good. 55's even better at 60mpg+)

Hey, some guy may be pissed that you're going the speed limit but at least you're better off when it comes to payment time

[mr2driver]

ill wait untill they come out with better batteries, there close on making lithium safe to use