New car views
As Paul pointed out, we visited last weekend and besides playing with Quinn, they got to play with my new car.
I have had the 2004 Prius (in Tideland Pearl, basically a light metallic green) for about 3 months now. Now, there must be something about new Toyota's and me because when I got my Corolla in 1998, 1 month afterwards, sitting at a stop sign, a truck rear ended me. Well, 2 months after I got the Prius, I was rear ended as well. Good news, car looks like new, bad news, I had to deal with insurance people and stuff as well as be w/o that car for a week. But that is behind me.
So, a while back, some people were harassing me about my choice of the Aztek as my second car. (We sold our Corolla and kept a Nissan 200sx at that time). We needed something bigger and I would be driving it 500 miles a week so I didn't want somthing taking HUGE amounts of gas. Well, the Aztek at the time was a good choice for features and it got 20mpg (supposedly 18-25mpg) in my years of driving it as my commuter car. I still like the Aztek a lot and we probably wouldn't have gone to replace the Nissan if it wasn't for Quinn. Needless to say a 2 door car doesn't work well with a car seat... So, the search was on for a new car. We knew that the Aztek would become Kristen's and I would be looking for an even better commuter car. Enter the 2004 Prius. I had been watching the Hybrids for some time, but the older Prius was too small, so up until I saw the 2004 I was eyeing some other smaller cars (Matrix/Vibe, Honda Civic also in Hybrid) and some midsize ones (camry, accord) but when I saw the new Prius, I was awe struck. I insisted on going to the auto show this last year so I could check it out. I couldn't believe that it would have the room or the Camry and the milage was supposed to be even better than the older model prius. Well, at the show, I was impressed with the space inside (plenty of leg room for a tall person) and even in the back seat there is plenty of space. The trunk is darn right respectable as well. Anyway, the only thing that would stop me is if I felt I had to get out and push when trying to pick up speed....
So, on to the test drive. Months later, when we got serious about buying, we went to the Dealer and took a test drive. Needless to say, I was very happy with the performance. The car won't win a race, but it is very good (they say 0-60 in 10 seconds and I say that is about right). I don't drive it for speed (the milage will suffer then) but it is nice to have the power when it is needed and MA drivers make you need it sometimes.
So, some facts, I have consistantly gotten 50mpg or better on each tank of gas. To give you an idea, as I said before, I drive about 500 miles a week. In the Aztek with an 18 gallon tank, this translated to filling the tank 2.5 times a week about 16ish gallons each time. With the Prius's 12 gallon tank, I fill it 1 time a week at about 10 gallons a time. I think that is a very fair trade off.
As Paul mentioned, I have gadgets in the car. Those who know me wouldn't expect anything less. I bought the Package #9 for those who want to check out details at the toyota site, but the hilight for me are 2 main features. One, the saftey, it has airbags all over. Two, the Nav system. I love it and I don't think I will buy another care w/o one in it. It just saves trouble and works really well. Just feel better about where I am going. Also, sometimes I go on autopilot and this prevents that. For instance, if I am supposed to stop at the grocery store on my way home, I set the car for that destination, then when it starts telling me to go there, it snaps me out of autopilot for my house. Works really nice. It has also gotten me to several places I didn't know how to get to (the main purpose of course).
Another feature I can't take advantage of yet but will when I can is bluetooth. The car can integrate with a bluetooth phone and use the speakers and mic that are in the car as your handsfree. Also, there are phone controls on the steering wheel to pick up and hang up the phone. Very cool. However, until Verizon releases a bluetooth phone (I hear they will soon), I can't use it :(
Well, that is all, if you have questions about the car, let me know, I give it a high rating.
I have had the 2004 Prius (in Tideland Pearl, basically a light metallic green) for about 3 months now. Now, there must be something about new Toyota's and me because when I got my Corolla in 1998, 1 month afterwards, sitting at a stop sign, a truck rear ended me. Well, 2 months after I got the Prius, I was rear ended as well. Good news, car looks like new, bad news, I had to deal with insurance people and stuff as well as be w/o that car for a week. But that is behind me.
So, a while back, some people were harassing me about my choice of the Aztek as my second car. (We sold our Corolla and kept a Nissan 200sx at that time). We needed something bigger and I would be driving it 500 miles a week so I didn't want somthing taking HUGE amounts of gas. Well, the Aztek at the time was a good choice for features and it got 20mpg (supposedly 18-25mpg) in my years of driving it as my commuter car. I still like the Aztek a lot and we probably wouldn't have gone to replace the Nissan if it wasn't for Quinn. Needless to say a 2 door car doesn't work well with a car seat... So, the search was on for a new car. We knew that the Aztek would become Kristen's and I would be looking for an even better commuter car. Enter the 2004 Prius. I had been watching the Hybrids for some time, but the older Prius was too small, so up until I saw the 2004 I was eyeing some other smaller cars (Matrix/Vibe, Honda Civic also in Hybrid) and some midsize ones (camry, accord) but when I saw the new Prius, I was awe struck. I insisted on going to the auto show this last year so I could check it out. I couldn't believe that it would have the room or the Camry and the milage was supposed to be even better than the older model prius. Well, at the show, I was impressed with the space inside (plenty of leg room for a tall person) and even in the back seat there is plenty of space. The trunk is darn right respectable as well. Anyway, the only thing that would stop me is if I felt I had to get out and push when trying to pick up speed....
So, on to the test drive. Months later, when we got serious about buying, we went to the Dealer and took a test drive. Needless to say, I was very happy with the performance. The car won't win a race, but it is very good (they say 0-60 in 10 seconds and I say that is about right). I don't drive it for speed (the milage will suffer then) but it is nice to have the power when it is needed and MA drivers make you need it sometimes.
So, some facts, I have consistantly gotten 50mpg or better on each tank of gas. To give you an idea, as I said before, I drive about 500 miles a week. In the Aztek with an 18 gallon tank, this translated to filling the tank 2.5 times a week about 16ish gallons each time. With the Prius's 12 gallon tank, I fill it 1 time a week at about 10 gallons a time. I think that is a very fair trade off.
As Paul mentioned, I have gadgets in the car. Those who know me wouldn't expect anything less. I bought the Package #9 for those who want to check out details at the toyota site, but the hilight for me are 2 main features. One, the saftey, it has airbags all over. Two, the Nav system. I love it and I don't think I will buy another care w/o one in it. It just saves trouble and works really well. Just feel better about where I am going. Also, sometimes I go on autopilot and this prevents that. For instance, if I am supposed to stop at the grocery store on my way home, I set the car for that destination, then when it starts telling me to go there, it snaps me out of autopilot for my house. Works really nice. It has also gotten me to several places I didn't know how to get to (the main purpose of course).
Another feature I can't take advantage of yet but will when I can is bluetooth. The car can integrate with a bluetooth phone and use the speakers and mic that are in the car as your handsfree. Also, there are phone controls on the steering wheel to pick up and hang up the phone. Very cool. However, until Verizon releases a bluetooth phone (I hear they will soon), I can't use it :(
Well, that is all, if you have questions about the car, let me know, I give it a high rating.