Just bought an 2004 prius with a 123,000 miles(I don't mind the miles) I am used to driving, supras, mr2, celicas, rx7's, DSM's, lifted toyota picks with motor swaps, and many not so standard vehicles. This is quite a change for me and when I tell my friends and family what I bought they have a very very confused look on their face like there is something severly wrong with me. I would rather drive a beat up mr2 that gets 25-30mpg than the Pruis, but I did it anyway. I drive 50+ miles a day with an average speed of about 50mph. I contianually get 53MPG, and will attempt to find ways to better improve that. Anyway, great site.
Yup, at 53MPG the car pays for itself. My wife loves it though, and she will probably drive it an additional 400-600 a month, instead of our 17MPG Sequoia Until last fall my commute was only about 1.5 miles each way, now it is 25 miles each way and I found I didn't like paying for gas all that much.
Except the fact that I just drove 300 miles yesterday to go pick up a transmission and it only cost me $15, in gas. We will see, definatetly not my style, but I could probably get used to it. Quite a switch though, two weeks ago I was driving a 600hp supra that got 17-19mpg, to this. I can do this!
I just traded my Audi A4 for a Prius. The four rings Audi symbol fell off the Audi a year ago and I kept it planning to put it back on. Now it's on the Prius, in the glass just above the Toyota logo. I say I got a Prius with the Audi option.
The moment you sit in city traffic and the engine shuts off, the genius of the car becomes quickly apparent.
Depends on your maturity level. At 25yrs old I am not sure I would have been happy trading in all of my fast cars/trucks on a Prius but in my mid 30s I am very happy with the car and my decision to stop racing (supercharged Mustangs, N2O Trans Am, Corvette, turbocharged trucks, etc.). Besides, listening to my girlfriend make fun of guys driving big trucks and weaving through traffic in sports cars I am glad I left that world behind.
Agreed. Time to wear grown-up pants and drive differently. I walked away from my SUV, and I haven't looked back once. Loving the fuel savings and the major drop in insurance premium (a welcome surprise). Welcome!
