The New Prius Road Trip! [Pics]

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by AlexanderAF, Jun 21, 2010.

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  1. AlexanderAF

    AlexanderAF New Member

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    I've been a member of PriusChat for quite some time when I decided I wanted to own a new Prius. I finally came to my senses and picked up a blue IV with the solar roof, rocker side panels, illuminated door sills, and remote start.

    I'm in the military, and while I'm stationed in California I purchased the car in Portland, Oregon. My wife, sister and I flew in to Portland, picked up the Prius at the dealership, and started on a road trip that would take us through the redwood forests, down the pacific coast, through the Golden Gate Bridge, all the way to our home in Los Angeles.

    Here's the story in pictures :)


    The Prius at the dealership, Toyota of Gladstone, ready for our inspection.
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    We stopped at this gas station after two hours of driving for a break and water, however we still had more than 3/4ths of a tank so we didn't need to fill up...I'm not used to that!
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    A closeup of the solar roof
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    Next to one of many redwoods...
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    My wife drove our brand-new car through a tree :eek:
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    #1 AlexanderAF, Jun 21, 2010
  2. AlexanderAF

    AlexanderAF New Member

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    The drive through the redwoods was twisty and beautiful. It was amazing!
    [​IMG]


    I noticed my car was starting to get dusty!
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    My wife driving like a bat out of **** :)
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    I didn't want her to close the sunroof so I kept quiet about this...
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    After we cleared the redwood forest we then arrived at the Pacific Coast.
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    [​IMG]
     
    #2 AlexanderAF, Jun 21, 2010
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  3. AlexanderAF

    AlexanderAF New Member

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    The whole drive was just beautiful. Even though we had a three day road trip, we still had to fight over who drove :)
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    The Prius is a really comfortable ride, and I fell in love with the bluetooth, the stereo, and the voice activated nav (after some learning). After a little time behind the wheel, I literally felt in control of everything while keeping my eyes on the road the whole time.
    [​IMG]


    The Golden Gate Bridge...
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    We had a blast in San Francisco. We're all foodies and we like wine, so we were in heaven!
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    The illuminated door sills once we got home.
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    The best tank of gas we did we managed 56.0 mpg, but the average for the entire trip was 48.1 mpg...I blame the twisties in the redwood forests! Can't complain with that! Here's another snapshot of the door sills...I love these :)
    [​IMG]
     
    #3 AlexanderAF, Jun 21, 2010
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  4. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    Very nice. What a way to break in the car!
     
    #4 spiderman, Jun 21, 2010
  5. Dan bo

    Dan bo Prius Fan

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    Congrats on the new Prius!

    Boy what a drive, love the redwoods and have always wanted to drive Hwy#1, perhaps someday we will make it out there.

    Great job on the photos, shows the car and the scenery off nicely. Rocker-panels looks real good on the blue.


    Enjoy and have fun.
     
    #5 Dan bo, Jun 21, 2010
  6. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Nice pics and congrats on the new car!! So *that's* how the lower rocker mouldings look on a blue car.
     
    #6 Tideland Prius, Jun 21, 2010
  7. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Nice photos and story. Thanks.

    Tom
     
    #7 qbee42, Jun 21, 2010
  8. joeyd08

    joeyd08 New Member

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    Congrats on the new car! The pics are outstanding! Beautiful country and a beautiful car. I love that blue. If I were to buy a new Prius right now that's the color I'd pick. I think it just pops. The features you mention are great and as nice as any of the "toys" on the high end luxury cars. I am sure someone is going to ask but I'll be the first.....what was the MPG for your first roadtrip?
     
    #8 joeyd08, Jun 21, 2010
  9. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    I got 49 on our trip up to Astoria and back a couple of years ago. I had ~ 5k on the car at the beginning of the trip. We were fighting crosswinds on the way up and light rain on the way back down the coast. It was still a good trip though.
     
    #9 dogfriend, Jun 21, 2010
  10. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Senior Member

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    Congratulations on the new Prius! I have made that trip before, it is a great drive. But I have never done it in a Prius, you have convinced me to make the trip this summer.

    Were you happy with Gladstone? also those silver pieces along the bottom of the doors look good, I don't recall seeing those before.
     
    #10 tumbleweed, Jun 21, 2010
  11. GSW

    GSW PRIUS POWER

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    Great pics and story. Maybe you should buy 2 Prius to save your marriage. :) Love the "Prius" light package.
     
    #11 GSW, Jun 21, 2010
  12. HI MPG

    HI MPG Active Member

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    Congratulations on your Prius and great pictures! That stretch from San Francisco up through Oregon is a great driving road, quite like the drive from Vancouver to Whistler.
     
    #12 HI MPG, Jun 21, 2010
  13. stream

    stream Senior Member

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    Congrats on the Prius--nice pix--looks like a great trip.

    And thank you for your service to our country.
     
    #13 stream, Jun 21, 2010
  14. NoMoShocks

    NoMoShocks Electrical Engineer

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    Wonderful. I only hope that your wife let you drive at least a tiny bit. Hope you said hellow to Paul Bunyan and his big blue ox.

    By the way, all Blue Ribbon IVs are supposed to be kept in the Pacific Northwest, but I guess we can make an exception for a military man.
     
    #14 NoMoShocks, Jun 21, 2010
  15. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    [​IMG]

    This is probably the best picture (i.e. angle) of the rear of the Prius that I've seen.
     
    #15 Tideland Prius, Jun 23, 2010
  16. AlexanderAF

    AlexanderAF New Member

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    I was happy with Gladstone. They were very responsive and I didn't have anything to complain about with dealing with them. I didn't have to wade through any dealer tricks either with buying the car.

    The new Prius has been driving great, I'm loving getting 50mpg! I'm still discovering new things about the car, like locking the door by touching the handles, putting the car in EV mode to accelerate from a stop more quickly, and shortcuts with the Navigation system. I didn't know this car had so many features :D
     
    #16 AlexanderAF, Jun 24, 2010
  17. Chad's Dad

    Chad's Dad Junior Member

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    Yeah the rocker moldings look cool!!!
     
    #17 Chad's Dad, Jun 25, 2010
  18. AlexanderAF

    AlexanderAF New Member

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    I think the rocker moldings have only been offered recently. I never saw them when shopping around months ago, but when I was exploring Toyota's options recently it had them listed. I did a google search to find a picture of a Prius with the rocker moldings (since the Toyota website pic of the rocker moldings looked photochopped or animated...whichever) and they looked nice. They're purely cosmetic, but then again so are the wheel covers.

    I love the JBL sound system in this car by the way! I replaced a 2006 GTO which had a factory 8" subwoofer and a Blaupunkt stereo and amazingly this sounds worlds better. Plus anything that syncs with my iPhone will win me over in a heartbeat. I'm getting an iPad for my B-day, so I'll have to see if it'll stream music from that too...
     
    #18 AlexanderAF, Jun 25, 2010
  19. Fstr911

    Fstr911 Member

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    Nice story and really good images. And a very nice looking Prius too boot!

    Thanks for sharing your story. My wife and I are considering a driving tour in our Prius in late summer/early fall.

    I love the driving experience and performance our Prius delivers. Now we just need to plan where we wil go!
     
    #19 Fstr911, Jun 25, 2010
  20. F512M

    F512M Member

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    Congrats and beautiful pics!!!
     
    #20 F512M, Jun 25, 2010
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