New to Prius and I am in love...

After quite a few weeks of research regarding MPG and fuel costs, we ended up buying a new Prius. I adore my new car! We traded in an '07 Nissan Titan gas HOG (14mpg at best), and now I am consistently getting over 50mpg. This morning, even with the huge hill I have to climb I got 56mpg...I am so stoked.

In our truck, we would have to totally fill up every 4-6 days. At 21.31 gallons and almost $4/gal that ain't cheap. The breaking point for us really came when one day we had to make a long trip to pick up some parts for our business and quite literally had to fill up twice in two days! After a lot of calculating, we found that if we went with a car that could achieve over 50mpg that we could pay for the car note AND the gas, plus, pocket over $100 a month...all for the price we were paying to fuel up the Titan every month. Insane, huh?

I finally filled up for the first time after ten days, though I could have gone a couple of more easily. Sure was nice paying 1/3 of what it took to fill up the Titan. We also figured out how many barrels of fuel we'd save every year. So impressive.

I love that the Prius 'teaches' you how to drive. I am always checking the mpg gauge and that's how I taught myself to do the pulse and glide technique. Ever since I learned to do that, I have been getting over 50mpg. I also love that there is plenty of room to haul around the family and the hidden storage space in the cargo area. :0)


Anyway, I'm a Prius lover now, lol.

 

I haven't used the Power button but for a couple of time. Going from a very powerful V8 to a much smaller engine was a big change for me so when I had to cross a busy highway I used it then, but I honestly kinda forget about it!

I agree, it IS a fun game. I can't wait until I turn off the car to see what mpg I got and how much each trip costs. I like the styling for the '12 better than earlier models. Anyway, it's a win/win for us.

 

Yes, our family definitely comes first, that's for sure. We were so tired of spending $ just for gas! We estimated that in the 4 years we owned the truck (at $3.75/gal) we have spent over $25,000 on gas! I could have paid off my Prius with that! Shameful, isn't it?

Oh, don't tell me my car is lying! We have a good relationship going....lol.

No, I haven't done my scientific figuring; i.e. calculating mpg at the pump. I know that's the REAL way to figure it. I'll probably get around to it next fill up. For now, I'm just enjoying getting about 3x the mpg over what I had.

I'm sold!

 

Thanks, all. I will look into Fuelly. Sounds fun :0) Yes, I have also been driving a bit more, too. Just a tad! I don't feel so darn...guilty. Yes, going from a V8 to a little 4 cyl. was a BIG change, but I don't miss it at all. Nope.

In fact, I probably drive much more safely now since I have to be so ultra-cautious around all this huge darn trucks! (I AM in Tx, after all. Sadly, we're swamped with monster trucks/SUVs) I swear, I nearly get ran off the road every day, and I do go the speed limit.

I am used to looking down on cars, not up! The first time through a drive thru was pretty funny. I had to actually reach up to get my order, lol.

 

Lol, I told my saleswoman that I would be happy to sell some Prii for her! And trust me, it most certainly DID make us stop and say, "What are we doing?" I have 2 pages of calculations in my daybook which all tell me that I'd have to be crazy not to seriously scale down on my choice of vehicle.

We 'do' the whole Dave Ramsey thing (paying off debts from least to greatest) and we're still working through that, so I jokingly kept asking my husband, "But what would Dave say?", ha. Well, I know he would have said to buy a used smaller car, and I could have done that but....oh well. Lol.

Re: Aggressive drivers: Yes, I just stay out of the way. I stay in the 'slow lane' and allow them to pass even if that means pulling over somewhere. It would be senseless to let some idiot kill me over trying to maintain speed! I don't know what all the hurry is about, frankly. Oh well!

 

Good to know we're not the only ones! I still don't think that I'm paying "Stupid Tax" w/ my Prius purchase though.