Took the plunge!

Well, I did it. I was looking at some pretty expensive brake and water pump issues on the trusty old 2005 Prius that has 150k on the odometer. Wasn't sure I wanted to pay that just to continue driving a 12 year old car. Engine and battery are fine, but I have to wonder about the other systems. Been coveting the PiP since I saw them and then a friend bought one and I flat turned green. Went to see Todd Thompson here in Tampa and bought my 4th Prius from him. The guy is just great.

It's a 2013 base with a little over 52k miles on it. He offered me exactly what I was expecting for the old one. So far, I've just driven it home. I am VERY impressed! Smoother, quieter, stronger. And got 85 mpg on the way home after filling it up. I should be able to drive to work totally in EV. If I can find a good place to plug in there (already have permission), then I won't use any gas to and from work. It's about 9 miles each way. I think my new bed time reading material for a while will be the manual. LOL!

 

Going to do that right now. Thanks for reminding me.

 

The rims are nice. It's pretty clean with some minor exceptions. One barely noticeable dent in the driver's door and another barely visible one on the rear door on the driver's side. Bottom of the front has the standard ding from bumping into low stuff. And there was a little touchup paint applied to the left side behind the rear door. Personally, I'm not crazy about the silver, but at least it doesn't show the dirt as much as some other colors.

What I really like is how it drives and the fact that I'm averaging over 100 mpg after putting 179 miles on it. I can plug in at work, so that nine mile commute is perfect. The only gas I'll burn is on other trips, or if I need to run the defroster, or if my wife is with me on a cold day and she needs heat. (Or I hit the gas pedal too hard. LOL!) I like it more every time I drive it. It'll be fun to see how far I get on the 1st tank. When I got it, it had one pip on the gauge and took about 8.5 gallons to fill up.

 

I forgot to add -- the interior is flawless as far as I can tell. I should buy some new car smell to make it smell like it looks on the inside. LOL!

 

Bisco and Pasaman, I don't think I can keep up with you. I have 235 miles so far with seven bars left on my first tank. Problem is the trips to church (at least 2/week). In FL there aren't many options for routes to your destination. My route to church and to my son's house involves 17+ miles that is almost all 50-60 mph limit with a traffic light about every mile. The lights are timed by Arab oil sheiks. You have to stop at almost all of them, usually at the last second. I can't wait to get it on the open road to see what I might expect on our next road trip. Still, my work commute should be all plug-in miles and much of the other local driving.

 

Amen to that one!! I hate those things.

 

Ratio isn't bad even now. IIRC, it's about 46% EV so far. I try to not quite use it all -- maybe leave a few 10ths -- and I can usually regen some more thanks to our screwy traffic lights here. Every little bit helps.