Thanks! I rather suspected this was just part of the car's design. It does sound like a 2010 or later model would be ideal for me. Maybe I'll start keeping an eye on the local listings to see if one becomes available at a decent price. In the meantime, everyone here has given me some interesting ideas for making it better. I have considered trying the cruise control in regular traffic. It's just that I live in a desert community, and this is the peak of snowbird season. The roads are insanely crowded right now. In a few months, traffic will be cut in half and in the summer it will be like a ghost town around here. Then it will be much easier to use the cruise control
You are correct that the Prius is my first hybrid. Before that, I drove a Honda Accord for 25 years. Before that it was a Toyota Corolla, and before that a Ford Pinto. When I was car shopping this January, I kept calling my insurance company to ask what it would do to my premiums if I bought this or that car. Every other car I considered would have raised my premiums dramatically, but with the Prius the cost of my insurance went down. Maybe that should have been a clue that the car isn't known for going fast. Thanks for the list of bands… I'm familiar with all them except Elvin Bishop and Wet Willie. I'll check them out.
I'm sure we all wish you well and good fortune whichever path you follow. Please keep us informed of your progress.
Yes, I do. It regenerates fairly hard; I'd say about 50% of maximum on the HSI bar. I very rarely do that since it's not likely to match the braking force I want to apply. If I'm just reducing speed by 2-3 mph, I tap it down that many times. If I want to coast, I pull it back to disengage. If I'm stopping, I use the brakes with a pressure that will stop me using as little braking as possible or, better yet, slow me to the point where I won't have to stop at all. Traffic permitting, that is.
