Time to Sell

The other cars, are my mothers. One is grounded until I can replace the brake lines, the other is her daily driver. That being said, the main reason I traded in the prius is lack of space. With two full car seats, there was no more room for a third person. I'm sure replacing the tires would improve snow performance, and this year has been horrible weather with rain turning to ice then covered with snow. My drive has an inch of ice, my barn has 2.3" of ice in front and I cant get the door or the gate open. My biggest complaint was the traction control, to me it felt like it was too sensitive, and there were times it kicked in where other cars wouldn't, and in particular when trying to get into a hole in traffic, if it kicked in then, it would put us in jeopardy, and it has kicked in quite often when the roads are dry and warm when pulling out from a side road. Today for the first time, my entire family was able to go out to breakfast without taking two cars.

They gave me 20K for it, I came out ahead. It was a base model, so only dropping 3K from MSRP after 25000 miles and 11 months is quite a shock. If we could have afforded both, we would have kept the Prius, but we couldn't justify it. We bought the Veracruz, and wow what a difference in handling and comfort, I no longer feel cramped or vulnerable while driving, and I can stretch my legs.

My overall experience with the P is I liked it, it did us well for the time we had it, and if it had more room, would have kept it. I will always recommend it for anyone who asks. In a way we are going to miss it, it is a unique vehicle that is interesting to drive, fun? no, far from it, but interesting. As for the gas, I already know what our expenses will be since the new car gets a bit better MPG than the Vic, so we will be about double in gas costs each week, but far less than if I drove the truck everyday, especially at $3.72 a gallon for diesel.

 

We did consider the HyHy, but could not justify the added 10K for it. If we find we can afford another one, we wont hesitate to get one, we just cant afford both and put the kids in daycare. One thing I learned from the P was how to drive conservatively and it is paying off on the new car, so far I am at 20MPG after only 140 miles, thats better than the test drivers get with CR and Edmunds, and it just keeps going up. My goal is a daily 21MPG of mixed City Highway driving, and I know I can easily get 27-30 out of this on the highway. I was getting 26 with the Vic on the highway and I am already 2MPG higher than the Vic under the same driving routes. Going to miss the Vic too, it was the first year Sport model with digital dash, center console with floor shift, interior was what they based the Maruader interior on, solid black, no chrome, and 5 spoke sport rims. It is a sharp looking car and I hated to see it go, but I would rather see it sold to someone who will drive it instead of it rusting in my drive. The only time it was driven was when I was in Pennsylvania with the P, so my wife drove it for two weeks.

 

Update

I got me a 2009 Camry Hybrid last April, over 20K miles on it so far and loving it! I dont miss the prius one bit!