Have you seen any Gen III's on the road?

While coming home from our first multi-hundred mile outing in the 3 week old car, we spotted our only other GENIII in the wild just yesterday - in pearl. I and the other driver looked at each other and smiled as we passed. The freakier thing happened just after that. Of the next 10 cars going the other way, 4 of those 10 were GENII models. So that made 6 in 12 cars passing by all Priuses (or is it Prius' ?). In California, I could believe that ratio, but not here in Chicagoland.

 

Rudy, did it have my orange inserts and silver frames on it? It might have been the one I shipped up to some friends of my brother's ... they live in Los Gatos.

 

I see SO many Prius on my daily commute... but most are Gen II's like I myself drive.

The Gen III's are becoming more plentiful, but I still only see maybe 1 or 2 a morning. Seldom see any going home. I commute from Laguna Niguel up to Manhattan Beach so I have over 50 miles of freeway to Prius-watch.

Di

 

I have been on the look-out since they were released in Australia, although three weeks up in Asia have not helped.

Then, yesterday, heading out to the airport in Auckland, New Zealand, I see my first gen III - and they had only been released in NZ this week .

Upset a couple of my co-workers who were also in the cab by bouncing around to get another look at the car as it was stuck in the next lane and quickly disappeared from sight. Most upset that the cab then had to exit the motorway.

 

Dianne,
No Manhatten Beach temp plates - I think they said "Stevens Creek" - only got a quick glance. I definitely would have noticed it it was those orange ones. They do stand out. Shoot, that would mean there are THREE driving around this area! Cool!

 

Just back from holiday in Germany (the last big road trip for our RAV4) and we spotted a couple of white Gen III's.

One in Cochem, parked not too far from were we had parked, on the bank of the River Mosel. If I remember right it was on Dutch plates. I didn't have much time to look at it because I was carrying my little lad, who was shattered after a day of running around the town and climbing up to the castle, but it did look good!

The other was just a fleeting glimse, travelling in the opposite direction, on the Autobahn just west of Koln.

 

I pulled into a ezpass gate and saw 3 prius in line behind me. They were all late models. The V is hard to get in the north east I got the first one in Del. I ordered ti over 6 months ago. I have had a 01,03,05,(from the same dealer) and all had over 100k at trade. the 03 had 139k. I use them for commuting a thousand miles/month. The '10 averages 52mpg.

 

While supporting the annual Seattle to Vancouver BC bike ride (RSVP), I managed to spot six confirmed 2010 Prii and one Insight. Three in Vancouver, two simultaneous Silvers in Bellingham, one on I-5. None of the Vancouver sightings matched Moner's SBM color, but a Barcelona Red with Olympia license frames one was taking a rider home.

Half the Prii I see are still too fleeting or partial to identify the series at all, but I'm now identifying many more on the very first glance. And this was my first Insight where the brain knew it instantly, without thinking.

But I was driving a sponsor's Forester. Ugh, 28 mpg really sucks now (though with 3 bike racks), and it won't carry any more inside cargo than my Prius. And whoever drove it the previous 6k miles produced a horrid 22.2 mpg. Prius has spoiled me. I still love my older Suby wagon for foul weather, but am not likely to replace it until a 'clean' diesel or other high mileage AWD is available and rolls up a decent track record.

 

I see about 5-6/week only seen 1 V with AT that was bought by a co-worker of mine

 

I go for a 45 minute walk on my lunch break every day and on one walk last week I spotted 3 GenIII and 4 GenII in that time. I don't even walk near any busy streets, this is in North Seattle/Lake City area.

 

I have not yet seen one other than mine. Living in SE Michigan, I suspect it may be a while before I see another gen III.

 

Out in the Berkshire Mountains this last weekend and saw too many to keep count!! Was parked next to a winter gray V in Great Barrington and a Classic Silver in Lenox. Looked for rachelseven in Adams where I saw one cuising around - don't know if it was her. I think we need a PriusChat signal - like a secret handshake. One that wouldn't be mistaken for any other 'less friendly' signals....

 

I saw my second one yesterday in a local mall - a blue ribbon like mine. We had my husband's new baby (2010 Outback) so she didn't give us a second look. Maggie - we venture to the outlets in Lee once in awhile and have only seen Gen IIs around there. Maybe next time we go we will see some IIIs.

 

I've seen a white Gen III in Maryland. Hopefully next month, my Gen III Blue Package 4 is due to arrive.

 

I've seen about 6 so far, but none with the solar roof except mine. Most recently I saw another Winter Grey (without the roof) parked at a shopping center parking lot in Rockville, MD. I drove around and parked opposite it, about the same time as the owners had returned and were getting in. They hadn't noticed my car yet, so I called out and said "Did you see my car?" The guy said, "Oh, same one! Did you trade in a clunker?" Well, my 2006 Prius didn't exactly qualify as a clunker ... but I didn't elaborate. Saw a Sandy Beach this morning in Washington, DC.

The 2010s are definitely getting to be more commonplace here -- but not the ones with solar roofs!

 

I saw one as I was driving through Wilmington, DE... I'm embarrassed to say that I kind of followed it (I was trying to see if I could figure out which trim it was). But sadly for me, I'm still driving my 92 Camry (doesn't qualify for C4C... 19mg >.<) and it couldn't keep up. The 2010 prius is definitely going to be my next car... All that being said, the prius continued to haul a** down 95 and ultimately made an exit about 2 miles away while I (and a hummer) was left in its hybrid dust. It did make me proud to see that it can zip just as well as any sports car out there :rockon:.

 

I have seen three so far - one on the road and two in parking lots.

Here is a strange story. I went to lunch with a friend on Monday. When I came out of the restaurant and looked across the parking lot to my car, the car parked next to mine appeared to be the same color and the tail lights looked the same as mine. As I got closer, I confirmed that it was indeed a 2010 Prius. When I reached the cars, I looked at the other car. It was identical to mine - a Blue Ribbon Metallic Prius V with ATP. The other car was brand new (it had a temporary tag on the back). Mine is about a month old.

 

I'm seeing them just about every day on the road.

I've been behind a few of them on the freeway. I've seen a few 2010 Insights, but not very many.

Don't worry folks, the Gen3 Prius will be commonplace. They are just too good for most to pass up.

 

The Prius, even a Gen2 can zip well on a highway (flat that is). We're not talking sports car power though as you've only got 134 total horsepower. (A steep hill lets you know it's not sports car power).

Prius is so aerodynamic, it accelerates a lot on steep downhill road and wants to 'take off'. Usually must apply some brakes. Or can use 'B' mode.

 

I've seen many of the Gen III vehicles here in the Bay Area.
I haven't practiced yet telling the Prius V from the other variants.

I'm still getting used to recognizing the Gen III from the front - it seems to me
that's the angle that looks most different from the Gen II.