CONGRATULATIONS to ALL New Prius 2010 Owners!

Hi All,

Seeing that I am finally a new owner of a 2010 Prius IV, I thought that Congratulations were in order for all of us! So....CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!

I picked up my 2010 Prius IV on Thursday night, 8-27-09. There were 3 miles on the odometer. I was an elated nervous wreck at the dealership and even more nervous as I drove away. My last new car was a 2000 Subaru Outback Wagon, LTD. which I traded in for the Prius. (Not a CFC deal.) My wait for the car turned out to be 6 weeks as opposed to the dealer-quoted 8-10 week wait.

As far as dealerships are concerned, they offered me no deals at all except for reprogramming the Key FOBS for free. The added accessories included all-weather cargo/floor mats (which are really nice), cargo organizer, cargo net, and a 3rd Key FOB. Everything was there.

Since there's been a lot of discussion on the cargo net issue, I did ask the dealer about that before delivery, and they told me that they believed the "cargo net issue" must be resolved, since there was one in the car. I don't necessarily believe that. It looks to me like the problem with the cargo net stems from the tightness of the elastic across the bottom of the net, which then causes a pulling on the top attachments. I'm not going to use the net yet, but I think I might have a different fix for this problem, such as cutting the original cording and adding a few more inches of elastic cording to the bottom, which will put less tension on the net. (...to be continued).

The best price offered for the 7yr/100,000 mile extended warranty was $1595.00 to which I declined. I tried to get the price down to $1100.00 but no go... so I will most likely be purchasing this from Troy as a member of Prius Chat. There are so many electronic things going on in this car that "peace of mind" will end up ruling my decision to purchase the warranty.

The manuals and books did not come in any nice plastic cover like some other people got, but were all piled in the glove compartment. (How cheap is that?)!

All in all, the dealer and all of their employees could have been a lot nicer and a little more generous. My salesman was 'just ok' and somewhat rushed at the delivery appt. as he also had another new car sale he didn't want to lose. His biggest overall concern was that I give him an "excellent" rating on the Toyota survey that will be sent out, even though I don't believe I got "excellent" service. This I blame partly on the dealership themselves, as they set the parameters for what decisions they will allow their salesmen/women to make. One of the things I've learned in life is that, "you get what you give" and "generosity go a long way"! It's really easy to make others feel good with a little good will. Everyone should try it.

Yesterday I got to take a nice long drive in the Prius, ...driving about 150 miles. I drove along the Taconic parkway, I-684, Route 22 and local country roads. The weather conditions went from clear to rainy ... to torrentially rainy and the Prius responded like a champ. I was a little apprehensive since all my previous vehicles have been manual/standard and this is my first automatic. A totally pleasant surprise and driving was definitely fun and interesting. I'm just about over my new car driving anxiety and really enjoying my new Blizzard White Prius. ...and the color is AWESOME! (A word to the wise....watch out for the low front end; after my day of driving the car bottomed out coming out of a driveway...luckily there is no visible damage... but I'll be very mindful of this!)

I'm am missing some of the amenities of my last car; extra little cubbie holes and spaces for stuff, and the loss of the adjusting power driver's seat, AWD ... but I think the pros will outshine the cons. My only other concern is winter driving. I just hope winter driving will be safely manageable since I never needed to use snow tires on my Subaru.:smow:

The biggest hurdle I face now is parking. I clearly have not acquired the proper depth perception for parking yet and am finding that there is usually 2-3 feet in front or in back once I've parked. Then I have to get back in the car and re-park. LOL!

Now, I'll be spending some free time reading through the monster size owner's manual to figure out settings, etc. and looking out for some additional bells and whistles to add to the car ... like a rear bumper protector (that will definitely be a near future buy).

I hope everyone is as happy with their new 2010's as I am and I wish everyone SAFE and FUN road trips....HAPPY MOTORING!