I get mine tomorrow AM

Tomorrow AM I get to pick mine up! I can't sit still. The dealer will have the Toyota Checklist ready for me when I get there so I get to keep a copy. A brand new 2005 White #6 awaits. I have to drive it 200 miles to get it home, so what should I be very careful NOT to do during this break-in period? Going to be fun to compare it to the 1999 Ford Contour I've babied for milage in the past to around 33 MPG (which my wife'll be driving back). I figure we'll just hit I65 north at 65 MPH and see what we get Should I take a camera? Any advice and comments? Whoo!

 

Okay, here's the scoop!

Neill Sandler Toyota in Murfreesboro and Shevetta Martin sold me the car. If you're even remotely in the area (I drove 225 miles to get mine), buy one from her. She did *everything* for me but drive me home

* White/Grey 2005 Package #6
* Had 13 miles on it when I picked it up (my last car had 13 on it when I got it, too. Weird?)
* Got the floor mats and cargo mat free
* Window security etching included
* Total price w/ everything above: $25,999
* 7/100,000/$0 Platinum warranty for $982.50

Drove it across the street to Subway and had lunch, just staring at it compared to my 1999 Ford Contour parked next to it (Wife had to drive that one home). Inside's about the same amount of room, but the car is smaller all around.

Got on I24, and immediately came to stop/start driving, and realized where the fire trucks we'd seen go by Subway went. A few miles on battery/stealth mode at 99.9 MPG and I was just sitting in the car laughing uncontrollably and playing with the Nav and voice recog system and setting my radio dials while other people are having FITS from sitting at a standstill.

Once we got past that poor burned up result of a car-fire, it was up to 45-55 MPH through construction zones, and the visibility as we zinged from lane to lane as the road switched was just fine. Learned how it's cruise worked, and I love it. Seems a lot more consistent than the one on my Ford.

Finally got onto I65 north and was able to set it to 70 MPH and just run it home. As soon as I got off the interstate, which is just a couple miles from home, it stealthed almost the whole way. Total trip milage ran 47.8 MPG, and I'm still over a half-tank. We have a lot of hills between Nashville and Louisville, and I did have to run it pretty hard on a few hills while semi's merged from the weigh-stations, etc, so my milage took some beating there. Pfft. 200+ Miles at almost 50 MPG at 5 over the speed limit and no feeling of being 'run over'. It has as much get-up-and-go as my Ford, so no feeling of loss there.

I have the pressure set at recommended 35/33 right now while the tires break in; it has the exact right amount of oil in it, which will get changed to Mobil 1 Synth at the first change; the fan on the lowest setting is plenty to keep a white car cool on a solidly sunny day when the temp is just over 70F at 3 PM. Once I get the tires worn in or swapped to another LRR, get the PSI up and the oil changed, we'll see what changes.

Got home and had to show all my friends. All are impressed

Oh, the 1999 Contour (which I keep in good shape, and which has 80,500 miles on it after the trip today) did a very respectable 246 miles on 7.8 gallons at 31.5 MPG running maybe 75-80 MPH on the way there (I was in a hurry, and traffic was heading to the NASCAR Busch Race anyway, so trust me, I was *still* the slow one when we headed South). I love the Contour, but it's 6 years old, and a close family friend gets it now for what I'd have gotten at Dealer Trade in (She needs it).

Yay!