He just bought a 2005.

In Prius-2G@yahoogroup s.com, Alex Baker wrote:

As one who has owned a 2005 Prius for an entire 24 hours, I may be a bit new to put in my 2 cents worth. So for today only, I'll let it go for a penny.

When the Hybrids came out, I thought they were over priced, under powered mush boxes, and sometimes I made it a point to pass one in my Corvette so at least the poor prisoners trapped inside could see a "real car".

Even when I had to pay over $4.50 a gallon last summer, I still drove my roadster to work. Smug in the comfort that my 23 mpg was better than the 19 of my Jeep.

After enjoying cheap gas one more time, it got as low as $1.28 a gallon here all too briefly, I can see the hand writing on the wall. The bad old days are coming back. Maybe not tomorrow, or next week, but gas is $2.55 a gallon for regular here now. That's over 10% in two weeks. Still better than last year, but the drums are drumming.

So after doing the math more than once, it seemed clear to me that I could easily save 10 to 15 gallons a week with a Hybrid. At $2.50 it is $25 to $37.50 a week. At $4.00 it works out to $40 to $60. Where I live, (Southeast Missouri) the truck and SUV are still king. As soon as prices came down, the small cars disappeared. The local Toyota dealer does not stock the Prius, but "can get them". I happened to trip over a used one, and at no real premium for being a hybrid. The dealer here in town (not the Toyota dealer), said he did not really know anything about them, but that he had a friend that owned one and he would get him on the phone if I had questions. Evidently he wasn't lying because as I read the owner's manual last night I learned that I don't need the key to get in or start the car.
(How cool is that!) So I took it for a test drive and was hooked immediately.

1. They are larger on the inside, than they are on the outside.
(Think Dr. Who Tardis)

2. The A/C does not shut off, just because the engine is off. Nice when the wife needed to run into the store for a minute.

3. They actually do have decent acceleration. Not a Vette, but then neither are most cars.

4. Suspension is a little soft in the turns. It is not a race car, and handles no worse than my PT Cruiser.

5. The energy display is a kick in its own right, and really helps you see where you waste fuel in any car.

6. The engine starts very smoothly, when needed; I was amazed.

7. The A/C in auto mode is better than any car I have ever had for managing the temperature.

8. The seats are more comfortable than the PT Cruiser, the Jeep or the Vette.

9. The JBL sound system sounds pretty darned good.

10. There are some cars out there like the old Geo Metro, and old VW diesel rabbits, that got pretty good mileage. They are small and crude by comparison, and really are no comparison. (I owned an 82 diesel rabbit, believe me. 52 horsepower of sheer terror, especially when getting on the on ramp.)

We went on a 140 trip today. According to the monitor I averaged a bit over 48 mpg. (Not bad for a newbie?) Had I taken the Jeep we would have burned about 4.5 gallons more gas. At $2.50 a gallon, we saved $11.25, which more than covered the burgers and cokes we had for lunch. Wooo Hoooo!!! There is such a thing as a free lunch!

Oh, and by the way, I do not feel like I am a prisoner or making a sacrifice by driving the Prius. I genuinely enjoy the car. There are not that many cars that make driving fun. Prius is one of them.

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