I got mine - early!

[rdoucette]

Friends:

Would you believe it, I got my Prius, a silver AI, on Saturday!! Got it in Irving, Texas. It's one of those "lucky to have made a call at the right time" deals.

I checked all around the state (on the Find a Dealer section of the Toyota website) on Thursday to see if there were any Prii "on the ground." Found five. One in Texarcana, one in Amarillo, one in San Angelo, one in Spring (Houston) and one in Irving (Dallas). Called each dealer; nope, all sold (as I suspected, they were spoken for). The guy in Irving took my name and number, "just in case."

Well, he called Thursday night and told me that his buyer (his best friend!) had backed out of the deal (for a pickup, for goodness sakes!), and there was one more on his waiting list (of 15) that had listed silver as an option. If they didn't want it, it was mine. Whew! Well, he called later that night and offered me the car! A silver AI, just what I wanted, and without all the add-ons on it, just all the mats and the bumper protector, none of the other high-profit stuff that Gulf States usually puts on. Of course, I said yes. He said he's have it prepped for Saturday morning.

Traveled to Dallas on Friday. Got to the dealer on Saturday morning, made the deal and spent Saturday afternoon driving back to SA. Wow.

A sad note. Had a guy stop short in front of me just 5 minutes from home, couldn't stop in time, crinkled the front bumper and a bit of the hood. ARGH! But my insurance company will have it fixed, car runs great otherwise (just cosmetic damage, no systems), etc. But it sure put a dent in to an otherwise wonderful day (pun intended).

Filled up last evening, with four bars showing on the "Guess gauge" and put in 5.9 gallons. Didn't try to overfill it, quit when it clicked off, per the conversations on this and the Yahoo board. Car trip odo said 336 miles, computed as 45.6 mpg, but actual computation after fillup is wrong (57.9 mpg) because I didn't really fill it up all the way (what ever THAT is). That should even out at the next fillup, where I'll be a bit more aggressive.

The car is everything I expected and more. Quiet, smooth, no "wandering" as some have reported, and the JBL premium sound system is all I could ask for. You have to turn it up to get good sound, but it didn't seem to distort enough for me to notice. The controls on the steering wheel are wonderful. I didn't want or get the nav and smart entry/start, so can't evaluate those. I put 40/38 psi in the tires, which is OK but seems just a bit harsh. Will probably take them down to 38/36 to see if it makes any ride difference.

Speed does seem to make a difference in mileage. I changed highway speeds between 60 and 70 during the drive. I used cruise control all the way, which seems to help mileage. I would guess (based on the 5-minute segments) that the mileage went down at least 2 mpg at 70 vs. 60. Since the fillup have been getting about 44 mpg computed around town.

One nice feature on the cruise control. The manual says that you can "click" the speed up or down. I tried it, and it works. If you're driving at 60 and want to go 65, just click the cruise control stalk up 5 times and it will set it to 65. Same to go down. Nice feature I'd not seen before in my other Toyotas.

Rick
Yeah!!! :clap: :clap: :clap:

[Danny]

Congrats, Rick!

Guess that means you can change your signature now! You need to be sure to post some pics of the car (pre-body shop or post).

[rdoucette]

Danny...

Signature changed! Thanks for the reminder.