Greetings from S. Florida

[dwdean]

Well, greetings!

I picked up my Prius on Thursday of last week and haven't come down off of cloud-9 since.

I've been wanting one for a couple of years now, but just haven't been able to put it together until now. Posted a couple of pics in the pictures Sticky so I'm not going to repeat them here.

It's been a long time since I've driven much for pleasure (the lack of terrain here makes it kind of boring.) However, I drove almost 350 miles this weekend just marveling at the car.

While I think that there's all kinds of cool things about the car, by far the coolest is that little display at the bottom of the Consumption screen that lists the average mileage. I'd have been happy with the 45 on the sticker (that's what my parents get in theirs in California), the 50-51 number that's living there right now just makes me giggle each time I think about it.

If anyone has any tips on gliding, I'm all ears!!!!

[wchardin]

Congratulation on your purchase, your car looks great!

[dwdean]

Originally Posted by wchardin

Congratulation on your purchase, your car looks great!

Thanks!

[N3FOL]

Congrats on your new ride. Since you live in S. Fl., you should see 50 mpg almost all the time. Drive safe and save some gas.

[dwdean]

Thanks!

That's basically what I'm seeing. I'm still on my first tank, so I don't have anything even close to definitive yet. The average number on the MFD is hovering right around 51.

If I use a combination of paying attention and CC with light traffic I can keep the graph of 5 min averages close to 75. But those aren't realistic conditions for me. I suspect that the number would be better if there were fewer inconsiderate drivers here and I was less concerned about driving defensively.

Just driving at 65 mph in the right lane on I95 can be a real challenge (because too many others are trying to do 70...) I've already committed to staying off the freeway much as is possible until I can move away from these nut cases.

You know, I know that everyone claims to have the "worst" drivers. I just know that when I go other places I find the driving behavior to much less egregious than it is here, and I positively long for the "worst" drivers in my home town; they're angles compared to some of the best here.

[2tonegator]

hey florida people.

I would like to know where you got your prii. i am going to buy soon, and trying to find a good dealer. seems the best i am getting so far is msrp. two best offers so far are from coggin toyota in jacksonville and sun toyota in new port richey. anyone have experiences with them? appreciate the help. hope to be among your ranks soon.

ryan

[dwdean]

Originally Posted by 2tonegator

hey florida people.

I would like to know where you got your prii. i am going to buy soon, and trying to find a good dealer. seems the best i am getting so far is msrp. two best offers so far are from coggin toyota in jacksonville and sun toyota in new port richey. anyone have experiences with them? appreciate the help. hope to be among your ranks soon.

ryan

Hey Ryan,

No, I can't say that I have any experience with either of those dealerships. However, I'll say this, the ONLY reason that I bought mine from a southeastern region dealership was because I did it through the Costco autoprogram where the pricing is somewhat controled.

Beyond that, I'd say get out of the southeastern region (that'd be AL, FL, GA, NC & SC) or do something like the Costco thing. Even the good dealerships will be hamstrung by the region pricing rules.

[Yoda-chan]

Hey Ryan,

We got ours at Gatorland in Gainesville. We weren't able to get a deal on it; bought it for MSRP. That being said, our overall experience with Gatorland was pleasant. We got the exact Prius we wanted (ie: color and package) and weren't pushed into anything we didn't want, including extended warranties. It was a much more pleasant car-buying experience than we expected.

[Jack66]

Congratulations on your new Prius, dwdean! Have fun exploring PC and everything your car has to offer.

I grew up in Coral Springs near Fort Lauderdale - can't say I miss it.

[holy_crap]

Congratulations, you made a smart move. Curious, what car did you replace?