Hey Guys, My wife and I ordered our Prius Sept 3rd. It likely will be an 06'. Anyway, I'm selling or trading my 04' Chevy Avalanche with 11,000 miles on it, and keeping her Tahoe. She drives a ton as a teacher, and the Prius really seems like the answer for her. The longer I wait, the more I waffel on keeping the Avalanche and holding off on a Prius. Then I will read some posts and get excited again. We have to have a V8 to pull our boat, but with gas falling, the thought of keeping 2 V8's doesn't hurt so bad. I'm sure gas will skyrocket next hurricane/vacation season, so we would be glad to have the Prius. See, I'm waffelling! Anybody looking for an Avalanche? Just looking for encouragement. With the long wait, I have too much time to think. <_<
The $3200.00 tax credit for 2006 is a deal you will never see again. You can read all the posts of prius owners that they couldn't be happier with the car.
While gas prices are falling at the moment, you can be sure that they'll go up again. There's lots of reasons, destruction from terrorism and wars, natural disasters, or OPEC deciding that we need to pay more. If you buy a Prius solely because of the price of gas, when gas prices go down you'll feel bad when gas prices go down. There's other benefits to the environment of driving a Prius instead of a V8, lower emissions, and the fact that if you are personally using less gas, that can be your contribution to making the oil that we have last longer, which benefits you and your children and so on. They're also fun to play with and drive...But if the only reason that you buy a Prius is to save on gas, you'll hate it when gas prices go down. So, if I were you, I'd dig down and see if there's a part of you that cares for the environment enough to do your part. -Roger
Whay would anyone hate seeing the price of gas fall? Just enjoy the fact that you are spending even less. And it will never go down that much. It will fluctuate but always increase with inflation.
Okay, I was projecting...if I had bought a car based on rising gas prices, but would have bought a different car in a cheaper gas world, and then the price of gas dropped I wouldn't feel real good about that, although apparently you would. And, in fact, the original poster was expressing his doubts in those terms. However, keeping in mind that gas prices will go back up (guaranteed), then that doubt will go away until gas prices drop again. I still feel that if one has bought a Prius just to save on gas, one may well feel disappointed, at least some of the time. Just me. -Roger
As a commuter car it is a great car. That’s what I got mine for. I kept my Explorer to pull a pop up camping trailer and to go places the Prius can not go. The added benefit is that while trying to maximise my milage I have become a calmer more relaxed driver. I arrive at work much more ready to face my day. Others have noticed this not just me. It is kind of a Zen or meditative thing it calms me down to get in my car now a days.
I wonder if there is more science to the Zen feeling than we joke about. It could be a combination of dashboard design with location changes for the shifter and gauges as well as instant feedback from the MFD. And lets not forget the times where the ICE is not running with no vibrations (at a stop). Oh yah, and the cabin filtration system. And for myself not ever having cruise control before in past cars, I now have less leg cramping.
How about all the cool techie gadgets? I love my new Prius and a major reason is the nav, the truly keyless entry/start, bluetooth, voice command, in-dash CD changer, etc etc. I plan to keep mine for a long, long time, as do many on this site, which will also help to maximize the fuel savings over the long haul. I'm really enjoying being back in a small car again after driving an SUV for years. I can actually turn into the correct (closer) lane without having to worry about the corner of my car sticking out into the other lane and sideswiping a car. I can take curves and whip in and out of traffic without worrying about a rollover. And slower speeds seem faster, so it is more exhiliarating driving speed limit. If you need one more reason: ....ahhh, that new car smell! LOL
I firmly believe that every US household, especially if they have a yard to take care of, should have at least one utility vehicle, be it pickup, suv or other, and one road cruiser. The Prius is a wonderful cruiser. It has many luxury features you don't find on cars in this price range like auto climate, digital dash and a very comprehensive trip computer. It has lots of nice techie gadgets and for all the complaints about the JBL system, it is actually pretty good. Anyway, any large pruchase should give somebody some mixed thoghts, but in the end you should be very pleased with it, most people seem to be, and I certainly am.
