New Prius Owner as of 8/31!

Sorry for the long post.

Well, on 8/31 I pick up a 2013 Prius Two. It took a while to get to this point.

When the Prius first came out, I was skeptical (as most are about any first-gen car). Now that the 3rd-gen Prius is out and it's gotten consistently good reviews, when I was in the market for a new vehicle, the Prius was something to consider.

As a contractor, I put lot of miles on my daily driver. My truck (with A/C broken and unplugged) gets an average of 25 mpg...not bad for a truck, but it adds up. It hit 200,000 miles, and I can easily get another 100K or more out of it, but driving it daily will just shorten it's life.

It was either get a new truck or something more economical. I reasoned thusly...keep the truck for bad weather days (snow/ice) and when I need to use a truck and get a nice new daily driver for everything else. Frankly, since most everyone has phased out the "small" and "mid-size" trucks from their inventory, it's nigh impossible to get the utility of a pickup with any sense of fuel conservation. The most gas-conserving Tacoma does about as well as my '98 Mazda B3000 did, and it felt underpowered when I took one for a test drive.

I tried a Prius a year ago (2012 model) and it was "nice," but I had issues with it. The center console was a bit too cluttered for my taste, and the speedometer was so far to the right, I felt I was taking my eyes too much off the road to see how fast I was going. I was certain I'd have to have the HUD option if I bought one. Finally, while it was comfortable to sit in, getting in and out was problematic. I had to lower the seat completely to get in and out but then raise the seat to a better driving height.

So, I put buying anything on hold.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I made the choice to buy something. I went back to the dealer to try a Prius again...just to see if I could remedy the conflict with getting in and out. This time, they had the 2013 model, and WHAT A DIFFERENCE! They said Toyota got complaints so they made significant ergonomic changes. Most notably, at any seat height, it's easy to get in and out, and the display is shifted a bit to the left...just enough so that the speedometer reading is within your field of view. BIG IMPROVEMENT in my book.

I was looking at the Prius Four, but when I did the math, I found a lot of the "bells and whistles" weren't worth the extra cost. The "stereo" upgrades require a data package on your cell phone (which I don't have), so I'd be paying for something I can't use. The solar roof package isn't much of a necessity for where I live, and even then, a simple "vent shade" does wonders for equalizing the temperature inside any car for a lot less.

So, I opted for a Prius Two with paint protection (something I hear many people rave about putting on their vehicles) and a remote starter so I can just leave the A/C or heat setting where I need it to be and start the car from a distance and let it have 5 minutes to get to temperature. About $500-600 compared to paying $3,000 to have a similar option that only runs for 3 minutes off the battery.

Before taxes, tag and registration, I got my new Prius for $23,274. I hope that's a good deal because most everyone near me wasn't willing to go that low to make the deal.

I look forward to putting 200,000 or more on this baby.

 

Thanks. As I'm already having a family member drive me 2.5 hours to pick it up, I don't know how much further I could go before the savings is negated by gas and travel time.