New from Illinois, bought 08 Prius 5 days ago

Hello,
I just bought my new 08 Prius, package 2 on Saturday, 5 days ago. I LOVE THIS CAR!!!!!!!!

I traded in my 2005 Saturn VUE SUV for the Prius. We have a gas guzzling V6 pickup, my husband's truck and had the SUV.

I wanted to ditch my SUV before the gas prices got so bad that the trade in value on the SUV's started to sharply decline and the SUV would have been worth almost nothing.

I don't think reality has set in for most Americans that we are very soon going to be like Europe with Gas prices. I see too many people driving around in their fancy V8 Denali's, and Yukon's and Navigators, they will be crying at the pump in just a few weeks..if not already, here in the Chicago area, Gas has already peaked over $4 per gallon at some stations downtown.

I love the Prius and I am very excited to have found this website, I want to learn as much as I can about how to get the best mileage on it and how to learn all the driving tricks in order to get the highest MPG.

 

Yep,, Chi-town it is,, but I actually live in the south suburbs, near the Indiana border, I work downtown but take the train into work.

I love the St. Louis area!!!!!

 

I was also amazed at the space the car has, I think the older Prius was smaller??, I alway remember saying how small I thought they were when I saw them in the street. I was so used to my Saturn VUE for 3 years that I thought I could not go down to a Sedan, but I just took a trip to Ireland for 10 days during my daughter's spring break and drove an Opel Astra in Ireland with the electronic gear shifting like the Prius has, and I was amazed at great gas mileage for the Astra in Ireland. This is what really sparked me to start looking at the Hybrids when I came back home.

Since Saturn now has the Astra, I looked into it, but the MPG could not even come close to the Prius and the Astras in the US don't have the electronic gear shifting,,

I owned Toyotas for 8 years before I went to Saturn in 2000, and I am very happy to be a Toyota owner again.

I have say that my Saturn saleslady was extremely disappointed when I bought the Prius, she really thought I was going to buy the new Astra from her. I have been dealing with her for the past 8 years and bought 3 new Saturns from her during that time. I think reality will be setting in for many of the GM car dealers and others that just cannot compare to the Prius.

I LOVE THIS CAR!!!!!

My 10yr old is now yelling at everyone on the road that they are driving Gas guzzlers Quitely though, I told her NOT to yell out the window, just gloat to herself in the car

Michelle
Homewood, IL

 

I paid $23,100 for Package 2 from Elmhurst Toyota in Elmhurst, IL. The MSRP price on package 2 after the $600 Manufacters rebate was $23,978

I actually went through a program with the Federal Employees Union, we have a program called Vehicle Advantage, this is where they do all the price negotiating for you and then they tell you what dealer was willing to go the lowest on the price. I did not even know that my union had a program like this. Typically if you buy a non-hybrid vehicle they can usually get you a price 2-3% above invoice price, but they told me right up front that the Hybrids, especially the Prius was basically going for sticker price and not many dealers were willing to negotiate below the MSRP because the cars are flying off the lots like crazy. I have seen this here in our area.

My friend here at work bought a new 08 Prius and went to 7 dealers before she found one willing to negotiate on the price, the other 6 dealers in the Chicago area refused to budge from the MSRP price.

I was very satisfied with the whole experience. Especially since they took my SUV and paid off the balance

 

I'm jealous of you that you actually could wait for the car... I really wanted the Seaside Pearl color and they only had 1 in stock that was Package 4, and I was buying package 2, they told me I would have to wait 4-6 weeks to get that color , so being like I am, I could NOT wait, and took the Driftwood Pearl they had in stock, but I still like that color and I am very happy with it..

I know you must be excited, I can't wait to leave work now just to drive my car home!!!

 

I can't find this section?? Where is the chicago section??

 

Hello Biggus!!!!!
I see you are in Dublin!!!! :high5:
Well, I drove all over the southern and western parts, we started out in Dublin, for 2 days, I would NOT drive there, heard it was awful with traffic, so we used public transport for the 2 days in Dublin, then picked up the Astra at the airport and then headed down to New Ross and stayed in that area for 2 nights, also drove down to Hook Head and saw the Hook Lighthouse, then headed out to Waterford, on to Cork area, stayed near the Blarney Castle for 2 nights, drove down to Cobh and Kinsale, and then drove up to Doolin and saw the Cliffs of Moher and spent 2 nights in Doolin, then drove down to Shannon and stayed near the Bunratty Castle and came back home through Shannon.

I LOVED IRELAND!!!!!!

Driving in Ireland was wild and wicked and I loved it, after I got used to driving on the "other" side of the road, not the "wrong" side as some would put it, but the "other" side of the road.. It was very cool and aside from getting majorly lost leaving the Dublin airport with the car and trying to find my way back to Portmarnock with the rental to pick up my mom and daughter from the B&B,, I liked driving there. After 7 days of driving I could manuver any roundabout and probably find my way anywhere.

What I was amazed at is the very high speed limits in Ireland and the fact that the accidents are so bad and so frequent that they actually post the death rates on big billboards on the motorways telling how many people died in such and such county and to please drive careful. But my question is,, why don't they just lower the darned speed limits!!!!!!!

Gosh, I thought some cars were going to crash into us on the rural roads,, the roads are so tiny, so narrow and curvy and the posted speed limit was like 100km an hour in some areas.. HOLY COW!!!!, I was amazed, no wonder there are so many accidents, they drive like maniacs,, excuse my expression, but it is true,, and then they wonder why there are so many accidents.

I remember up near Doolin the roads were very narrow and lots of sharp turns and curves and the posted speed limit was 100km an hour!!!!, Cripes, here in the U.S. we never have such high speed limits on such narrow rural roads, That kind of scared the crap out of me.

But, the driving was really cool, and after I got the hang of making my turns and remembering which direction to look I was just amazed..

Hey, if you want to see some of my pics, email me offline and I will send some to you,, although, they are probably nothing to interesting since you actually live in Ireland, but for me, they were the BEST souveniers I came home with. I took over 675 photos in Ireland in just 10 days time. This was my first time going and I will go back for sure!! Now that I know how to drive there and find my way around!!!!!

Cheers,,
Michelle