2015 C4 in 2016

Hi everyone.

I was a very happy owner of a 2012 Mazda 3 Skyactiv (purchased in 2013) as a model year leftover. It had all of the bells and whistles, got 'great' gas mileage... the highest I saw was 46mpg hwy on flat ground using CC.

Then at 30k miles the door handle broke. Then it had a funny little lock up with the keys, then there was suddenly a bunch of dealer recommended maintenance that was quickly adding up, and I got sick of it.

I started by looking at all-electric vehicles. It's very windy in my corner of NC, and fairly sunny (Near the Outer Banks) so I fully intend to have solar/wind turbines once we've moved into the new house completely and I thought it would be perfect to power my 100 mile round trip work commute that way. Unfortunately, the only thing that can do that comfortably is a Tesla, and... well... that's not affordable yet.

I ended up laughing when I looked at the Prius. "Hah!" I thought... "I'm not trading in my man-card, for hardly any mpg increase". Then I went and looked at one, just to quiet down my higher thinking, and go back to baseless testosterone-fueled claims of virility.

That day, I drove home with a brand new, year old, 2015 Prius C four in moonglow white. Two cars in a row as model year leftovers...everyone has a type, I suppose.

My old car, over the entire 33,000 miles of ownership, averaged 30mpg. My prius, at it's infantile 600 miles, has yet to average below 53mpg, and that's with an unlearned foot. I'm slowly picking up hypermiling skills as I realize the cost (regardless of vehicle) that accompanies 25,000 mile a year driving.

Honestly, a lot of my friends gave me flack... hell, my wife gave me the most for buying a Prius. After a few rides, she's since realized that maybe it was a good idea after all.

Just like when I bought my RX-8 in 2009, after purchasing the vehicle, I've discovered that there is a lot more to the car than meets the eye, and what appears to be a pretty outstanding group of people that stand behind it as well.

I look forward to learning and sharing... and I may even have a picture to post sometime soon.

-John