1500 mile report card

I've had my GenIII IV, for about 5 weeks and just hit 1500 miles.

I feel in love with the Prius when I rented one in Florida last December and finally gave in to my lust at the end of April.

I remain thrilled with the car in every aspect. About the only thing I miss (and I must admit it is a "large" miss) is the manual transmission on my Subaru Forester. But I am keeping my Suby for the winter. I live about 50 miles north of NYC and we get a fair share of snow and ice on our quite hilly and curvy roads. I have an uphill 125 foot long driveway and after turning onto my road am faced with a sharp and uphill curve that has caused problems for front wheel cars even with 4 snowtires. Will put 4 snows on the Prius come November and test it out but foresee still using by Forester. I know that CVTs maximize mileage and that driving a manual transmission is becoming a lost art, but I wonder whether we will ever see a manual transmission pure hybrid or EV. What will happen in Europe where 95% of the cars are manuals and they sort of look down on whimpy Americans who can't learn to use a clutch.

No rattles to speak of. Everything works fine and after the normal adjustment a driver must make to a new vehicle, everything feels normal. Bluetooth, IPod, garage door opener all work as advertised. When I first drove the Prius rental is December I found myself always cycling between the displays, but with my own, and once the novelty was over, I pretty much stay with the HSI display.

Getting about 52 MPG. I don't plain to obsess with hypermiling but drive normally with some adaptations. I find that when there is no traffic or anyone behind me, I will coast more to lights and down hills, but when I am in a normal traffic flow, I will drive "normally." Way back during the first gas crunch in 1973, I read about driving as if you had an egg between your foot and the accelerator, took that to heart, and have never been a lead foot driver. But when I am in traffic I will accelerate and brake normally. I am not going to be one of those people other drivers shake their fist at.

Have not run into any braking issues. Again, trying to brake as if this is a normal car and not one with two braking systems but am always aware of the transition between the two systems and ready to react as needed.

Overall, I give my Prius an A+.