A deal I couldn't refuse

The title makes it sound like a received a good deal on a car but it's subjective. I had a IV Solar on order and was expecting delivery in late October. My wife and I had talked ourselves into believing the recent price increase announcement was okay and that maybe we'd even make use of the new required "options". Last week I watched a III on my dealer's inventory go unsold so on Sunday I drove out there and found it to be a Solar with the August price tag. It seems like the $1800 solar option isn't popular in northern Wisconsin. Anyway, my wife and I decided that we could live without leather and heated seats so I verified that the car was available Monday morning and closed the deal at noon. I saved approximately $3500 over what an October IV Solar would have cost me. Not only that, the insurance premium is $48 less per year than my trade, an '06 Hyundai Sonata.

I've been reading this forum for about a month and was expecting lots of small irritations. Although I've only had the car for a couple of days it has been long enough to form the following impressions.

The driver's seat is comfortable.

The ride is ever so slightly harsh but not so much that it bothers me at all. I am known to drive straight through to my FL home (23 hours) with gas stops only and I would have no problem doing so in the new Prius.

The handling is fine. It's a family car and drives like one. I've owned Vettes, Porsches, Bimmers, and probably the world's most tricked out turbo Miata. Those cars had their purpose and the Toyota doesn't pretend to compete.

The solar system does what it is intended to do although I'll reserve final judgement until after the car gets a workout under the Florida sun.

I was under the impression that I was going to have to upgrade the JBL speakers. My impression was wrong. I'm perfectly happy with the sound system as it is although I did bump the rear speaker + 2 clicks as recommended in other threads and it did make an improvement.

My cell is an iPhone 3G and the blue tooth works perfectly even with both BT and WiFi turned on in both the phone and iPod modes.

The XM radio works as it should. I was one of the first XM customers when they first put the satellites up, have had it in several cars plus a portable that I use at home and in rentals. I've read all the complaints about signal cut outs in non-repeater areas. Mine does not do that when given clean line of sight. I don't expect any difference when the car is being operated in lower latitudes in a couple of months but time will tell.

The NAV system. I live in a small town. The NAV shows everything drivable, even the tiny one lane road system in a large local park. Once set up, guidance worked perfectly. As stated by nearly everyone, the NAV is not nearly as intuitive as most other similar devices. True. Reading the manual helps immensely. Actually, after spending a lifetime (25-30 thousand hours) in both low and high tech cockpits it is a fun challenge to learn the nuances.

After having read so many complaints about various aspects of the Gen III on this site I was convinced that Toyota still had not gotten it "right". I have changed my mind. The Prius is a wonderful automobile and I love it.

Buzz

 

Positive experiences are such a pleasure.

Buzz

 

You really started my chuckle response. The trip is about 1600 miles so only two gas stops. You're correct. Not a chance I could do that, and I promised my wife I wouldn't try it. I did the non stop gig in July (intelligent wife took a plane) and I was wasted for a day after arrival, so never again. At age 65 it's time I get over the Marine Corps attitude and stop to smell the flowers along the way. lol

The Prius ride is not really harsh, just solid, and I'm betting you're correct about tire pressure. I haven't checked it yet because I've been too darn busy driving and smiling.

In any case, the most fun car I ever owned did in fact have a fairly harsh ride but to be honest I hardly noticed it. Stock, 96 HP at the rear wheels, mine, 264.2 - blue smoke all the way to the red line in second gear and I never blew a drive shaft or rear end - classic Japanese over-engineering. Notice the XM antenna on the trunk lid.

 

After two years of ownership I decided I needed more performance or else I was going to buy something else. Aftermarket parts availability was on the rise so I started adding to the car, piece by piece. My first power enhancement was a Sebring supercharger which boosted the rear wheel HP to 147.4 as can be seen on this dyno chart. I also notice that I had misrepresented the turbo HP by +2. My bad. lol After that I upgraded the suspension, wheels, tires, sub frame braces, short shifter, removable steering wheel, and even upgraded the sound sytem - new head, speakers, amp, and subwoofer which filled up the trunk.

Flyin' Miata replaced the Sebring with one or their turbos and added a heavy duty clutch and dual exhaust among other things before shipping the car to me in Florida. Naples probably has more performance cars per capita than anywhere else on the planet and this little 2500# 1.6 liter scooter could keep up with (or pass) 90% of them. I received a lot of shocked looks on the Tamiami Trail and I75.

 

I finally sold the Miata a couple years ago - a matter of garage space.

The Prius is fantastic. I find myself looking for excuses to drive it. lol The salesman called my cell phone a couple hours ago for a follow up and to see if I had any questions. I thought that was a nice touch. The car is all it's cracked up to be and purchasing it was a good move. I assumed driving it would be boring but it's actually a lot of fun. I do believe I'm getting a little (shudder) smug.