Goodbye my sweet '05. Hello my new '12.

Well, it's bittersweet, but my tried and true '05 was taken out by an Oak Tree shortly after a storm a couple weeks ago while parked in my drive.

It was an amazing car, right to the bitter end, supporting the full weight of that Oak without collapsing the roof arch (arborist estimated at least a couple of tons ... kudos to those amazing Toyota engineers and assembly line workers!).

It was our 2nd Prius (the '04 is still humming, approaching 200k miles, and all it's asked us for is oil, a little gas, new tires/filters every now and then and a new 12V battery, running as good as the day we got it) and my primary driver.

Besides whisking me to work and back each day, it comfortably transported us on some amazing journeys. Its last, a trek from our home in Annapolis, MD into the Boundary Waters Wilderness in Minnesota to dogsled for a week along the Canadian border in January, was one of its toughest, requiring only chains to get us up and over some gnarly snow-covered Forest Service roads. But get us there it did, and after a week, sitting motionless and unattended in subzero conditions, buried in snow, fired up with nary a flinch on our return and got us home (swallowing, BTW, all our gear and even a partially disassembled 8 foot sled!).

I also used it on weekends to transport dogs up and down the east coast for a rescue I work with. It just seemed there wasn't anything it couldn't do. To say it was a joy would be an understatement.

Herewith, some of the more memorable moments it provided:


(Trips to the Dog Park every day.)


(A comfortable ride.)


(A nice view.)

(Comfy canine accomodations.)


(Lots and lots of Road Trips!)


(Safety and warmth.)


(Pride.)

What could possibly compare?

Well, we're hoping this will.

 

Thanks, gang.

brick: Yeah, as if we weren't hard enough on it, the dogs really "made it their own." Any little plastic protuberance in the back pretty much became a chew toy. My first, whilst I popped into a convenience store for a bottle of water, chewed up the right top corner of the driver's seat on our way home from picking him up from the shelter (Separation anxiety I suppose. He'd been given up 3 times and wasn't a year old. Nothing a t-shirt pulled over the seat back couldn't fix.)

HaroldW: Love it so far. Might get slightly less MPG than the '05, but shooting for better overall with, perhaps, a lighter foot than I used on the '05. Certainly seems, from what I've read, this is possible. Swallows more stuff and is roomier in the passenger area. Much stiffer ride, but I think I like that. Also like that visibility is slightly better, seat height & window-wise. And it's easier to get in and out of. Could care less for all the bells and whistles, but the 17in tires, LED lights and leather-like seats are nice on the "5" (biggest for me was the seats ... easier to clean up dog hair, etc than the fabric).

I'll tell you, though, another contributing factor for choosing the "v" was how much like the G2 it was in ergonomics. Not a fan of the console arch and higher dashboard on the G3. The "v" is a lot more like the G2, ergonomically, than the G3. Fells like "home."

 

Click "taken out by an Oak Tree" in the OP. I've added more pics of the car free of the tree. Was pretty much invisible while beneath it. Would love to think it might have a 2nd life as a convertible.

 

Was actually about to head out the door to pick up daughter from a sleep-over. Saw it come down and it literally made me sick. Suspension was bottomed out but that roof held (and, unbelievable, but all the glass too save the window beneath the spoiler). Counting my blessings. Really loved that car.