It's been an interesting week.

Last Saturday I woke up to a dead 12v battery in the Prius with 199976 on the odometer. No one had one in stock locally. Waited until Monday morning and we took my wife's Acura the 50 or so miles to the dealer in Lake Havasu to get one. Put it in; Monday afternoon the Prius turned the 200,000 mile mark.

Deciding it deserved some extra TLC, I took it to the dealer Tuesday for not only the regular service but also a new inverter coolant pump, coolant , trans fluid and serpentine belt. Their inspection said the timing cover seal was leaking a little so I had that fixed too. My goal is to get at least another 100,000 miles out of the Prius.

Wednesday while waiting for the work to be finished I was browsing the lot. We've been talking about replacing the 2009 Acura MDX (odometer at 204,000 miles) with something that is still comfortable but gets better mileage and doesn't use premium gas. Well, we're now a two-Toyota family after our purchase of a 2015 Camry XSE with 84,000 miles on it. The Carfax shows it's accident-free and been maintained by Toyota dealers. BTW, anyone know which Camry forum is the best? Do any of them come close to Priuschat?

This morning I woke up to my wife curled up in pain and a real mess on the bathroom floor. Took her to the emergency room. Turns out she has diverticulitis an a severe intestinal infection. She'll be in the hospital for a few days.

It's been an interesting week.

 

No. On the MDXERS forum some people who tried it had a few problems. We usually try to stick as close to the owner's manual suggestions as much as possible. Sometimes we'll do some EXTRA maintenance that's not in the manual (replace pumps and belts a little ahead of schedule) but we're not the type to try that kind of octane experiment. We just drive with the intention of having plain old transportation that gets us from point A to point B with little worry. That's what has made our 2008 Prius such a great car. We had no mechanical issues with the Acura but after all the Camry IS a Toyota.

 

So what? I'm driving a SECOND generation Prius and have never considered a third generation. I explained my other reasons (primarily the expense of premium gas, lower gas mileage, high odometer) for parting with the MDX in favor for a Camry. It's what we feel makes better sense for US.