New Owner from Central Maine

Hello,

What have I done?! I just traded in my 2000 toyota Tundra Ext Cab truck (V8). Also, two days ago (Thurs), I had reserved a Suzuki SX4 Sport sedan for pick up on Saturday (Today). It was pulled out off the show room floor for an 8AM purchase. A funny thing happened Thursday morning. My wife said, what about a hybrid. I knew little to nothing about hybrids yesterday, so this board helped me fast-track my research -- at least concerning Prius. To make a long story short, I visited 3 dealers yesterday. The first dealer, I was not enamoured with the personnel. Also two of the three Prius' advertised on the web were sold. Only the basic and blue model was available.

The second dealer only had the fully loaded package.

The 3rd dealer was just right, lol. They had both the Basic and Touring models, so I went home and brought my wife back to see and test drive it. Of course she fell in love with the Prius. Good bye Suzuki?? I made an AM appointment to do a potential trade in (gave Toyota first shot), and both of the Prius cars were sold. I did not put a deposit down because I wanted to see how the dealing went the next day. Anyway, I settled on a dark Grey Touring package. It was the next vehicle coming in (hopefully today). I could do without the overpriced sound system, but at least I am a music lover. I travel 75 miles a day (minimum). I did the math, and I should save $5K plus each year (in comparison to the Tundra). What I (might) save in "Gas dollars" is more than my monthly payments, we will see.

Ok, that is longer than I expected, sorry. Bottom Line: I am excited to see if I made the right purchase. I just could not find a reason to say "NO" including the high resale value and reliability ratings by several SMEs.

Cheers,
Nomad

 

Thanks Neicy, I will post to the Newbie pictures thread. We should get it on Monday (Grey Metalic).

 

Touche, speed kills, it's all virtual and on paper for now. I don't even know whether the interior is "dark grey fabric" or "bisque fabric". All 8 of the Prius' that I have physically seen to date had bisque fabric, not a fan. I may be getting seat covers ASAP. It looks like fading and staining could happen early, weeks/months. I will find out tomorrow, hopefully.

Cheers,
Nomad

 

Well, I just picked up our new Prius in a downpour. I just Twenty three miles on it. It has two when picked it up.I had to turn on the heater/defroster for the front window. I tried to P&G (harder than it sounds/looks). I got lucky on a few occasions. I need to travel 200 miles tomorrow, so I will get a good run. I averaged 44.8 MPG on my 23 mile jaunt (town and country roads).

I'm lovin it!!

I will take some photos and post this weekend.

 

Bill, it is dark Grey, as I hoped for. It only makes sense, but I was not sure.

Wa1hog,

Welcome to PC and congrats your recent Prius purchase. Pittsfield, I know it well. I live in Unity. I will be taking my pictures by Unity lake this weekend. I used to work part-time (some weekends) for Central Maine Transport's dedicated account at the Sonoco plant in the Pittsfield industrial park. I delivered the large cores (Carbon Fiber rolls) to the Paper Mills throughout Maine. Holding down a full time job and going back to school part-time, something had to give. Plus it was pretty dangerous for 18 wheeling this past winter, harsher than usual.

Go Redsox!

 

Wa1Hog, small world! The raceway is closed down this year, gas prices. I think it will open occasionaly to the public for test driving their cars (for a fee). That's about it. Yep, Burnham used to be the worlds largest golf tee producers. I heard they had 90 percent of the US market before 1990. The Chinese brought them down to 40 percent.

You should be able to follow the following. I traveled from Augusta to Westbrook Maine on Interstate 95 today approx 60 miles. I got 50 MPG there and 48.5 back to Augusta. I stopped at my work in Augusta and headed out again, for home. I took route 104 through Augusta, Sydney, Waterville, Albion then Unity. It was a total of 37 miles. I got a whopping 65.7 MPG.

There were plenty of Opps to P&G (as expected). Plus it was 7PM, so there was not much traffic. I took some pictures to prove it. Not bad for DAY # 1 of ownership. My goals have been exceeded.

Total miles on my Prius now = 247.

 

WA1hog: Sure, PM me. We don't want to bore these good folks on PC.

PS: Sounds like you will get your money's worth too.

 

I will post more in the Sticky thread "Newbie, Let's see some Pics.

I was waiting for a weekend where there is/was some sunshine. One can wait a long time in Maine, so I went to the lake anyway.

Still loving the Prius after 2 weeks. With a 59.8 MPG second fill up, my investment questions were answered. Now I can just relax and enjoy the ride and other features.