New Owner, New Member

Hello there.... been lurking for a few weeks, and this past Friday we joined the club of Happy Prius Owners... picked up a 2007 #4 in the blue (now I'm seeing blue ones everywhere and wishing I'd gone with the Silver Pine Mica)... you could say I'm pining for it... tee hee :lol:

Anyway, a few things I've been following on this site, specifically the thread about the brakes giving out. I couldn't help but notice how proportionally many new model Prius (2005-2007) of salvage title were available in my local craigslist area... proportional to other cars, for example. And many stated they were due to front end damage (which would presumably occur if the brakes gave out and you hit something). Never mind that, we decided to go with a new one anyway.

One immediate observation of note.. it's taking some getting used to the rear view mirror with the big cross brace obstruction thing... especially when it's dark. If a car is behind me and the auto dimming is on, it is really easy to 'lose' it, because it's just hidden (especially on the freeway). Even in daytime, I don't like this at all. I am wishing I had a button or something that would allow me to flip on the camera so I could have a clear view off my bumper... would be helpful to prepare for lane change on the freeway as well.

We test drove both the Prius and the Civic, and although we've been devout Honda people for many years and really liked the pretty blue dash display in the Honda, what sealed the deal for the Prius was the ability to convert the car to electric only, and the folding rear seats... Honda goofed with limiting the trunk and making the car impossible for carrying home any item of significant length (8 foot baseboards? etc.).

I'm particularly enjoying driving in stealth mode... I also considered a Zen or Xebra as we have a dealer in town, but wished those cars were a little more versatile... 40mph is ok around town, but I'd like to be able to hop on the country road and head up to the next town if needed, and I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that on a 55mph+ country road in a 40mph vehicle.

Anyway, look forward to chatting with all y'all... thanks for a great forum!