Prius Acquired: 2004 Black no.9, my first impressions.

I got my 2004 Black no.9 from Toyota of Watertown.

All the bells and whistles are worth it. Side impact bags...that alone. It looks like a lot of thought went into the user experience on this car. I rented a Ford Taurus SE to go pick up my Prius from Boston (Boy, has Cambridge gone downhill since I left in 94! Too much money can be a bad thing ya know, makes people like animals. I digress.)

Anyways, my new Prius is Hot. The only thing I dislike, and will take me a little time to adjust to is the power going up inclines. There seems to be an ever so slight weakness, or you have to push it just a little. That B gear should offset those losses if it works like the salesman said. When you are coming down hills, it supposedly gives more power to the battery. I have still to read the manual. Other things I like:

1)Smart Keyless entry and startup. The inventor of this phenom should get a nobel prize. It detects if you have the key on your person, and opens to door for you, and starts the car with the push of a button! Among my family it's a running joke that I am always forgetting my keys. I wonder if I can get my key put on a belt buckle?

2)Voice Nav and Extra Sunsets...simply cool! Warning however. The shortest route home isn't always the quickest. But boy the scenery is MUCH BETTER!
From Watertown to Springfield, I went through Wellesley, Newton. Saw lots of beautiful homes and great sunsets! (Yes, it was a single sunset, but it looked like many different ones. Usually, I take the interstate and NEVER notice the sunsets. On alternate routes I can now see many things I would have otherwised missed,) Street Labeling feature: Now I know which street I'm on at all times. Have you ever driven on a road for miles, not even knowing the name of the road? Well, never again. I can't wait to learn all of the features of the Nav system.

3)Phone through the steering wheel. Cool. My bluetooth phone is on the way!

4)Visibility. Better depth perception. Going from a Rav4 to this is like night and day. I can see 360 degrees around me! (turning around of course) Peripheral vision has improve dramatically, it seems as if the dash amplifies everything. That green glow caste on the windshield at night from the spedometer is a little annoying...I have to adjust it's brightness.

5)Mileage. The rental Taurus SE that drove me 100 mile to Cambridge. It got me ther on $10 of gas. I filled it up, and Avis told me they would surcharge me $11.89 or something for 1/8 a tank of gas. I told them "Over my dead corpse", and they reversed it. (I think they sensed I am now serious about saving on gas).

6)Comfort...very comfortable compared to my 98 Rav.

7)Geek Chic. This car has exceeded my expectations. I'm a computer geek but it will take me a month to learn all it's tricks.

8)Styling. I want to protect my car to maintain value. I guess my fist thing is to get a 3M type, plastic film. I almost hate to add the windshield deflector and the mudd flaps, because I don't want to ruin the sleek styling and gas mileage of the car. My only styling recommendation to Toyota is for a larger wheel (you know what they say about guys with small tires) and a rim that looks closer to your prototype rims.

Toyota of Watertown did me right. Bruce, my salesman was very helpful, as was the financial dude, John I think. Tell 'em Edmund sent ya'.