Toyota Prius

[BigJon]

The Prius has the best hybrid tech out there with the ability of each motor to turn different speeds. An exquisite engineering solution to the problem of both forms strengths and weaknesses.

I'm sure you've heard by now that the real world mileage on the Prius is a lot lower than the EPA rating. More so than most gas-only cars.

Of course Toyota will never be forgiven in my mind for giving it a name that sounds close to priapism.

[Trumpetmaster]

Welcome to the Pit Abecedarian!

[Marye]

Well folks, I bought a 2005 Prius... on Saturday. Loads of money, insurance costs, etc. I could not bring myself to buy another car without some sort of effort on my part not to add to pollution. I realize that maybe I am just plain dimwitted about this and I will hear that all Toyota claims about this car are wrong, but I wanted to try.

If it is turns out I am an idiot, I will report back my findings...

[OperaTenor]

Congratulations, Mary! The three close friends of mine who own Priuses are quite happy with their purchases, and I'm sure you will be, too.

Say what you will about their choice of a name for it, but the all-time winner in my book for Least Appropriate Vehicle Model name goes to Honda's motorcycle division for the "Valkyrie": aka Norse Messenger of Death. Giving a motorcycle a name associated with death seems to me like a gunshot right to the foot, in a business sense.
Honorable mention goes to Yamaha for almost naming their big cruiser the "Diablo".

[camper]

Originally posted by OperaTenor:
Hi Abecedarian, welcome to the Pti!

Hi Camper, you were an MX rider, eh? Honda? What was the last bike you rode? Where did you ride?
Don't you find Hondas to be twitchy to handle compared to Yamahas?

No I don't find them twitchy. Because I dont ride'm no mo But when I used to race I road 250 Kawasaki 2 strokes. I just said Honda for some reason... being general actually. Today I have 350 yamaha enduro (or whatever enduros are called today). I just ride the jeep trails out here now... putt putt along.. but I love the ride of the cycle far more than an atv.. have you ridden those? they jar the begeezuz out of you!

[camper]

Originally posted by Marye:
Well folks, I bought a 2005 Prius... on Saturday. Loads of money, insurance costs, etc. I could not bring myself to buy another car without some sort of effort on my part not to add to pollution. I realize that maybe I am just plain dimwitted about this and I will hear that all Toyota claims about this car are wrong, but I wanted to try.

If it is turns out I am an idiot, I will report back my findings...

WoW! great! and you didn have to wait? wher do you live?

[Marye]

Hi camper,

I live in Toronto Canada.

The Dealer we called had one in stock, which is very unusual as everyone knows. The person who ordered the car backed out so they were "stuck" with this one. We were just lucky, actually.

[OperaTenor]

Hi Camper,

I haven't ridden atvs in the desert, etc. More than two wheels just doesn't do it for me. I had a Yamaha XT350(might be what you have?) for a while. I loved plodding around on back trails with it. It seemed like it would go anywhere - not necessarily fast, but definitely reliable. I've also spent some trail time on the back of an ATK - that was a nice ride, too. Especially since it had an electric starter!

[katelinnea]

Originally posted by Marye:
Well folks, I bought a 2005 Prius... on Saturday.

Congratulations! Welcome to the club. I don't have a Prius myself, but my SO got one in January, and I ride in it and drive it fairly frequently. We both love it. We drove from NH to CT and back (and around CT quite a bit) for the Easter weekend and got an average of 53 miles per gallon for the trip--it was about evenly split between highway and back roads. I love driving it, and it can hold a surprising amount of stuff. The only two slight problems I have with it are the weird visibility out the back and the positioning of the headrests--but then, I'm quite short, which could account for both of those.

[Abecedarian]

Congratulations on your purchase, Mary. I hope you enjoy yours as much as my wife and I enjoy both of ours. One of the nice things (and perhaps little known things) about the Prius, is that many of the plastic componets were made from plant derivatives rather than from petroleum derivatives. Just another little way to be more "green" when we drive I guess.

[Marye]

Plant derivatives? Even better, thank you, Ron.

And katelinnea, I wondered too about the visibility. Have you troubles Ron?

I see you are new along wih Abecedarian. Normally, I am not the head welcomer on this board leaving that to the many among us who are very much better at it. But welcome to you both. I hope you contribute regularly.

[piqaboo]

Marye,
Congratulations!
Options? Color? & what have you named your new car?

What fun to go out in the morning before work and see a shiny new toy and its alllllllllllll yours!

[katelinnea]

Thanks for the welcome, Marye! The visibility really isn't that bad--just takes a little getting used to. And the head rests are okay when I'm driving, but not so good when my SO is driving and I'm trying to sleep. But it's so much fun to drive that I don't mind the little issues.

Oh, and my SO's Prius is blue, and is named James. (His full name, based on the first four letters of his VIN, is James Tiberius Dudley Kirk Prius.)

[Abecedarian]

No troubles at all, Marye - one with over 60k miles and the other over 12k. We loved the 2002 so much that we decided to buy a 2005.

[camper]

Originally posted by OperaTenor:
Hi Camper,

I haven't ridden atvs in the desert, etc. r!

Actaully I haven't ridden cycles or ATVs in the desert around here either. Mostly because there is no desert around here. Although we are quite arid we are far above the deserts. For example my house is a mile high (5200)I and ride my enduro up to the *real* high county behind me which gets near 9000 ft.

Come visit!

[analog]

Originally posted by OperaTenor:
....Least Appropriate Vehicle Model name ..."Valkyrie"...

Another honorable mention to Yamaha for "Virago"; per Webster "a loud and abusive woman."

[analog]

...oops got doubled...

<small>[ 03-29-2005, 11:42 PM: Message edited by: analog ]</small>

[OperaTenor]

Hi Analog, I forgot about the Virago, good catch.

Hi Camper, are you in Navajo country? If so, lucky you, that's God's country, IMNSHO. Great area to ride in.
Do you run into carburetor trouble when you go up to 9,000 ft?

[Marye]

Picked up my new Prius last night and went driving about the city. What a lovely car indeed!
Loads of leg room in the back seat, great sound system, lots of window. I love the quiet. There are some blind spot issues that I did not have in the last car and that is something to get used to.

Now I want to go on a road trip.

[camper]

Originally posted by OperaTenor:
Hi Analog, I forgot about the Virago, good catch.

Hi Camper, are you in Navajo country? If so, lucky you, that's God's country, IMNSHO. Great area to ride in.
Do you run into carburetor trouble when you go up to 9,000 ft?

I live on the Utah side of the border with Arizona.. the nearest Navajo res is 80 miles away but we have a small Ute Res just outside of town. I do run into carb problems becasue I can ride as high as 10,000 right on down to the Colorado river which is 1200. So I adjust or re-jet.