A Year With The Prius

So, I've had my Prius for a little more than a year, now, and I've put just a little over 25,000 miles on it. Pwhew.

I thought that perhaps I could write a long post about my experiences, but, honestly, there's just not much to say. It runs great. It handles reasonably, although not as well as the Miata. It's a boring car to drive, but I've got a boring, horrible drive to make each day, and the Prius allows me to make it comfortably.

It's been just fine for road trips, getting M. and I up and back from the Bay Area a few times; the first time, I even got it up to 104 mph, which it seemed to handle with aplomb. When M and I went camping with a pal, we had to stack some of the gear in the back seat, but only a little bit. It's a spacious car, with plenty of room.

I kinda wish, in retrospect, that I gotten the upgraded stereo, but other than that, I'm delighted with the car just as it is. There have been a few times when the navigation feature would've been handy, but not $2,000 handy, which is how much it would've cost.

I took a rock in the windshield the other day, and the crack expanded enough that I'll probably have to put in a new windshield. Now, the Prius has a bigger windshield than most cars, but other than that, it seemed like the kinda thing that could've happened to any car.

So, yeah, it's been a good year, and I'm kinda happy that, if I was gonna put 25,000 miles on any car, I put in on one that got around 45 mpg in some pretty brutal conditions. I figure that I might as well put big miles on the Prius quickly and wear it out before the more advanced hybrids start to come out over the next few years. I'd prefer to just drive less and use less oil, but given that I find it tough to do that, I might as well be driving the Prius!