Hang in there Sabrina...I live among very steep hills too, in a cold weather area, and have a short commute. I drive about half and half though city vs highway, and do make a lot of long trips. For whatever it's worth, my car seems to be getting around 35-36 mpg over my first 5000 miles. When it is cold and I just drive locally, the mpg seems worse, when it warms up and or when driving long trips on highways, the mpg improves. My best tank ever is showing as 41.1 mpg. Even allowing for my car's inherent tendency to 'boast' a bit (to consistently overestimate my mpg by a few miles), that is still sufficient for me. I used to get around 23-24 mpg in my Honda CR-V, so this is a huge improvement in my opinion. The car is living up to my expectations in many ways, and exceeding them in the rest. I have changed my driving habits to become a more moderate driver than I used to be, but not to the point of fanaticism, and I do have my lapses, which is why you'll be able to see my mileage graph fluctuating with each new tank.

Hope you ultimately find it was a smart and enjoyable choice. At least you'll know you've made a really concerted effort to turn it into that, whether or not you decide it is the car for you after 6 months to a year of ownership. The good news too is that resale value of Toyota and other hybrids seems to be wonderfully high compared to non hybrids.

Best wishes,

swvsings


See "Cheery Cherry TCH" in Greenhybrid log.