Thanks for the welcome.

Well, I started looking at the car in earnest in late September. I talked to the local dealer and wasn't impressed with their sales staff, and they were quoting long wait times. I didn't mind the wait time, but I also didn't want to be jacked around, i.e. "now that you have given us your deposit we will let you rot on our list while we take our dear sweet time getting you a car." So, I looked at a couple of different dealers that were outside of my area and found one that seemed honest and wasn't in a hurry to take ahold of my deposit (which there never was one) and then let me sit. Great dealer, kept me apprised of my order about twice a week during the transit time. Apparently he found my specific car on the ship coming over from Japan and got it assigned to his dealership for me. I admit this dealer was in the sticks, or an area that would appear very rural to many of the metropolitan users on any list, but I have always had better luck with rural dealers.

I always thought the Insight looked pretty cool. I especially like the fender skirts on the back. And your red just looks cool. I had a friend that I worked with at college who graduated and went to work for the Microsoft Access support group. When he and his wife moved to Redmond they wanted a second car and a high economy commuter to boot. So the Insight was their choice. They had the 5-speed. I believe they paid a very competitive price for it. Last time I checked they still owned it and were very happy with it.

As a side note; I can drive a stick, but prefer not to. I suppose my experience with sticks is limited to an '85 Ford Ranger V-6; my parent's. The clutch is still as positive and hard as a rock as I can remember, but shifting is involved because of the strong spring resistance on the clutch pedal and the long shifter throw. Typical pickup truck, I suppose.

It has been said:
Hybrid drivers come in 3 flavors, greenie, techie and cheapie. Pick any 2.
2005 Prius, Melinium Silver over gray, package 5 (AI)