Hi all. I came to greenhybrid after seeing it referenced several time at another site. Learning a lot about the Prius, and about some of the peopel that drive them.

I took a new job back in May that has me on the road 500-600 miles a week. Making round trips two or three times a week from Sacramento to Berkeley, Oakland and at least once a week to Palo Alto quickly made it apparent that a super high efficiency car would be a good idea. And my observation of the HOV lane told me I would save some time over there.

So I decided that I would get around to looking at a hybrid. Was not in a hurry to go car shopping and figured it would best for me to wait a few months anyway - - not knowing about tax credits and HOV sticker limits.

Then (to borrow Emril's trademark) BAM! I was catapulted into car shopping when I got into an accident in interstate 80 that totaled my car. I needed a new car. I decided that since the HCH and Prius were the only new car choices that could get me in the diamond lane, those would be the two I would look at. Trusting mainly reputations of the two companies, my wife and I went out shopping without doing a lot of advance research.

We test drove an HCH on a Thursday night, a Prius on Friday, talked over which one would suit us better, and went out Saturday. Found a Barcelona Red #3 that had litterally just rolled off the truck in Roseville and was not presold or under a deposit. So before the other salesmen could call their potential customers, I had my guy write it up before the shrink wrap was removed. Total shopping time - less than 48 hours between "idea" and delivery.

It has been great. I finally got my HOV lane stickers, so not only have I saved nearly $200 on gas in the last 2 months, I have recovered at least 3 hours a week, depending on my trips, just by having fast lane access. That is time I can put back into productive time at work... or not .

I am not a Prius-ubber-alles cheerleader. If it was not for the super hightech high efficiency propulsion, the Prius would just be another economy car in my book. There is nothing particularly astoudning about the rest of the car. It is pretty roomy and the hatchback gives some versatility, but a lot of cars do that. However the technoiogy rocks. It can save copious amounts of gas, helps the environment and I can make the purchase pencil out economically - easily with the assistance of the US taxpayer. I'll take the tax credit, thanks. But I happily drive my other car in many cases.

I have had my Prius 63 days and it has just over 6,500 miles on it. I have filled it up about 20 times and have averaged over 50 mpg on the consumption screen when I went to reset at all but three fill ups. it's never been below 47 when i have pulled up to the pump. I think this was probably the best choice I could have made for the kind of driving I do. I needed something that would hold up to 30,000+ miles a year and not be ready for the scrapheap before the end of the decade. Toyota has a good rep for reliability, the Prius has developed a good rep too, so it's just a good deal IMO.

Anyway. Glad to be here, and hope you don't come to regret letting me in. HAHAHA.