Oh, I'd like to add that the '04 Prius is the first new car we've purchased! I've never driven a new car before; one with clean upholstry and an intact manual

Pat

Bummer, but by the time we're ready to change to a hybrid van, I'm sure Toyota will have something on the market that will work for us.

Have you seen a picture of the Japanese hybrid van? Is there a place to find out what's going on in Nippon land?

Believe me - it's not the first thing I have mis-typed today!

Jack :huh:

Eschew Obfuscation
Avoid pompous prolixity
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.

I'm selling my Mazda B2300 Pickup with 65xxx miles since getting my Prius.

I started off with a '78 Chevette, which I bought in 1984. It got 35-40 mpg. My next car was an '85 Chevy Cavalier Type 10 5-spd, which I bought in 1988, and it got 30-40 mpg. Next came a '91 Saturn SL1 5-spd, which I bought in 1995. I cried at first, because it was delivering the low 30s; after I drove it in warmer weather, I got two consecutive 43 mpg tanks (northern Minnesota) and another 45 mpg tank in Colorado. Whew!

I got my first new car in August 1999, a '99 Civic EX 5-spd. WOW, a new car -- with so many luxuries. It was the first car with automatic windows, auto door locks, remote unlocking. It even had a CD player! I'd never even had a cassette deck! And that sunroof... it was love, and 25-38 mpg. But wait... what was that flashy little number that caught my eye? A Formula Red Insight? I ordered mine in January 2000. (I did not take delivery though... sad day.)

Then hubby broke his heel, summer 2001. Ouch! As he healed, the doc gave him the okay to drive... but no manual transmissions for a while. His car ('95 Escort wagon 5-spd) and mine were both manual transmissions... one had to go. We found a 2001 Prius on the dealer's lot -- unheard of in those days -- and bought it without a second thought. Much sadness... can't have three cars for only two people... so we sold my Honda Civic.

A month later (September 2001) I ordered my Civic Hybrid. The plan was to get it, decide which we liked better, and sell the other (we need to keep the wagon to haul hubby's canoe). My HCH arrived in May 2002. Another "wow". And guess what? It's impossible to choose between the Prius and the HCH! So ... nearly two years later ... we still have both of them! :-) Our Prius is averaging 43 mpg, and my HCH is averaging about 45 mpg, and we're very pleased.

peace,
Linda B)

So, no plans to get an '04 Prius, eh? You'll have no trouble deciding!

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That's not true. We drove the '04 Prius for a while. We were hoping to get a 2004, and get rid of the 2001 and the Escort wagon (killing two birds with one stone, basically).

Frankly, we like the 2001 better than the 2004 model. We really dislike so many of the controls -- such as heating/cooling -- being on the touchscreen. It was louder inside than the 2001, and we thought the radio didn't sound as nice as the 2001. We did not like the wide front pillars and the resulting blind spots, and we felt much more "compartmentalized" in the front seat -- much more like sitting in kayaks, very confining -- than the 2001. The roof design is not very conducive to a roof rack (Thule and Yakima *still* do not have rack solutions for the roof -- and we have that canoe to carry several times a week, spring through fall). And finally, the rear hatch slopes downward too fast to carry the things we frequently carry (hubby's speakers and other gear -- he's a musician).

Perhaps our expectations were too high, after reading about the new car for months before it was available to drive... but we were, unhappily, underwhelmed.

We are sure it is a GREAT car... but it can't replace the two cars as we were hoping, and from our needs/perspective, it's not worth trading in anything we've got to get it. If a Classic style and the Hatch style were both sitting on the lot, new, we'd buy the Classic style (and keep our Escort wagon), even though we desperately need a hybrid wagon.

So... now we are hanging loose, patiently waiting for the Honda Latitude.

peace,
Linda B)

I suppose it all has to do with what you're lookng for. As far as storage, you can't fit canoes in the trunk?

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