Can't Hear Me Coming, Can You, Russ?


Fact: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is my favorite movie. Not just favorite Christmas movie, but favorite any movie. I can pretty much recite the entire thing by heart, and I'm not above watching it in the summertime or anytime it's on TV. Hip hip hooray, it's Christmas Vacatiooon! My mom is rolling her eyes right now. My dad is singing along.

Oh wait, this was supposed to be about the car. Yeah, so now that I've had my Prius for three weeks, I've decided I think I want my Corolla back.



JUST KIDDING! Corolla who?

It's insanely nice to have a car with technology, and power locks. I've put entirely too many miles on it already, because it's just fun to drive. Although, I've been probably a little too obsessed over monitoring my efficiency through the entire drive. I've set up my displays to closely resemble flying an airplane. Constantly watching the MPG stats. Keeping an eye on the hybrid system indicator. Checking the energy monitor to see how the engine and hybrid system is operating.


And when I stop, I check my trip's "score"...how high of an MPG did I get?? I'm mad anytime it's under 50, and I fist pump the air anytime it's close to or above 60.


Beyond the hybrid engine, the Prius takes other factors into account in making an eco-friendly car. The car is built to reduce drag, further increasing fuel efficiency. The hood and windshield are a smooth slope, so wind whooshes right past. The seats in the higher models are made of SofTex, an eco-friendly material. On my model, the daytime running lights and tail lights are LED. When driving in eco mode, the air conditioner power is lowered a little - but it's nothing noticeable even in this summer heat.

What I love

  • Averaging 50 miles to the gallon, and making it to almost 500 miles on a tank before needing to fill up.
  • The quiet of the engine when I'm running on the battery and electrical engine. (I still always think of that time on The Office when Andy and Dwight were dueling and Andy snuck up on Dwight in his silent Prius.)
  • Bluetooth connectivity for music and my phone (Hey, funny story. My sales guy helped me do the initial Bluetooth setup, and the music on my phone started playing. Without me even doing anything, my car played MMMBop before we even left the dealership. Could this car BE any more me!? </chandler>)
  • Cruise control. Yeah, I never had it before.
  • Hello, backup camera!
  • How my hatchback door sounds like a spaceship when I open it.
  • The interior design. During the test drive, I wasn't sure how much I liked the nontraditional center console area, but now I really love the little shelf on the bottom for all my crap. It's nicer than keeping everything in the cup holders.
  • How I've kept the inside clutter-free for almost three weeks. The only things in my trunk are my cloth shopping bags and yoga mat. Because of COURSE they are.

What I don't love

  • How I seem to attract every single red light now. Always when I finally get to a good cruising speed, and then I have to stop... and use gas to rev up to start again.
  • How the backup camera beeps like I'm a damn garbage truck until I put the car in drive. 

What I'm still getting used to

  • The one thing I can say my old car had that this one doesn't is an automatic headlight sensor. The headlights would turn on automatically when it was getting dark outside. Now, I have to actually remember to turn my lights on - and off.
  • Putting the car into park with a button. The future is here, y'all.
  • Because of the hatchback windshield design, my rear view is a lot lower to the ground than before. And because of the hatchback itself, it feels like cars are all up in my trunk when we're stopped.

Blonde moment

  • I drove around on probably a few different nights thinking my headlights were on, when, in fact, they were my fog lights. I thought my actual headlights were the brights. Derp.


Oh, and I notice every other Prius driver on the road now. I'm giddily proud to be part of the club. Is there some kind of secret hand signal you give to other Prius drivers?

No? And I'm a dork?

...I'll go get your phone. (Name that commercial!)


But seriously, I'm happy with this bad boy. It was a big leap to take, and I'm aware I have many months of paying on it (and I don't love that), but it was the right move. Thank you to everyone at Courvelle Toyota for the help and hard work!

I can't wait to see where this car takes me in the future.

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