Well, reaching the age of 37 could now pick one for me. First ever new car, and couldn't be a better choice. Own a white one (leather + GPS) since March. I must confess, I was chasing Hybrid concept for last years, and never looked again for the "tradicional" market offer. Every other cars seem...20th century...Prius is 21st! I was registered here to look also for further knowledge over HSD systems and feeling how this immense forum watch the Prius case (owners adn enthusiasts) !! Best regards!
Congrats and Welcome! This is our first new car as well. My wife and I figured that we would buy new, avoid our re-occuring problem of buying used and discovering poor maintenance or other issues and plan to run the car into the ground in 10 years.
nice to have you here. i think you made a great choice for your first new vehicle. we are on our second and are extremely happy with performance. i hope you have many happy years with you new prius and look forward to seeing your progress posts!
My first new car too. I normally go 6 months old as you get big savings, but I turn 40 this year so decided to get a new one. I chose the Prius as the fuel savings offset the extra cost of buying new. Only upto 16k miles now (25k km), so only 134k miles to go before its paid for itself
Welcome to Prius Chat and congratulations on your choice of car. The blizzard pearl (white) is a nice color. What color interior did you get? By the way, how much does gasoline (petrol) cost in Portugal? Will the Prius get much better gas mileage than what you were driving before?
Thank you all for the good reception. In fact, I do expect a lot from this car. The "most reliable" from the Toyota brand, added to the "most environment friendly", and nevertheless "economical to own", really is a challenge vehicle!! Snow White has a grey interior, I have chosen the darker leather. Well, here in Portugal, gasoline stands for an average 1,4eur/liter... US liquid Gallon = 3.8litres; 1Euro = 1.348USD... Therefore, 7.17USD/gal... By the way, diesel here costs 5,89USD/gal, and that's a reason for European "dieselization", which I personally go against. And yes, both are very expensive, Portugal has very high fuel taxes, above EU-average.
1.4euro? Ouch that's the same as here £1.20 a litre. You'll be so glad you got the Prius now fuel keeps going up and up.
During the week, my wife drives the Prius (I use car sharing to travel to my job, although paying a "toll", instead of using my car). Weekends usually (trips) it's my turn. Drove before...a Toyota CarinaE (AT190), average of 8.5litres/100km (27 US MPG). Now, 4.8litres/100km (48MPG)!
I have the dark grey (charcoal) interior as well. I really like it. The other color that was available to me (bisque) was too light and I could see how it would look dirty very quickly. Thanks for posting up what fuel costs you. Many on the board are from the United States, and we have a very narrow focus on the world. It is good to hear from others to help us broaden our views. Over $7 per gallon for gasoline. Do you know how many American SUV's would be scrapped if we had to pay that much for gas (in current dollars)? There wouldn't be many left, that is for sure. Congratulations on your purchase. I hope it does very well for you.
I agree with the cleaner looks of the darker option. I believe there is only a drawback, which relies on heat absorption under sunlight...well, we shall open windows for a few minutes... And yes, at current gas prices here in Portugal a SUV would not be a good option. Although can be seen modern light-SUVs (diesel moved), is a surprisingly optimistic way of getting out of the crisis, many families have chosen this kind of individual transport here...or will it be a further slippage to the bottom of the hole?? For me, family of (yet) 3, that would be totally to avoid!! IMO, of course...
