Summer Of Upgrades, One
Posted on | September 1, 2007 at 5:38 pm | 1 Comment
How I Spent My Summer Vacation…
Early in the summer, I finally sold my 2002 Acura RSX and bought my dad’s 2005 Toyota Prius (he can’t drive any more):
This came at a good time, as I had just started working downtown and my commute is longer than it was. I can sure use the extra gas savings. I’m doing a lot more driving around than I used to, so I’m very mindful of my gas bill. And though I liked driving the Acura, the Prius seems like it handles better in some situations. Overall, I’m pleased with it and I’m glad I made the switch.
Some people that I look up to claim that the Prius ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. Dilbert creator Scott Adams says it’s ugly and that people who drive them never get laid. Uh-huh. Penn & Teller say that it takes too long to accelerate, that it doesn’t have enough room to carry stuff, that the gas mileage ain’t all that great anyway, and that not even lesbians find them sexy. I haven’t had any issues with any of that (though I haven’t really put the lesbian thing to a test). It actually seems to me that it accelerates better than my Acura did in some circumstances. And though the 47mpg I get may not match some claims, it’s still pretty good and saves me lots of money compared to the Acura. And it’s always had enough room to carry what I need to carry, but then again, I don’t have 2.5 kids (and neither did the lesbians).
The one thing I don’t like is the stereo. In the Acura, I had installed an aftermarket JVC stereo that played MP3 CD-Rs and had a front panel aux input for an iPod or other MP3 player. The MP3 disc feature was essential for listening to all the albums I download from eMusic. I do a lot of music listening in the car, especially now with the longer commute. It’s pretty much impossible to put an aftermarket stereo into the Prius, because the factory stereo is so stylized and so closely integrated with the dashboard and the Prius’ MFD (Multi-Function Display) screen. The factory stereo in the 2006 Prius will play MP3 discs, but the one in the 2005 won’t. If only my dad had waited one more year before buying one…
But I must be able to listen to MP3s in my car! And now I can. So what solution did I employ? That will have to wait for a future entry…
Pet Peeve Of The Day: Since my Safeway underwent a long needed makeover, they’ve somehow managed to have an even worse selection of food and items than before. It sure looks pretty, but I can no longer find some of the items I used to be able to get there. The drug/personal care aisle is especially bare compared to what it used to be. In fact, there is now only one aisle where there used to be like four. But yep, it sure does look pretty. And it has some wide open spaces.
Latre.
Comments
One Response to “Summer Of Upgrades, One”
September 2nd, 2007 @ 10:41 pm
My girlfriend claims that Prius drivers are all insane and can’t drive — which might explain Adams’ comment.
I almost bought one of these last spring — my commute is about 35 miles round trip, and the A4 uses that snobby, high-end fuel. When we were over 3.50 a gallon here, I was not happy.
As to the milage — the original 60 MPG rating was adjusted by the feds down to 51 when they revamped their methodology last spring. So you are actually getting closer to Reality with your 47 MPG. Which is still better than virtually all straight single-fuels.
Anyway, I’d be interested in hearing about your experiences with it.
–Gregory