Mazdaless again

[mountjonas]

Well, we traded the Mazda5 in. Nothing was wrong with it, we loved everything about it, actually. But we wanted something a little more gas efficient. So we got an 08 Prius Touring. Bluetooth, nav, leather, 16 in alloy wheels w/ wheel covers which is kinda weird. I guess the covers help with aerodynamics but keep the weight of the wheel down.

My commute is now 100 miles each way, so the WRX has been demoted (or maybe promoted) to weekend duty. I offered to trade it in instead of the 5, but my wife said I'd be miserable without it (bless her). We'll be sharing the car as she works days and I work nights.

I was surprised how roomy it is in back. That was my main concern with our 21 mo. old daughter. The sliding doors of the 5 made it a breeze to load her in, but luckily the Prius has a rather large rear seating area so it's not bad at all. With the driver seat all the way back, I still had plenty of leg room (I'm 6'0").

Not my car, but same color different wheels.

 

[lasermp5]

Roomy in the back? I'm ~5'11 and my head sits about 1.5" from the roof in the rear. Not really a complaint since I fit fine, but if I was <6ft forget it. Congrats on the new car. The best is sneaking up on people in "battery mode" or w/e... even though it's a little harder now with it's pretty widespread product recognition then when the prius first came out.

 

[mountjonas]

maybe i have a short torso and bad posture. sure the sloping roof takes away space, but I fit. I doubt I'd be spending much time in the back anyway other than putting in/taking out the child.

 

[lasermp5]

I do fit in under the roof line, and it's pretty comfortable back there. I've made 2-3 hour stints in the back seat and it gets the napping seal of approval no problem...

 

[mikeyb]

I hope you do not turn into one of those Prius drivers that do 90 miles an hour and tailgate and act like assholes that I see around here. Just the other day I was sitting in traffic and there was one next to me. There was two kids in the back that each had tv screens. I thought that was cool then the mother saw me looking in her direction and gave me total atitude about it. The light went green so traffic started moving and the first chance she got she cut me off with no directional. What a b****. Just seems the Prius owners here think they are higher then most other people.

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

dont let the smug get ya!

 

[mountjonas]

i'm one of the most defensive drivers that i know. driving 100 miles each way, i see a lot of crap so i just got used to people driving like assholes. i just stay out of their way and listen to my audiobooks.

prius owners around here seem pretty down to earth. it's the housewives in their chanel sunglasses and lifted superduties talking on their cell phones while their kids rot in the back watching tv all the time that i can't stand.

 

[mikeyb]

i'm one of the most defensive drivers that i know. driving 100 miles each way, i see a lot of crap so i just got used to people driving like assholes. i just stay out of their way and listen to my audiobooks.

prius owners around here seem pretty down to earth. it's the housewives in their chanel sunglasses and lifted superduties talking on their cell phones while their kids rot in the back watching tv all the time that i can't stand.

I kinda figured you are a laidback driver. I was just saying how hybrid drivers are around here. Its like they have something to prove. Anyways are you leaving the Prius stock?

Awhile ago I posted a thread about TRD doing performance parts for the Prius. They had suspension and exhaust. I wonder how the Prius would sound with a performance muffler on it.

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123616789&highlight=Toyota+Prius

You even posted in this thread.

I which a car company would come out with a hybrid that is diesel and electric powered. Talk about awesome fuel mileage. Convert it to burn veggie oil.

 

[mountjonas]

Yeah, i remember that thread. This car is staying stock simply because it's the family hauler/commuter. It's the touring so it has a revised rear suspension compared to the base. I've read on priuschat that the aftermarket stiffening plate makes more of a difference on the base model than the touring, if at all.

It's going in for tint today, but that should be it. I want it as comfortable and quiet as possible. It has the JBL stereo that sounds marginally better than the regular radio and yeah, compared to a system I can piece together, it's crap, but I can deal with it. I'm not an audiophile.

Having a sport exhaust that comes in and out around town would seem a bit distracting. The stromung on my wrx is fine because, while it isn't lout at all, after a minute you don't even hear it any more than the road noise.

And yes, a diesel hybrid would be awesome. I saw that the legacy diesel get's about 50mpg. If (when? please SOA, bring it here) that comes out here, I'd seriously consider trading in the wrx for that to keep miles off the prius and my wife and I would then trade between the prius legacy every other week.

 

[coolmazda5]

I just came across this thread, yeah I remember you mentioned somewhere about the trade. How are things going? Not missing the MZ5 at all? With that gas mileage I doubt it ). Kind of opposite situation with wife, we share some duties but work in different places during the same hours, so we both ended up with the same type of car (freak)

 

[mountjonas]

the only time I miss the 5 is when we load our daughter into her seat. the sliding doors are definitely one of the best features on the 5. other than that? yeah, I gotta say, I really dig the prius and all the techy stuff. somehow we got 20mpg in the 5 on the freeway, so that was disappointing. and that was even after an oil change, air filter, rechecked the air pressure on the tires.

my commute averages about 47mpg. 52 on the way to work, 42 going home. it's a long descent to los angeles from where we live, which explains the difference in the mileage.

and we're not kidding ourselves. sure it costs less to fill up, but with the car payment we're not saving money in the end. we were both ready for a new car and my wife wanted a prius and I commute 200 miles a day, so there it is.

 

[AtenzaNY62]

I kinda figured you are a laidback driver. I was just saying how hybrid drivers are around here. Its like they have something to prove. Anyways are you leaving the Prius stock?

Awhile ago I posted a thread about TRD doing performance parts for the Prius. They had suspension and exhaust. I wonder how the Prius would sound with a performance muffler on it.

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123616789&highlight=Toyota+Prius

You even posted in this thread.

I which a car company would come out with a hybrid that is diesel and electric powered. Talk about awesome fuel mileage. Convert it to burn veggie oil.

trd's retarded......toyotas(not including lexus but including scions)=fail ever since the supras and the mr2's are gone... no offense

 

[coolmazda5]

the only time I miss the 5 is when we load our daughter into her seat. the sliding doors are definitely one of the best features on the 5. other than that? yeah, I gotta say, I really dig the prius and all the techy stuff. somehow we got 20mpg in the 5 on the freeway, so that was disappointing. and that was even after an oil change, air filter, rechecked the air pressure on the tires.

my commute averages about 47mpg. 52 on the way to work, 42 going home. it's a long descent to los angeles from where we live, which explains the difference in the mileage.

and we're not kidding ourselves. sure it costs less to fill up, but with the car payment we're not saving money in the end. we were both ready for a new car and my wife wanted a prius and I commute 200 miles a day, so there it is.

Wow, those MPG and daily commute distance say it all. You also get a tax break with a Hybrid in CA, right?

I agree, sliding doors are not the most attractive thing but versatile as hell, don't blame you about missing them. Yet, I'm also bordering 6' and yes, 1-2in of extra legroom wouldn't hurt

Too much (blah), after all you did the right thing anyway, you let her get the car she likes, that saves you a lot of trouble and gives you peace of mind, LOL (and you kept the WRX for the weekends!)

 

[mountjonas]

unfortunately we don't get the tax credit for the prius anymore. i see so many priuses (prii?) on the road these days, maybe the state took it away because it costing them too much money now(shrug). i think the other hybrids get it, just not the prius.

 

[mountjonas]

2010 update. not that you care, but we traded this bad boy in a few weeks ago for a 2010 outback 6mt. the prius had 100674 trouble free miles on it but it was time for me to move on. I no longer commute 200 miles a day.

oh yeah...the dealership didn't erase my phone book, like I asked them to, and I get a call from the new owner last night. apparently somewhere between the subaru dealership, wholesale, and the dealership he bought it from, someone rolled back the odometer to 41k miles. can you say fraud?

 

[coolmazda5]

^^ good stuff, I wish Subaru had kept the legacy wagon for the US market but MT FTW. I *thought* rolling back the odo was no longer possible, my service manager told me that, LOL

 

[mountjonas]

Yeah, the outback is as close to a legacy wagon as we're going to get in the US. Maybe one day I can source a used legacy wagon suspension or something. i'm kinda diggin the outback tacked on plastic, too.

If the guy that called me was legit, I guess there is a way to roll back the odo. I called the subaru dealership that took the trade to give them the heads up that someone might be calling to confirm that it left their hands with the original mileage on it and the sales manager couldn't care less about it. I thought i'd be nice just to let them know and he said, "well, what do you want me to do about it?" Whatever...