It is an attractive car, Sheila and the sales figures speak for themselves. I know there has been a little furor in some of the Prius advertisements as to claims on carbon emissions, but the gas savings by itself is enough to sell a car like that both of ecological reasons and economy. I have a jeep my mother gave me. That's approximately an half tank of fuel for me and I'd be lucky to get 150 miles on it. I consolidate all my errands in town so I don't make any more trips than needed. If I didn't keep my mileage down I'd not only feel very guilty, but poorer. LOL.

That's great gas mileage Shelia. We've got friends who have a Prius & they just love it. Unfortunately, when you've got a car that's paid for, you wait for it to die before buying another one - at least I do at my stage of life. But my next vehicle will definitely be a hybrid.

We have a VW diesel and I got 45mpg a few days ago. I had the AC running full force. The trip before that one I got 52mpg. That was w/o any air or heat. We love it.

That's great gas mileage also vannie. The only problem with the Diesel VW is not only is it not environmentally sound, but the air inside of one is worse for you than the air on the outside.

SIL has had a Prius since '01, averages 58 mpg -and that includes to-from work driving over mountains.

My present Corolla gets 48+ highway [with A/C], but since my office moved so that I now have 17 traffic lights each way, local mpg has plummented to 25; I am not a happy camper about that because the preceding Mazda never got less 30 local. I had wanted a Prius instead of the Corolla, but DH pitched a fit and I didn't have sufficient internal fortitude to stand my ground. However, I think this coming winter will see a Corolla replaced by a Prius.

I think you will be very pleased. The post '04 Prius is a far superior car, engineering wise, than the pre '04 vehicle.

I have an Avalon, it gets 32.5 on the road.
That's with cruise control and me clipping along at 75 mph.
Most of my driving is local and that pulls it down to
23-26 depending on where it's driven.
It is a great car, comfortable and handles like a dream.
I'd like to have a Prius for the gas mileage. I think i'll
rent one first to see if it would work for my family.

Sheila, did you sell your little electric car?

Yes, I did Jan. The Prius replaced my 15 yr old Izuzu Rodeo, but the little electric GEM hasd $700 worth of new. The batteries are a big issue in those electric cars.

I was at a meeting in the park about reducing carbon emissions and had the car with me and a for sale sign on it. A woman literaly walked up to me and bought it!

It was a wonderfully fun little car to drive and I put 4000 miles on in in three years around town.

sheila, please forgive my lack of knowledge on the subject, but being a prius owner I figured you would know.

What in the world is a backup cam? I keep seeing it everywhere as an option but I have no idea what it means.

It's a camera mounted on your car so you can see the rear of your vehicle as you back up.

Back up cam = back up camera

PS Excuse me Shiela if I just stepped on your toes.

I barely noticed, Laura:-) I don't have one on my car, but I understand they will be on all Prius starting in 2008. D you have that on yours, Laura? I didn't opt for any extras.

You didn't get the GPS?

They didn't offer the backup camera on the '05, but I got the rest of the bells and whistles, whether I wanted them or not. When I bought mine, you could order whatever you wanted and you got what came off the conveyor when you were first in line, or go to the back of the line and wait another 8 months+

This may be a silly question, but I'm curious about the batteries for the Prius. How long do they last, how much do they cost to replace and is there a disposal fee for the old ones like there is for a regular battery?

Weebus, what do you mean about the air inside a VW diesel? I never heard that before and wonder if I've just missed something. We had one years ago which got 50 mpg and I never noticed a problem with the air inside. I understand the pollution they produce is getting much less, thank goodness.

Just a few questions answered.

Here is a link that might be useful: 10 myths about hybrids

There were plenty of cars on the lot when I got mine, Laura, and most of them did have the gps etc., since Toyota is phrasing out the lesser package. I was lucky, they found the color I wanted in Portland and it was the low end package.
I don't think anything coming off the assembly line now will be without GPS and cameras shooting behind the vehicle.

Sheila.

weebus, SIL's car got 180,000 on her first set of batteries. DB said new replacement batteries were $5K [gulp] but he found someone selling 'reconditioned' with a 5 yr/100,000 mile warranty for $1K.

GPS and backup cams. Ptui. I don't like those vehicles that sound their horn at the push of a keychain button, either. And let's not forget what it costs if you accidentally lock your keys in a car with powered windows (DH will tell you that it ain't cheap - but he refuses to tell me just how much that little oversight cost him. Twice). Interestingly, in '05 when I bought my non-beeping, non-GPS, non-cam, hand-powered windows, but with almost everything else [including A/T & A/C] car, I paid almost $4K less than any other peer car on the lot. Oh, shopping for a Prius is going to be in-ter-r-resting.

One good thing...You can't lock your keys in a Prius. If your keys are in it, it won't lock.