Does driving a Prius really cause smug?*

*(that title probably makes no sense if you don’t watch South Park, but that’s really your problem isn’t it?)

This one car household is often presented with a conundrum. One of us is going out of town alone and it just doesn’t seem fair to leave the other home all weekend without a car. The solution we have arrived at over the years is to rent a car for the weekend and the person leaving town drives the rental – saves mileage on our car. Last weekend it was my turn and I was off to Keizer, OR for my youngest nephew’s first birthday party.

Since we needed to rent a car and we’ve been very interested in the Prius I decided to rent one for the weekend for the “ultimate test drive”. We’ve test driven one here in Seattle, but that never really lasts long enough to get a good idea of how much you like the car. My work friend S’s girlfriend drives one as well so I’ve heard really good things about it from her as well.

I picked up the car at Sea-Tac on Friday night and drove it back to the house. The first test was how well a Prius would fit in our tiny one car garage, it fit better than the Accord leaving us room to actually get around the car when the garage door is shut so that was one for the plus column. One thing I’ve really missed since we sold the SUV and something the Prius has plenty of is cargo space. Since it’s a hatchback there’s a ton of room in the “trunk” and if you fold down the seats you get almost as much carrying room as our old SUV. Another similarity to the SUV I found was that I sat up higher and could see around the car better. One thing I’ve always hated how low I sat in the Accord and the hard time I had seeing around the edges of the car.

The Accord gets really bad gas mileage for a smaller car since it’s a V6 – between 16-18mpg in the city. The Prius on the other hand is rated 48mpg in the city. Huge difference. I drove the Prius from Seattle to Keizer, OR and back and some running around in Keizer for a total of 530 miles or so getting 47mpg. That’s huge considering how much gas costs.

Overall, the best thing about the Prius is that it’s fun to drive. It cornered and handled nicely. It had plenty of “get up and go” when it needed it and was easy to maintain at a specific speed. I really liked the layout of the dash, the speedometer is digital and is at the end of the dash where the dash and the windshield meet. It was a bit hard to get used to at first, but was much easier on the eyes once I was familiar with it’s location. The computer readout is a geeks dream. You can watch and see in realtime what the car is using for fuel either gas or electric. The rental I had was the base model, but the higher up the model chain you get the more cool features you get. For example, the key fob doesn’t even have to be in the dash for the car to start it just has to be in your pocket for some models. I love the fact that the car starts by pushing a power button instead of turning a key. Some models have a bluetooth connection built in for your phone and navigation is also an option. There are options on the steering wheel which I like as well for convenience. The car is roomy and comfortable even on a long trip. My parents both sat in the back seat at times and were surprised at how much leg room there actually was. The only thing I wish it came with is a sunroof, I love having a sunroof in my car. However, the roof of the Prius is high enough that I don’t feel cramped even without the sunroof.

The question of the day of course is would I buy one. Of course I would! We’ll probably trade the Accord in after the first of the year. I can’t wait!  Now to just decide what color…