Toyota Prius Hybrid Car Review

It's not easy being green," sings Kermit the Frog. However, when it comes to the Prius, being green is VERY easy! So easy, I have three Prius' in my household. But I wasn't an easy sale.

I was a long time Honda person, with an occasional Toyota thrown into the fold. At the time of my Prius purchase, I was driving an Acura TSX. Prior to that, I had driven an Acura CL. So I was accustomed to smooth riding, semi luxurious vehicles. I insisted on fuel economy and vehicle dependability. I wanted quality and settled for nothing less.

So when my husband announced that he wanted to take a look at a Prius, I was not particularly interested. But I went with him to the dealership because he was in the market for a new car and I wanted to be sure he wasn't going to get a gas guzzler.

Gas prices were on the rise and due to the political circumstances at the time, it did not appear that they would be going down any time soon, if at all. As a result, there were terrific deals on vehicles that were not very fuel efficient. Those deals were so intriguing I wanted to make sure my husband was not easily drawn into them.

When I looked at the outside of the Prius, I was not overly impressed. It was a nice size, had a decent sized back seat area, and nice trunk access through the hatchback door. I felt it was "cute enough" but not very sporty or overwhelming. It was just "okay."

Taking it for a ride made the impression on me that exists today. It was a total surprise. It was a very smooth riding vehicle, gliding more tenderly along the road than my Acura TSX did. That was a total surprise for me. It smoothly rolled over even the rough patches of Freeway 91 in Southern California!

I sat in the back seat for part of the test ride and was impressed at the roominess it had. It was easy to get into with large rear doors. The ride from the back seat did not differ in comfort. Being a mother of a son who is six foot one, I knew my son would be able to sit in the back seat without having to rest his knees on his ears.

We went to look at the Honda Accord hybrid but was not impressed. To begin with, it did not carry a spare tire. That was disheartening for me. The hood was made of a thinner metal than normal vehicles and I found that worrisome. Driving in Southern California can be hard on cars and having a "tender" hood did not seem like a good idea. We also looked at a Ford hybrid SUV but I did not like the quality of it. Since the Prius was the smallest car we would consider, our hybrid options were limited at that time. After reading consumer reports on both vehicles, the Prius seemed like a better bet and had a better track record.

My husband bought the car and home we went. A few weeks later, I had to drive his Prius to work because my Acura was in the body shop. Because I hadn't driven it myself, but only rode as a passenger, I did not know how it drove. To my surprise, driving the Prius completely won me over.

The first thing that impressed me was the great visibility out the front window. I felt that I sat up (I have a relatively short sitting height) which added to my feel of being able to see thoroughly. The steering was tight and precise, a feature often seen and felt on Hondas and Toyotas. The controls were straight forward and easy to find and use. There wasn't a bunch of hokey bells and whistles. The dashboard was clean and neat, not plastic and cheap looking. Overall, the car rode and handled better than my previous two Acuras, which was a huge surprise for me.

Upon returning from work, I said to my husband that I wanted to replace my Acura with a Prius. My only disappointment was that it did not come in a brilliant red color. Six months later, Toyota released the Prius in a candy apple red color. I was sold. We had a second Prius a week later.

A year later, my son's car died. We had a family vehicle dilemma as we pondered what to do. My husband decided to give him his Prius and he began looking for a replacement vehicle. After searching once again at a variety of vehicles, many of which were offering incredible deals (our country was beginning to show a slow down in car sales), we once again found ourselves drawn back to the Prius. The others just didn't stand up to it.

We now have three Prius' in our family. One is red, one is white, and one is blue. I feel we are truly patriotic. I almost feel guilty driving it. We should be driving them because they are energy efficient. I'm driving it because it is a really nice car. I don't miss my Acura at all!