Showing posts with label cars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cars. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Toyota Prius

While in the Bay Area over the weekend for my older/little sister's wedding, I had a double surprise at the car rental agency.

I reserved an economy car, which I always do, but unlike most every other rental, I actually received an economy car, too. I usually get a "complimentary" upgrade to some piece of junk I don't want, like a mid-size Pontiac or some other gas-guzzling, boring, can-only-do-a-U-turn-in-an-open-field pile of crap.

Plus, I got a Prius, which is a new one for me. The push-button start and electric motor took a little getting used to, but after about, oh, the second time I turned it on, everything was cool. The Prius is a surprisingly fun car to drive: peppy, roomy and ergonomically sensible. The easy-to-read display that shows fuel level, odometer, speedometer, etc., is like a heads-up-display, but just below the windshield.

The only quibble I have is that - possibly down to me - the car didn't run through the same startup routine each time I turned it on, and twice had to be restarted. In a car without a normal arrangement of parts, that's a little unsettling.

I'd think seriously about buying one, which is more than I can say for almost any car I have ever rented. Almost is because I got to drive a Fiat Punto all over Tunisia a few years ago, and I loved it! So, I'll take a Prius and a Punto.

And a Mustang, too. Why not.