My Blue Baby

Author's Rating:

Pros: A great car.

Cons: The price is kind of high. The battery to the car is very expensive.

The Bottom Line: 
This car I would recommend. Toyota makes a great product and the Prius is one of them.  Toyota products have never let me down.

Author's Review
I bought my 2006 Toyota Prius used. The car had 19,000 miles on it when I bought it.  I would have to say this is one of the best cars I have owned except for my Toyota Scion. When I can get the very best value on the road, I know I do not need to change brands.

Things I Love About the Car
I love the beautiful blue color of the car.  The paint job on this car still looks like a brand new car.  The shine from this paint is just fantastic. I really like the grayish leather seats. The leather seems to be very durable.  The carpet is of very good quality. It is thick gray carpet and I can clean it fairly easy.

I like the way the car handles on the road. The ride is very comfortable and I have plenty of room to take the grandchildren with us on trips.  The trunk is large enough for us to take enough luggage with  no fear there is not enough room. This car is not a base Prius. Their are many extras on this car.

The 2006 Toyota Prius is a hybrid. It uses not only gas  but runs with batteries. This helps to give the excellent gas mileage. I have also found out if I use the cruse control I seem to get even better gas millage. The monitor in the middle of the dash shows that I am getting about 54 miles to the gallon.  The car has many different  instruments on it. I can check the monitor and it keeps track of the gas millage.

Instruments

Brake
Passenger occupant air bag indicator
Drivers seat belt light
Front passengers seat belt light
Ready to drive light
A/C auto

Open door warning
Hybrid battery warning light
High coolant temperature
Tire pressure warning light
Charging system
Engine oil replacement
SRS light
Anti-lock brake system warning light
Malfunction lamp
Low level indicator light for fuel
 
High beam indicator
Turn signal
Cruse control
Shift position- This was something I really had to get use to.  The shift indicator light comes on the dash to tell me if I am in park, brake, reverse, neutral or drive. The reverse is very unusual because there is a monitor that shows me on the screen what is in back of my car.  I really do think this is a great feature. This is a much safer way than just backing out with rear view mirrors. There are different screens that can be used on this monitor. There is one that shows the radio station, for FM,AM, and all the different channels. On the steering wheel there are the down and up arrows for changing the station, or raising or lowering the volume. The car also has a CD player and mp3.

The car has a hands free system for using the telephone.The screen will display the information of the Bluetooth phone.  This is another great and safe option. The car has a good speech command system. The speech command switch can be found on the steering wheel.

The primary restraints for passengers are the seat belts.  The car also has airbags. The airbags can help and reduce chest and head injuries. The car comes with five seat belts.

The Prius has an event data recorder. This system records data in the event of a car crash.  This is a reminder not to speed.
If the car receives regular service the Pius should last for years.  I really love that the oil needs to be changed every 5,000 miles. Most cars change oil every 3,000 miles.  This can also be a money saver over the life of the car.

The Prius is made in Japan.  There is a tool free number if you should have any questions.  The number is 1-800-331-4331.  I hate that the car was not made in the U.S.A.

I personally have found all our Toyota vehicles to be of excellent quality, and this car is no exception. Our second Toyota which we still have is a 1983 Dolphin Motor home, that is still running. We also had a pick up truck witch we sold it had 325,000 miles on it, so I believe this car will perform the same. This is another reason, I chose a Toyota Prius for the excellent performance that Toyota vehicles have given me in the past.

The car came with a smart key.  I can leave the key in my purse or in my pocket and I can still start the car. The smart key comes in handy  once I get out of the car, I can lock the doors by pressing the lock on the smart key. This is another feature I like. If I don't have the smart key in my purse or in my pocket the car will not work. I love teasing my grandson with this magic starting car.  The vehicle will automatically unlock the doors as long as I have the key with me. This is nice when it is raining or I have my hands full.

The steering wheel has a Toyota emblem right in the middle.  On either side of the emblem is the horn that can be pressed on either side.   There are up and down arrows on the steering wheel to adjust the temperature for the air and the heat. I can also change from AM to FM radio by pressing the icon on the steering wheel. All of this can be done with the touch screen, but I think it is safer to do this from the steering wheel. On the left side of the steering wheel is the tilt control, this is so I can adjust the wheel where it is comfortable for me.The steering wheel can be adjusted to fit perfect.

The car also has an alarm system, that sounds off and turns the lights on and off.  It can be quite aggravating and I would not want to try to steal a Prius.

I had the option of buying the rest of the hundred thousand mile warranty.  I feel secure in knowing that everything has a warranty especially the batteries.  Everything is expensive to get fixed that is why I wanted to buy from a dealer rather that a private owner.  The only think I could not get with the warranty was the tires for the life of the car.  You have to buy brand new to get that deal.


What I hate
The front window on the Prius is very slanted at the bottom and this makes it hard to clean. I think the product that is on TV may help. The handle that has the cleaning pad attached and claims to get in hard tight places.  Anyway, I will try and see if that takes care of this problem. That's the only thing I have found I don't really like. I'm 4'11" so this is really a problem, but I will pay this small price.

Bottom Line
The best and most important thing about the Prius, is the gas millage.  I bought the car on October 21, and the car had a full tank of gas. The gas gage on the car is digital with tiny little box icons to show how much gas in in the tank.  It is November 12 today and I have a little over a quarter of a tank.  The car gets used just about every day and most trips are about 50 miles. Three weeks without buying gas makes me a true believer.  I would rate this car five stars. This car is such a comfortable car with so much more room that my other Toyota.  I waited a long time to find a roomy car with excellent gas millage.  The Prius has satisfied my needs.Thank you for reading my review.