For about a month now, I've been looking into possibly replacing the Matrix with a 04-09 Prius. Initially, when I was looking at getting a Matrix, I wanted a Prius. However, roughly two years ago when I was looking, the prices were way out of my price range. We could barely afford the great deal we got on our 03 Matrix. Thankfully, times have been good to us, and of course the Prius' out there are getting older and more affordable. So, we now are looking into getting a Prius. So, I just kind of wanted to share the process and what I'm learning as I go about this all.
I am a member of the Milwaukee Hybrid Group. Oddly enough, after being a member for two years, I had never actually driven a hybrid vehicle. I've gone for rides in a few of them, but never drove one. Anyway, it was time to change that. Last week, I called up the hybrid group leader and asked if I could get in touch with anyone who would be willing to let me and the wife go for a drive in their Prius. He gladly accepted and we met up at an event that they were doing over the weekend. He said we could take his wife's 04 Prius out for a spin with his son who is an excellent ecodriver, quite knowledgable about hybrids, and also the lucky owner of a 1st gen Insight. Just before we left, he grabbed the scangauge out of his car so we could watch a few things and try out a few driving techniques. So, I jumped in and drove it around on some country roads at speeds anywhere form 35 to 55 mph. He taught me how to pulse and glide (which is ridiculously easy), use super highway mode, and warp stealth. After a while it was the wife's turn. She drove it, more aggressively than me, but still reasonable. She also brought it back to the parking lot we left after a short jog on the highway. Once up to speed, I was amazed to see that on level ground, she was cruising at 65 mph, and still getting 55 mpg with a steady foot. That just completely blows the Matrix out of the water. The most I've ever gotten out of it was 48 mpg at lower speeds. Once back to the parking lot, we checked the uncalibrated scangauge and it read a trip average of 60 mpg.
So, with these cars now dipping down into the price range I can deal with, I'm pretty much sold. Now I just wait until I find one that fits my bill.
I've been using
hankshelper.com to do my local searching. Its a great site that searches ebay, craigslist, autotrader, cars.com, and oodle all in one search.