My Little Prius

I cannot talk about what I love about my Prius before I first talked about what I dislike about it. Frankly speaking, being my first Toyota and a model that has been out for 10 years, it has a few disappointing features, or lack thereof. Here goes:

1) The lack of little pocket storage places for various items such as cell phones, chargers, ear pieces. It has this ONE big "purse slot" where to pretty much dumb everything there. When a call comes in, it's impossible to separate out the ear piece, or untangle a cell phone charger while you are driving, what the heck? Give us a couple more compartments!

2) The headlight/dashboard. I have never forgotten to turn on my headlight until I got my Prius. Reason? Normal car's dashboard don't light up unless the headlights are on. So when it's dark outside and you can't see the dashboard, you'll know to turn the headlights on. But for the Prius, the dashboard is always on, so you can see it clearly in the day time AND in the night time. If I get into the car when it's still light outside and drive till it's dark, there's almost no chance I'll remember to turn the lights on. :(

3) Because of the unique shape, the blind spots are hard to see, and the back window is truncated into two halves by the back of the car. But I can overlook this one as I do like the unique look of the car.

Now, to what I like about the car:

1) First and foremost: the gas mileage!! What else?! As my husband would say, it's the car I've been wanted for 7 years. It's the Prius or bust. I didn't even look at a alternative when it's time to get a new car.

2) It makes a statement. I don't think I need to recap to you the stereotype of what type of person drives a Prius. Yeah, the car says it all. =D

2b) This cannot be an entirely separate point for #2. Coming from a very materialistic culture and one's value is judged by the brands of your clothes, watch, car, the Prius is a blessing. The car in and of itself makes a statement, it's neither a poor man's car nor a rich man's car (unless you are simply too poor to afford it). MANY successful dotcom entrepreneur in the bay area drives a Prius. In fact, with today's gas price, anybody without the real need of a gas guzzler but still driving one is simply an idiot. My point is, although this had never occurred to me when I made the decision on this car, it offers a wonderful way out of the keeping-up-with-the-Joneses match where you can break your bank to buy the most expensive Mercedes you can afford, and there's still always someone else driving a better one.

Mazel tov, Toyota. =D