{"id":674,"date":"2006-11-24T04:53:00","date_gmt":"2006-11-24T04:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/wordpress\/?p=674"},"modified":"2006-11-24T04:53:00","modified_gmt":"2006-11-24T04:53:00","slug":"i-think-i-may-have-found-my-next-car-anyone-drive-a-toyota-prius","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/2006\/11\/24\/i-think-i-may-have-found-my-next-car-anyone-drive-a-toyota-prius\/","title":{"rendered":"I think I may have found my next car… anyone drive a Toyota Prius?"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the benefits of being home in Little Rock is that I can thumb through back issues of Consumer Reports<\/span> – my mother has a subscription. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m saving up to buy a new car. So I found the annual auto issue of CR<\/span> and thumbed through it. One car seemed to stand out from the crowd – the Toyota Prius<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Prius is a four-door hatchback which is about the same size as the Saturn SC2 I drive now, but a little bit roomier inside. It’s an electric\/gas hybrid that gets an impressive 44 MPG. Furthermore, it had the highest customer satisfaction ranking of any car included in CR<\/span>‘s survey – 95% of Prius owners said they were satisfied with their car, even beating out the Chevrolet Corvette at 93%. After adding an option package to get electronic stability control, it looks like a new Prius would cost me $23,970.<\/p>\n

Does anyone who reads this own a Prius? If you do, I’d appreciate it if you’d shoot me an e-mail and give me your thoughts on the car.<\/p>\n

Basically, here’s what I’m looking for in my next car:<\/p>\n

1) I really prefer walking to driving. So I’m not looking for a car that’s loaded or fancy or top-of-the line. I’m looking for something that will get me from point A to point B without breaking down. So, good reliability record is important.<\/p>\n

2) Peppy acceleration, because when I do go from point A to point B, I don’t want to be stuck in traffic behind Grandma.<\/p>\n

3) Good air conditioning is a must. This is Memphis and it gets hot here. I’m not one of those people who will turn off the air to save a mile per gallon or two. I want my A\/C.<\/p>\n

4) Automatic transmission. I never learned to drive a manual shift and frankly don’t care to.<\/p>\n

5) At this point in my life I absolutely refuse to use debt to pay for a car… so, no financing options, I want to be able to pay cash. Which means I want my next car to be reasonably priced. I was hoping to keep it under $20K, but after looking at what’s available it looks like I’ll be lucky to stay under $25K.<\/p>\n

Other models I was considering before reading Consumer Reports:<\/p>\n

VW New Beetle<\/a> – Compared to most cars in its class, comes with a lot of standard features, including a V6 engine. It’s a classic design that will never go out of style. The only car I seriously considered that I could have had for under 20 grand. But: It’s small, it doesn’t get the gas mileage you’d expect considering its size, and reliability is below average. The only car I looked at which didn’t come with an automatic transmission as standard equipment.<\/p>\n

Pontiac G6<\/a> – I had one of these as a rental car for a day and enjoyed driving it. But, it comes with a 4-cylinder engine as standard equipment, and I’m not willing to put up with a 4-cylinder in a car this big unless it’s a hybrid. Upgrading to the V6 would bump the price into the $23-24K range, in which case it makes more sense to go with the<\/p>\n

Buick LaCrosse<\/a> – I’ve always thought this was a sharp looking car. Since Buick is something of an upscale line, the base LaCrosse would come with everything I need – wouldn’t need any option packages. Cost would be $23-24K. Reliability is above average and I’ve always been fond of Buicks.<\/p>\n