Though this really has not been the top of my mind this week, mainly due to the fact that my office has just laid off 15% of its workforce - I have just put an order in for a new company car - a Toyota Prius T4.
It was basically down to a battle between the Prius and the Mondeo Diesel Titanium, and a Ford Focus. The Prius had a number of things working against it for me:
- Its a fairly old car - having been released back in 2003. The Toyota dealer I spoke to made me aware of the new Prius coming out in 2009 which will achieve way more MPG. The Prius essentially also looks a bit dated; and
- I love diesels (due to their power, torque, drivability and fuel consumption relative to petrols (excluding the Prius obviously)), and like manuals;
But essentially I did the sensible thing and opted for the Prius based upon:
- The taxation rates being extremely low;
- The relative cost of diesel and petrol at the moment will save me a shed tonne of money;
- I spend most of my driving time stuck in heavy traffic - so performance is not that important to me;
- It makes some kind of statement (whether it is the one I want or not);
- It has cool gadgets on the dashboard;
- My friends won't take the p*s out of me;
- And to be honest - I really should figure out how these things work!
So it looks like I will be receiving delivery in around 10 weeks or so. I shall spend my time wisely perusing Rattling the Kettle's "Maximising Gas Mileage in a Toyota Prius". Although I shall probably be putting petrol in mine.
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6 comments:
since last year they've introduced what they call 'the new driving'.
basically it's about shifting into higher gears earlier and letting your car glide to a stop instead of braking early on and having to drive the last bit. Just releasing the gaspedal early on.
btw..a gallon..that's about 3,5 liters isn't it?
with they..I mean the Dutch car driving schools (via the government of course)
Good luck! Am I reading it right, and you're getting a 2003 Prius? I think that's the last year before they changed the body style from the sedan to the much nicer hatchback.
Good for you. If everyone bought a Prius the world would be way less dependent on Middle Eastern oil, the environment would be in much better shape, and.... Toyota would be the only car company on the planet.
Arjan - A gallon is a stupid imperial term that brits and Americans use. Nobody is really sure why we use it and it doesn't reall make any sense!
RTC - I meant it to read that the 2008 prius (which I am getting) was designed way back in 2003/4 (or something like that) which is a bit of an old design...
Jeff - Hopefully it will make the American car companies try just that little bit harder to produce a good car.
How's it working out for you so far? Does driving on the other side of the road increase mileage? ;-)
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