"Hybridmania" continues to build momentum

[dogfriend]

unfortanly all the money you save in gas, will never save your life in accident.

Actually, this was one of the reasons that I decided to get a different car.

My previous commute vehicle was our 93 Toyota Pickup. My GF was driving it and decided that she wanted to get a more comfortable car. I (somewhat jokingly) told her that she should be able to drive it until it had 250k miles or more, at the rate she puts on miles she would be about 65 when she needed a new car. Then I thought about it, and how it really wasn't very safe so I stopped arguing against it. She ended up getting a Toyota Avalon, which has very good ratings for crashworthyness. It also has all of the modern safety features; ABS, VSC, Brake Assist, Side Air Bags, etc.

We did look at getting a Volvo S80, but she liked the Avalon better and its her car so she got an Avalon.

So I started driving the Toyota truck back and forth to work, but I don't really fit in it very well; my head touches the roof and my knees are out to the sides because it doesn't have enough leg room or headroom for me. I could drive it for many more years for practically nothing (it only has 84k) but even in a minor accident I would probably be badly injured or killed.

So I wanted to get a hatchback car that got at least 30 mpg and enough headroom so I can fit and see out. There were only a few cars that met that criteria, and the Prius was one of the choices. It has the side benefit of having very low emissions and very good mileage, even better than the other possibilities.

I don't think the Prius would be as good in a crash as my GF's Avalon, but it does get very good ratings for its size (which is actually a midsize). It also has all the safety features that the Avalon does; ABS, brake assist, VSC, front, side and side curtain airbags (the Avalon doesn't have side curtain airbags). So I think its a good compromise between safety and mileage.

http://automallusa.net/2007/toyota/prius/ratings.html

http://automallusa.net/2001/toyota/avalon/ratings.html

http://automallusa.net/2002/volvo/s60/ratings.html

 

[dogfriend]

Government Officials in Georgia are a little slow on the uptake:

http://www.dailytech.com/Toyota+Prius+Fails+Georgia+Emissions+Test/article6931.htm

 

[BrooklynBay]

Did you check out the new hybrid, and flexible fuel section of this website? It's been around for a few day. Here is the link: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=140

 

[dogfriend]

Did you check out the new hybrid, and flexible fuel section of this website? It's been around for a few day. Here is the link: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=140

No I didn't see it. Thanks.

I'll stop hijacking this thread now.