Pretty Prius

Well we had an interesting evening last night.  The other day I just happened to be flipping through Craigslist after doing a search with the keyword of “prius”.  I was curious what the used Prius market looked like.  Well I stumbled across a very clean looking 2007 Prius, it got my mental wheels turning.

Cindy’s 1990 Miata is a pain in the ass, despite the top down fun factor it can offer.  Despite Cindy spending a lot of money fixing things on it and me spending a lot of time fixing things, it still has a lot of issues.

It has a leak in the power steering system, a leak in the AC system, a perennial check engine light problem, leaks when it rains, a glitchy radio, and a clutch that feels like it’s on it’s last legs.  Plus it’s tiny size and 2 seat configuration makes it very poor in auxiliary vehicle functions like transporting items, dogs or more than one additional human being.

So anyway my thought was a Prius would be a pretty sweet upgrade for Cindy in most ways imaginable.  Newer, safer, bigger, larger, tech-ier and around 50MPG to boot all sounded really good.  When I first mentioned the idea to her she wasn’t totally on board.  Despite it’s warts, she is fond of her Miata.  However as the idea had time to percolate, it sounded better and better.  By last night it sounded good enough that we went to check the car out.

The car looked very clean from the pictures I saw, I was glad to see in person it looked as good if not better.  It practically looked brand new.  The owner was actually working on his other vehicle, an old Honda Civic, when we pulled up.  He immediately struck me as someone I liked.  He just has a very good energy about him.  It didn’t take long until we found out more about him that made him even more likeable, he is conservancy biologist, is ex-air force, has a big loveable weinerammer named Icharus, and he plays rugby.

I drove a Prius years ago all around southern California so I sort of knew the deal.  I told Cindy she should do the driving since it would be her car.  I was surprised that I wasn’t as crowded in the passenger seat as I recall being before.  I was quite comfortable riding shotgun.  The Prius was as clean inside as it was outside.  Cindy did a decent length test drive around Bonita Springs and was impressed.  Despite more than 100k on the odometer the Toyota still drove great, something that doesn’t surprised me at all based on my experience with the Camry Hybrid I owned and the Tacoma I have been sporting for over a decade. The seller is only the second owner, which was cool.

I had done some research during the day on the value of the car and was surprised it was already priced below the suggested private party price I found on multiple web sites.  Despite that we had to the mandatory Craigslist price negotiation. We didn’t get the price down a lot, but enough to make what was already a well priced vehicle, really well priced.

There are some logistical hurdles to clear the next few days as the Prius has an outstanding loan on it which complicates title work.  Plus the seller is going to be moving to Idaho, pulling out sometime next week so time is at a premium.  If things go as I expect I would hope that Cindy will take ownership of the Prius on Monday.  That should be followed by the Miata getting plopped onto Craigslist, hopefully looking for the next in an already long string of owners.

Tonight we are attending the first Tarpons football game of the season.  This weekend we will be hitting Godzilla, doing chores and enjoying the predicted beautiful weather.