SmartEnergyViews

Well, we finally decided between the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Prius. We took delivery of a 2007 Prius yesterday, just in time before the tax credit (assuming we qualify) gets cut in half (again) as of today.

We got a fairly basic model, with option package #2 (upgraded AM/FM CD with six speakers, auxiliary audio jack and MP3/WMA playback capability, Smart Key System, backup camera and Vehicle Stability Control). Sticker price with the option package was $23,970. Here it is:

Read more about the deal and first impressions...

I don't know if we got a good deal or not, but after studying all the websites about pricing and trade-in values etc. etc. we went in with an absolute, final, best offer, that's it I'm walking out of here figure in mind and ended up paying only $250 more than that. And I only did that because they wore us out. (We were there over five hours. Part of the delay, though, was waiting for a finance guy. They had sold 21 cars and were a little backed up.)

They were OK to work with, but there was the usual stuff. $800+ for pinstripes and paint/fabric protection. (This out to be outlawed.) $489 for document handling. The "my sales manager just won't let me do that" song and dance. Lowballing my trade. (They ran an Edmunds report and showed it to us, and they didn't have the model right, hadn't added all the options or upgrades, didn't include the low-mileage credit, etc. etc. I pulled out my copy of the Edmunds report showing they were off by about $3000.) Etc., etc.

Then the finance guy showed us a deal sheet with all the great extras they offered, and I swear it added up to almost $10,000 more for extended warranty, paint protection renewal/warranty, maintenance/service contract, wheel and tire insurance, credit life, collision gap insurance, etc. etc. It was the wildest one of these I'd ever seen, leaving us to wonder who buys this stuff. We declined, obviously. It was late and we were all tired so he got us out of there in about 20 minutes.

But overall it wasn't as bad as I expected, and I'm OK with the deal we made which was pretty close to what I had in mind.

The "Smart Key" system is pretty cool. When you come near the car, it detects the key in your pocket or purse and unlocks the driver's door. When you get in, you just push the "Power" button to energize, and off you go with the key still in your pocket. When you get out, there's a button on the outside to lock it. So basically you never have to use the key or a remote. The car just senses you.

At the dealer, we were wondering if this would let you lock the keys inside the car. We tested it by putting the key in the cupholder and trying to push the outside lock button. The car beeped and complained and would not lock the doors. Then we put the key in the armrest right next to the sensor but still inside and tried it again. It still complained. Held the key outside the car, and it locked fine. I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out how it knows the key is inside the car v. outside.

Someone asked if it had MPG and energy monitor like the Honda Civic Hybrid. Yes and no. The Honda has a basic, easy to read gauge on the dash. The Prius shows it on the LCD "Multi-Display System". My main complaint is that you have to look at two screens to see the whole picture. My other complaint is that it doesn't have dual A and B trip logs like the Honda.

Anyway, here's the "Energy" display:

(photo from toyota.com)

This continuously updated display shows the energy flow to and from the battery, the electric motor, and the gas engine, along with the your instant real-time MPG and battery charge status.

Little animated yellow arrows show flow from the battery and electric motor to the wheels when you're running on electricity. Orange arrows show energy flow from the gas engine to the wheels and to the electric motor when it's in generator mode charging from the engine. Blue arrows show energy flow to the battery from the regenerative braking system and the electric motor in generator mode when you're coasting.

And here's the "Consumption" display.

(photo from toyota.com)

This shows your current MPG, your average MPG and distance traveled since the last reset, and a bar graph showing the average over the most recent 30 minutes of driving. The little green cars show how many KWh of "free" power you have generated.

Watching all of this in real time (especially the "energy" display) is fascinating, and gives you better an appreciation of how advanced the car's design and engineering are. It really is the "car of the future."

One thing I've noticed, though, is that it starts out and accelerates on gas engine power more often than I expected. To start out on electric motor from a dead stop, you'd have to barely touch the gas pedal and crawl along at a snail's pace and everybody behind you would be honking their horns. Under 40 MPH or so, however, the gas motor shuts off pretty quickly once you get up to speed as long as the battery is charged. Unless you are going up a hill.

The only thing left to work out is how to get XM installed. The dealer said you can't install the factory XM receiver unless you get the upgraded JBL stereo. (Which is pretty nice, but the one that comes with the option package we got is pretty good -- better than the "premium" stereo in our Freestyle.)

Others are saying on the chat forums, however, that you can install the factory XM receiver with any stereo and it will integrate with the audio displays and functions on the LCD. They say you just have to know the right part numbers to order and that the service people have to know how to install it correctly. The Toyota website lists it as an available option for this model and option package, and doesn't complain when you add it. It's kinda expensive, though, at about $450 installed.

Then there are some aftermarket kits that allegedly do the same thing for less, but I'm wary of stuff like that with a car this complicated.

So for now, I'm just going to rig up the XM SkyFi 2 I had in the old car and run it through the AUX input, which will be a huge improvement over the FM modulator and will only cost about $50.

P.S. What helped us finally decide was renting a Prius for the day. By the end of the day we were sold. Most dealers will rent them. I highly recommend it, no matter what kind of car you're thinking about buying.