Went to Orlando, FL as the wife had never been there (FL) before.  Decided to take the Prius (05) as I'm pretty much disgusted with air travel these days.  The drive down was fairly wet as the eastern part of the US seemed to inundated with rain.  Fayetteville had very bad storms and was creating havoc on I95.

Finally arrived in Orlando and we scheduled Blue Man Group, Circus du Soleil, and a dinner theater featuring the Rat Pack and friends.  That Monday, we decided to go to a Toyota dealer and look at the newer Prius.  We weren't going to buy anything, we were just looking.  There were Prius Cs, the normal sized Prius, and the V.  The V is the larger of the three and is more like a wagon as far as space goes.  The sales guy offered a test drive and I absolutely refused knowing full well what would entail.   Anyway, the pickings were slim as far as colors in the mid-range and the C was out of the question....just to darn small for us.  I didn't want to buy the V as it was more expensive...   Guess what we bought?  The V.  My wife had liked those from the get go and truthfully what sold it was the color....sea glass.  It's a mixture of blue/green and kind of looks retro to me.  It would make a good color for the C14.

We got 2k for the old Prius, which I thought wasn't bad considering the following:  Needed a valve adjustment as the engine was clattering like a sewing machine $1k (similar effort in doing a C14 adjust).  It had nearly 300, 000 miles on it.  It needed a brake job (original pads still on it).  The traction batteries were nearing 10 years of life $1500+.  There were funny noises coming from within the dash that my wife had just made me aware of (she's the primary driver).  And it was complaining about the catestrophic converter...  I essentially said take it please.

So they were having a sale and the price wasn't bad.  We left with a new Prius.  It would have been cheaper to fly down there in retrospect...  The combined mpg was 42 and with my driving style I'm getting about 48-50 showing on computer.  After driving it for a week I really like it.  It's got 16 inch wheels and a larger engine (1.8L) (hydraulic lifters, I think).  You can definitely tell you're driving a larger car.  It's got three driving settings (Evo, Eco, and Power).  Evo is just on battery, eco is well economical and power is what you think it might be.  Eco works fine for me, though. 

Oil change is 10k miles and uses 0w-20 oil.  The oil filter is retro and similar to the filter on the C10, uses a cartridge instead of spin on.  Not sure I like that feature.  Didn't like it on the C10.  I think they have a more expensive spin on filter which is what I'll probably use eventually after the free oil changes expire.

The farkeling has begun.  I've ordered a Homelink auto dimming mirror, floor mats, and mud guards.  There's more to come, though.

Now I'm stuck with two rotors, front brake pads, and an oil filter left over from the 05.  They won't fit the new one, unfortunately.  I'll sell them on Craigs list, I think.

On the way back we camped at a Hampton in Fayetteville.  The desk clerk wanted to know the color.  I said sea glass and we looked at each other and both laughed at the same time...

The color looks more blue than green in the picture, but to me it looks more green than blue in person.

Congrats on the new cage Jim. Looks like sea foam to me.     

Spur of the moment car buying? Did they have balloons? 

Now to the more exciting part of your trip...

How was Blue Man Group and Circus du Soleil? I've seen Blue Man twice and Circus 4 times now. Both of these are GREAT entertainment and I loved em both every time I've seen them.

I'm pretty much disgusted with air travel these days.

Me too! I travel a lot for work all over the world. On vacations I don't want to even see a commercial airport.

Congrats on the new ride. What color is that? 

Seen Blue Man and many different Circus du Soleil in Vegas. Great shows!

BTW: my Highlander had the canister filter. Hated it also. No possible way to change it without getting oil everywhere. I think Toyota does it because it is considered more environmentally friendly. I guess a lot of people put their spin-on filters in the trash full of oil.

Congrats on the new cage Jim. Looks like sea foam to me.     

Spur of the moment car buying? Did they have balloons? 

Now to the more exciting part of your trip...

How was Blue Man Group and Circus du Soleil? I've seen Blue Man twice and Circus 4 times now. Both of these are GREAT entertainment and I loved em both every time I've seen them.

Both were quite excellent, but the Circus du Soleil was the best.  It was so good I wanted to cry.  My arms were tired from all the applause.  Watching it on TV does NOT do it justice.

The color of the car changes with the light conditions.  This morning with cloudy conditions it looks more blue than green.  In bright light it seems to be the reverse.

While I am somewhat environmentally conscience, I don't believe in going backwards in technology to achieve greeness.  Assuming there is a spin on replacement, that's what it's going to be when I have to start changing the oil which should be at about 30k or about 1 year from now.  I was so greatful that the C14 had a spin on filter.

My Jetta has a cartridge oil filter too. I've only changed it once so far (10k miles like yours) but it wasn't a big deal.

Both were quite excellent, but the Circus du Soleil was the best.  It was so good I wanted to cry.  My arms were tired from all the applause.  Watching it on TV does NOT do it justice.

The color of the car changes with the light conditions.  This morning with cloudy conditions it looks more blue than green.  In bright light it seems to be the reverse.

While I am somewhat environmentally conscience, I don't believe in going backwards in technology to achieve greeness.  Assuming there is a spin on replacement, that's what it's going to be when I have to start changing the oil which should be at about 30k or about 1 year from now.  I was so greatful that the C14 had a spin on filter.

Agreed! Just drain the oil out of it before dumping and recycle the oil.

Is the new Prius protected by ToyPASS? 

Actually.....yes.

What's the acceleration like on it? Been thinking of one in a few years.

Lackluster in eco mode...pretty snappy in Power mode as compared to ECO.  You need to take a test drive in one to see for yourself though.   

What?  You could have picked up a Ford Fiesta Bacon Edition! 

http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/08/28/finally-you-can-wrap-your-ford-in-bacon/

Since it has EVO mode, can you plug it in?

Nope.  It's not a plug in model.   It will go a little ways on battery but not very far.  The car protects it's batteries from being discharged too much.  Very smart system.

As long as it works.

It had nearly 300, 000 miles on it.  It needed a brake job (original pads still on it). 

 

It must have had darn good electric braking.  Wow.  I'm lucky to get 60k on my Grand Prix.

Nope.  It's not a plug in model.   It will go a little ways on battery but not very far.  The car protects it's batteries from being discharged too much.  Very smart system.

I never understood why hybrids didn't offer both plug in for short commuting and  gas-electric for long distance. I now guess the issue is the need for deep cycle batteries for plug in.

It must have had darn good electric braking.  Wow.  I'm lucky to get 60k on my Grand Prix.

Yep, it does.  It's called regenerative braking but it all depends on how you use the braking system.  I tend to start slowing before I get to where I need to stop.  The traditional brakes don't kick in until under 12mph.  I think they'll kick in at higher speeds if you get into a panic situation but that is extremely rare.  I understand how the car works and use it to my advantage.  For those that don't, the brakes need to be done earlier.  I am one with the car when I drive it.  The wife, not so much, but she has a tendency to drive on interstates for a lot of her mileage, so the brakes aren't used that much.  My mileage and not needing to change the pads is an aberration of sorts.  Most will change their disc pads between 100k and 150k or so.

The Prius is a darn good car, which is why I bought my second one.

As long as it works.

It works very well, thank you.

As do I...