My Excellent Prius Adventure

Jennifer P bought the very first Prius ever sold at Rice Toyota and returned in 2014 to purchase a 2014 Toyota Prius, this is her story.-Mary Curry General Manager Rice Toyota

My Excellent Prius Adventure^©

After 13 years and 282,276 miles in the first Prius sold by Rice Toyota, I felt it was time for me to get another car. I had not completely settled on another Prius as my next vehicle, so I thoroughly researched ConsumerReports.com and narrowed my choices to 3 cars. With a strict budget to follow, the criteria for my next car were reliability, economy, and price. The top 3 finalists in this intense Internet investigation were Honda CR-V, Ford Fusion hybrid, and Toyota Prius; and all 3 had top scores by my strict research standards. Thus, many things being equal, I chose Prius again for the relatively low initial cost plus the highest MPG rating.

Now, I have been told that I have difficulty with decisions – on a scale of 1-10, how difficult is it for you to make a decision? I truly can never decide! And now I was faced with a major decision ... which Prius was I to get? C? V? 2? 3? 4? 5? Too many choices!

When I began looking at the first Prius model in 2000, there were no choices, there was only 1 Prius. It was easy: with no feature or package options there were no decisions to make! Select your color and you’re ready to go – but only after 6 months of waiting for it to arrive from Japan. Luckily, I was probably the only person in the country who did not have to wait 6 months for my new Prius!

Early in January 2001, having expressed initial interest in the car at Rice Toyota – and remember, buyers then had to go online and order their car: there was no test drive, there was not even a car on any lot to look at – I got a call that an unordered Prius had been delivered to their dealership and was I interested. Absolutely – no decision here!! It was light teal, so there was no color choice to make! It came with 2 cup holders (hey, in Y2K, cup holders were a real selling feature!), AC and a radio/cassette player – I did have a CD player installed. Plus – and very important to me – it came with Rice Toyota’s commitment to making me comfortable with this mysterious, inexplicable, scary, new-fangled, hybrid technology. And Robert Kane and Rice Toyota’s Service Department were instrumental in keeping that commitment.

Fast forward 13 years and 282,276 miles: Having just selected another Prius via my arduous online analysis, I was facing a daunting decision. Toyota now had 2 additional, completely new Prius models along with innumerable, countless, and untold numbers of packages, options and features for safety, comfort, and technology. At this point, I was beginning to hyperventilate … I needed some help here!

So I headed again to Rice Toyota and told the General Manager, Mary Curry, the story behind my old, faithful, first-ever Prius from her dealership. She introduced me to David Senkus – a truly awesome representative for Rice Toyota and a Prius owner who understood and reveled in “Prius Speak”. We traded stories and jokes and highlights and the green pride of Prius ownership.

So with David’s assistance, I decided (yes, a decision!) that the C model was too small for me. Then I decided the V model was too large … another one down! Now I was facing the major part – do I get package Two, Three, Four, or Five – and I was overwhelmed. That was way too many choices!

David to the rescue again: with his knowledge, guidance and questions and my list of preferred features, comforts and colors, we came to the conclusion that the Prius 5-Door Three Liftback in Barcelona red with gray interior was the car for me. And, with the Toyota incentives, I was able to upgrade to a leather interior. Decision time was over! When everything was said and done, David told me that I was again the Princess I was meant to be, and he took care of absolutely every single detail for me.

Now imagine my technology-shock at facing all the new gadgetry, features and options invented since 2001! But, after some intense tutelage in the automotive, creature-comfort, and technology improvements and upgrades, I was ready to go. I got into my new, reliable, economical, affordable, spotless, shiny, luxurious, safe, Barcelona red Prius … Ah, the indescribably wonderful fragrance of a new car and leather … and I drove home … 52.8 miles per gallon ... and I was in Green Heaven!

Am I happy, am I satisfied? I believe you can make that decision!

Jennifer P

Concord, NC