On the Road -
The Adventures of Maggie’s Toyota Prius
by Melissa Bright of Maggie Magazine
Maggie’s Pohanka Toyota Prius

I LOVE this car! Now you may hear a lot of people say that about their cars, but for me to say it about a relatively small car is something special indeed.

You see, I’m strictly a big car, tank-on-the-road kind of person. I like pickup trucks and the kind of big old Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles my grandparents drove in the late sixties and early seventies. You know, the ones with fins on the fenders that you needed binoculars to see from the driver’s seat because the end of the car was so far away. They had power and presence on the road, and you felt safe with all that metal around you. Best of all, you could get about twenty kids in one of them (who bothered with seat belts?) and even when grown-ups rode in the back seat, they had plenty of leg room.

Gas? Who cared? Gas was about 27¢ a gallon and we’d never heard of global warming. If you had an accident, the odds were pretty good that you might walk away, because the car was big enough and heavy enough to absorb the impact and take down minor signposts and small trees.

Ah, that was a different world. Reality now is that my husband commutes 140 miles each day and my work keeps me on the road; that doesn’t even take into consideration numerous trips for band, dance, lacrosse, etc. Gas in this area is now $1.34 to $1.55, less than most of the country but rising. We now have global warming, an incomprehensible dependence on foreign oil, the last breath of fresh air disappeared somewhere over the mountains about thirty years ago, and even Antarctica has a hole in the ozone.

Technology to the rescue! Toyota and Honda both have cars on the market NOW that can make a difference. They are hybrids, combining an electric motor with a gasoline engine.

We chose the Toyota Prius, a sporty little four-door with lots of personality. The interior is amazingly roomy; we have traveled with four large adults and everyone was quite comfortable. In fact, I put a full-size bicycle in the back seat one day with no problem.

This car is such fun to drive, it has really made a convert of me. It rides with the comfort of a much larger vehicle and handles like a well-made instrument, which of course, it is. We took it to Tennessee in February, in the middle of all that snow, and had no problems at all with either the mountains or the road conditions. And surprisingly, as the summer got hotter our mileage got better, even with the air conditioner going.

That brings us to the real point of this amazing car. We were getting about 27mpg with the family car, a meager 13mpg with the SUV. Now we get – are you sitting down? - an astounding 52 (fifty-two !!) miles per gallon!!! It almost pays for itself on that alone!

Less gas, less money out of our pockets (less into foreign pockets), and cleaner air (fewer emissions). Good for our budget, good for our country, good for our planet, and good for my conscience.

Rumor has it that in a year or two, Toyota will make this technology available in all their vehicles. "You asked for it, you got it!" Come on Delmarva – ask for it! P.S. No, we don’t plug it in. It recharges itself as you’re driving.

MAGGIE SAYS:
Our experience with POHANKA has been totally positive. From the sales people in the showroom to the folks in the service department, we have been treated with total courtesy and efficient service. POHANKA is very female friendly (the top bosses are women) and frequently offer maintenance courses and other special events designed especially for women. Stop by POHANKA today, and do yourself and the planet some good.