My Prius Turns 100,000 Miles

99,995 Miles

Today we celebrated eight years and 100,000 miles together! Me and my Prius. Woo-hoo! I love, love, love my Prius. There is absolutely no doubt about it. Unless there is an even more energy-efficient car by then, my next car will be a Prius too. I love my Prius!

99.996 Miles

And what's not to love about a car that's gotten 50 miles per gallon, plus or minus 5, for 8 years! Now that I'm commuting 57 miles (round trip) 3 days a week, my mileage is averaging about 53 to 57 MPG, probably because the speed limit on the Colonial Parkway third of the trip is 45 miles per hour. (Okay, you noticed the 40 in that last shot. I had to slow down to take this photo. Good thing there wasn't much traffic today!)

99,997 Miles

By commuting to Gloucester, however, my car has reached the 100,000 mile milestone a tad sooner than she might have. Nevertheless, I celebrated and captured the moment in pictures. Fittingly, we were traveling down the Colonial Parkway on the way home to Williamsburg from Gloucester when we hit the mileage milestone.

99,998 Miles

In 2003, when my daughter started to drive, Toyota was beginning to promote it's new bullet-shaped 2004 Prius model. The Prius hybrid was a new idea, but the sleek design was a great little lagniappe. As a M.B.A.-Turned-Vegetarian-Environmentalist, the fuel efficiency had me anyway. But as someone who loves great design, I just had to have it. So, I went to my local Toyota dealer and plunked down my $5,000 deposit in August of 2003. I was the second person on their waiting list. My daughter was excited too. I waited for the Prius and she waited for the Prius so that she would get my Honda, which I had thought was the best car on the road until I'd driven the Prius for about a week! My Prius arrived the week of Thanksgiving 2003. I was the second person in Williamsburg to own a Prius.

99,999 Miles

Bigger and roomier than my Honda, the Prius had lots of room for groceries, vacation stuff, moving kids in and out of college, and toting stuff back and forth to New Quarter Park. There is even enough room in the Prius to haul my 14.5 ft. kayak, seats down and tailgate secured with bungee cords. I've been to my local dealership faithfully, every 5,000 miles, for scheduled maintenance. I have not had a single problem with my Prius outside of recall notices, which were taken care of during scheduled maintenance trips. All that hoo-ha about brakes and stuff. Bah! Toyota took an undeserved bad-publicity hit on that, in my humble opinion.

100.000 at the Cheatham Exit!

Here we are at 100,000 miles and just under 8 years later. I don't anticipate trading her in anytime soon, but the Kelley Blue Book trade-in value is $6,550 and the sale value is $8,570. Hmmm. So that means that my Prius has cost me about $2,000 per year. Gas? Let's see ... at an average price of $2.50 per gallon since late 2003 and 50 MPG, I've spent $5,000 or $625 per year. Not bad, I suppose, to pay $2,625 a year for transportation in the good ole US of A these days. Like I said, I love my Prius!