Toyota Prius - 2006 Review

We bought this car as my new commuting vehicle and we love it.  The vehicle is INTELLIGENT - I'm so tired of automakers adding some useless new gadget to their vehicles, just to be able to state that they have something new.  Everything about this car seems like it was designed by an intelligent rational person. 

Some of the coolest features have nothing at all to do with the hybrid nature of the vehicle itself.  Take the remote entry, for example - there's a RFID chip in the key fob.  When the car senses a hand touching the driver's door, the passenger's door, or the cargo hatch, it sends out a radio signal seeking the RFID chip.  The chip responds, saying in essence, 'Here I am!', and the car unlocks.  Same thing happens when you press the Start button - the chip just has to be close enough to get and respond to the signal and the car starts up.  I leave my keys in my pocket pretty much all the time now.

Of course, the car IS all about the gas mileage.  The center console helps the driver adjust his or her driving to maximize mileage - finally, something USEFUL from all those stupid gauges they keep inflicting on us (who exactly demanded that we have a tachometer in our cars?  come on - fess up!).  If any other manufacturer simply took the center console and put it into their car, gas mileage would increase by 50%, just from the improved information available to the driver.

We love our Prius so much, my wife wants to sell her Honda Odyssey and buy another one.