Prius at 6 years old

With my 2004 Prius approaching 50,000 miles- I guess I do not drive much- I am still averaging just less than 50 miles per gallon through all seasons, and all driving types and road conditions. That beats the re-configured EPA mileage by close to 4 miles per gallon. From what I have seen, the 2010 is a lot more of a car with a lot more bells and whistles than prior generations. I would love to try out the new generation Prius for 2010, but my 2004 has quite a bit left in it and I feel lucky to have what I have at this point.

Prius again

I have now had my 2004 Prius for five years. Recently, my MPG has tanked a bit due in part to my tire change of a couple of years ago, and to the fact that my daily trips are much shorter than they used to be. So I was pleased over this last weekend to see overall MPG of 51 around town, and followed by almost 54 for a freeway trip to Santa Cruz. So the car still has decent MPG in it, and maybe those tires are finally broken in. MPG on recent occasions has been in the higher 40’s around town and in the low 40’s for freeway trips. Of course, this improvement on the freeway may also be related to just slowing down a bit from 70 mph to between 60 and 65 mph max. You would not think that would make such a difference, but it sure can on a long trip. Tires and proper inflation make a difference. Speed and time of year also make a difference.