Yippee! New Toy, Better Gas Mileage.

Gas prices stink, don't they?

Ya, I figured you thought so too. For the last few years, we've owned a Honda Odyssey (a mini-van) and much as it's a nice mini-van, I hated the whole idea of driving a mini-van. It was just TOO soccer-momish—and I am NO soccer mom. I'm not even, truth be told, a skatemom. But, it was practical, so I thought, if we were going to have kids over (other than mine).

Except it never really turned out that way. I never seemed to drive anyone but my own family... occasionally with my mom or brother in tow. In the three years we had the van, there were a handful of times we actually NEEDED a vehicle that big. Okay, so it was roomy... it was also silver—I've had silver and gold cars pretty much every vehicle I've ever owned. I am SO sick of silver. It was nondescript. There were a zillion other silver Odysseys of that year. And the kids, despite my best efforts, had trashed it. It smelled more than a little from things they spilled. I think the worst part was that I couldn't easily reach into it to clean it, so it seldom got cleaned and when it did, it was always a huge production.

The killer was, it got a WHOPPING 18 mpg on average (city and hwy). Now, don't get me wrong. The year I bought it, the Odyssey had the highest mpg rating of any mini-van. These days, the ratings're only up to 26 mpg city for the best rated van. For what it was, it got pretty good mileage.

But, when I bought it, gas was also a LOT cheaper. It cost me $25 for the first fill up. During the school year, I tend to fill up about once per week, usually about 3/4 tank. Well, now, that tank of gas costs me $45 or more. My gas tab went from less than $100/mo to more like $180/mo. And that's if I only did the VERY basics of errands and such—if I NEVER went anywhere else but home, school, music lessons, and the bi-weekly trip to the commissary (military grocery store).

It got to where I was putting off trips for things I really needed. "Let me not go buy this OTC medicine I need really bad right now. I'll go buy it 4 days from now because I'll be going to the store anyway." Now, I sure that is exactly what the pundits have in mind when conserving gas, but when you need something, you NEED IT. You suffer without it sometimes. And I got to where I didn't really like the feeling that I simply COULDN'T make an incidental trip, even if I really needed it. More than the gas, I couldn't afford the extra $$ to buy that gas.

And then, there is the whole efficiency thing. I'm pretty strong on environmentalism, conservation, back to the land and what not. I always said that I would buy a high mileage car if they made one to fit my lifestyle. Well, this year, Toyota is making a hybrid Camry that gets 40 mpg (or so) city and hwy. Camry is a sedan, but not a small one like the Prius. You can actually get 5 people into a Camry.

I decided, "It will be a bit of a change for us... but we can change." And after a few months of waffling and thinking and agonizing, I traded my Odyssey in on a brandy, spanking, new 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid. AND...

It's RED!



Yes, I am tickled with it being red. I am terribly tickled.

It's nice having a new car, and VERY neat having a hybrid. It handles well. It makes the Odyssey feel like a pregnant whale in the turns. I love the regenerative braking gear (kind of like braking by downshifting a manual trany). I love how the gas motor turns OFF at stop lights, using ZERO gas. I love how RED it is!

I love feeling like I can go to the store if I need something.