Be Money-Wise in 2016 With a Toyota Prius {Review}

Thank you to Toyota for loaning us a Prius for a week for review purposes. All opinions are 100% my own.

Need a huge land yacht to haul the groceries and the kids? I really doubt it. Do you like the idea of a mean, lean, gas sippin’ machine? … business in the front, party in the back? The Prius is a cool car that has unbelievably good gas mileage. And, right now you can score some great deals on the 2015 models before the 2016 models come in. 

The Reynolds family got to test drive a 2015 Toyota Prius for a week, and it was mostly business for me. And, besides the lack of 4x4 off-road capabilities, the Prius did incredibly well at getting me to work, going to the store, driving the kids around, all while avoiding the gas station.

I figured with all the money I saved on gas, I could easily afford to rent a truck for the one or five times a year I truly need to haul something around. (Ok, in reality for me, 1-5 times a decade is a lot).

The car is truly spacious. We simulated a trip to Costco and Trader Joe’s and unbelievably, the car seemed to have just as much usable space as our compact SUV. 

We also simulated a father son camping trip. The hatchback is truly versatile, it makes a small car feel much larger. Our neighbors have a couple of the Prius C, they take it to the snow covered mountains quite often.

The car we tested had every creature comfort imaginable, some features were quirky, and I truly did not know what to do with the space. Enter in my bowl of granola, there’s also a spot for minimally packaged soymilk under the center console. Did you notice the bamboo spoon? I know you did. 

I don’t know how much I can believe the center dash computer, but I averaged on my commute about 25 miles per hour on the freeway (that sad fact I can confirm) and 63 miles per gallon. My current commuter car gets about 25 miles per gallon. I figured that I saved about $3.00 a day in gas alone. It may not seem like a lot, but I like to think about those three extra dollars in terms of hamburgers. I can only imagine the next Toyota commercial I see on TV… Buy a Prius, get 10,000 hamburgers over your driving lifetime! I am only kidding, but its kinda sorta true.

Now, if Toyota would only let me test drive the Toyota Tacoma Off-Road, I can only imagine how many fewer hamburgers I would eat.

Enter The Reynolds Dad Dream Sequence:

“Dear The Reynolds Mom, please let me buy a Toyota Tacoma. It’s just like going on a diet. I read an article online about it. Your husband will be even hotter in that truck!” 

Errrp (that's how I write the sound of brakes), in reality, sometimes there is a choice to be practical. 99.99% of my driving is in town, on the highway, in the city and on paved roads. The Prius is not going to be the envy of the guy parked next to me at Bass Pro Shops. However, I’ll know I am doing my part to conserve so generations can enjoy the outdoors forever in our country. USA! USA! USA!

I just got the sudden urge to ditch all my cars and get on a horse. Giddy up!