Meet Sunny

Yesterday, I welcomed a new member to the family.

Her name is Sunny.

My 2014 Toyota Prius C2, picked up at Madison's Smart Motors.

Just one piece of getting the car required sounding the gong.

It's the final step before driving away... the gong echoes through the entire showroom and the store manager came over to thank me for getting a Toyota.

Looking for a replacement for my blue '02 Prius took some time, and a process I started some time ago when it became obvious that the '02 was nearing the end of her run. 

Yes, that car had been very reliable and delivered good mileage and a good driving experience.  But with 260,000 miles on the odometer it was closer to the end of the trail than the start.

After test-driving some other models, I came back to the Toyota dealer to see if they could keep me in their fold.

I had been driving a second generation Prius, and the developments in the newer models provided a good leap forward in their capability.

The C2 is a smaller vehicle overall than the one I've been driving and shows a sportier look.  It still promises great gas mileage that remains a high priority for me and the car I'm driving.

Sunny will provide nearly constant feedback on how I'm driving and information to help drive more efficiently during the trip.

She'll even track the cost of each trip if I let her know how much I paid for a gallon of gas.

There's an Eco-mode that makes slight adjustments during a trip to improve gas mileage that sounds great to me.

I'll miss Blue.  Near the end, she was having trouble getting started in the morning and seemed to have a bad wheel (or showing symptoms of a much worse problem).  It had been my goal to drive her as long as I could, and I did.

So, it's on to Prius 2 (literally).  I'm looking forward to the trip and to see how little gas I'll need getting there.