I've posted here in the past, although rarely.
Have wanted a Prius since the '04 came out; drove 100 miles to see (other than in pics) & test drive one back then. (In fact, IIRC, someone here read one of my posts & directed me to the upstate NY dealership that actually had one on their lot - it was being used as a rental at the point.) But no matter how many times I did the math, was ~$5K difference over a 6 yr. ownership between a low # pkg. '04 Prius & a virtually fully loaded Corolla LE. Couldn't justify that amt. of money (other than "want"!), so wound up buying my 4th Corolla in a row. Perfectly good car, smart buy, etc., but by the 4th one... pretty boring. ;-) As it turned out, the Prius has held its value - for a car - really well, so the difference in cost may've been more like $1 - 2K , but never predicted that/thought to factor that in at the time.
Anyway... over 5 years went by & when the 2010 Prius came out - and read the reviews, decided it was about time to treat myself. ;-) Ordered one ( a lowly II, but it's still an upgrade from my Corolla LE) at the end of Aug. & have now had it for 3 weeks; love it. Besides the fact that I have liked the exterior & dash designs since the '04 came out, that it feels extra solid, that it is relatively spacious, that it has airbags out the wazoo, etc., today - in around-town driving - got 77.6 MPG at one point! :-)
I don't miss the moonroof I had on the last 2 Corollas - although I may a bit come next spring/summer. However... what I really *do* miss are: daytime running lights & most esp. auto-on full headlights, and... why is there no place to put one's quarters in the Prius?!?! I've solved the headlight problem by leaving them on all of the time, since they're auto-off. But have yet to find a place for car wash quarters...
Cathy