Waaahhhh

Sometimes leaving a bigger gap makes it a thoroughfare for shopping carts. Sorry about your strike. I've been having problems with getting cracks in the windshield by flying rocks off trucks. Parking in Home Depot always seems to result in a flat tire too from some contractor's truck leaving roofing nails scattered all over the place. Guess they cannot remain new forever.

I remember when I bought my $20K motorcycle. I was afraid it would fall over and cost $3500 in body parts damage. Some wise guy CHP officer came up to me and told me to "Kick it over and get it out of your system." Luckily, they can do that with state-owned bikes and get it out of "their" system.

B~

I understand. Our Prius has been the first vehicle since my 1966 VW microbus that really excited my imagination.

My wife wrecked both of our new cars within 3-4 months. The new, 2,000 miles, 1991, manual transmission Camry was left out of gear on the car port so it rolled into the trees. Then our 3,000 miles, 2001, Echo she reached over while driving to roll up the passenger side window:

She also had a dry weather, rear ender with our 100,000 mile Chevette but that was not such a bad thing. She also once ran into me because I stopped for an emergency vehicle and she was following too close and fast but both vehicles were around 100,000 miles.

Sometimes I think I should just give her a sledge hammer and say, "Ok, beat it up and get it out of your system."

In fairness, we got our Prius after I had a rear-ender with that 1991,

185,000 mile, Camry. It is what led to us getting our 2003 Prius.

Bob Wilson

Sigh. I think I'll just be quiet now.... You (pl) don't have a lot of luck with cars.... :-(

Yes, that is what I need to do, isn't it? I can't just rip myself up over stuff like this.

I do have one related question. I have thought aboyt putting some protective strips on the Prius but am wondering what that does to its MPG. I suppose they might make it a tad less aerodynamic? (I am HOPING that's wht Toyota didn't put such strips on it in the first place. Otherwise, the lack is surprising.)

Having one tiny self-inflicted dent on my passenger side (I hit it opening the door on my other car) I thought about buying those strips too. I decided they would be a nuisance when waxing the car and dropped the idea.

Bill

We had the 'ding bars' bars added before we took ownership (cost ~ $180) and the black 'stripes' look quite stylish against the Driftwood body IMHO. While not perfect they have done well to protect us from a few door and carriage attacks.

Cheers Russ

...pssst....Bill, wanna buy a couple of my unused HOV CA stickers that are large enough to cover almost any dent? I refuse to plaster the things on all four sides of the car and then have to take them off - along with the paint - in 2008 when the program ends. Gawd, are they awful looking!

B~

So the Toyota dealer can do this? I guess you can't comment on any affect on your mileage, since there are no "before" statistics....

I hope folks who have them will comment on any negative aspects.... Would they be any worse than the strips on other cars?

That reminds me. I had an amusing thought. I will make bandage magnets and put them on the dents....

No noticeable difference between my 2005 Prius with 'em or my husband's 2004 Prius without 'em (yeah I know what greedy bastards that we are for having 2 of them ;-))

Russ

Probably not. I made the mistake of putting wax on the finish between the windows. That turned white (my car is black) and I'm hoping I can remove it with a mild ammonia solution. Any ideas?

Thanks, Russ. And maybe you are the opposite of greedy--when it comes to the world's resources.

Oh yuck! I think I'll stick with the car wash!

That should work. I scrubbed some wax smudges off with Windex and an old cotton towel.

We'd like to think so, but the SUV moms and Truck guys looked at us kinda funny last time we filled up together (though that might have been because of the clown noses we were wearing... just kidding)

AND, bonus, I was able to wait long-enough until the prices came back down to where they were the last time I filled up... I so LOVE this car!

Russ

I love mine too! I drive a lot and tend to use about half a tank per week. It is relatively pleasant to go get gas now!

Are you kidding?! I have an '88 Supra I bought last year for $600. Looks REALLY good except for the Passenger's door. Some guy was leaning on it and I told him to take a hike. He made some quip about an "Old Toyota" and I said it probably looks better than yours!

....it DID!

All depends on how much PRIDE you take (and effort you put into) a Nice looking ride!

LOL! Screw them! Now, i am not really interested in 'saving the planet', but people who buy vehicles larger than they need are wastrils and need to take a good look.

What kills me is every time the price of gas goes up, you watch the evening news and they're interviewing some person crying about the high cost of fuel and how it's going to cost him more to get to work, etc...

...while the person is filling the 50GAL tank on their Excursion!

You drive a Prius? Good for you!!!