Monthly Archive for August, 2006

I’ve noticed that I become obsessed with things. Almost as if I need to obsess over something. It used to be music and songs. Then it became bands. Then there was a gap during med school because I was too busy studying. Then it was engagement rings when I knew marriage was on the horizon. Then it was wedding planning. Then it was the crazy in-laws and how to get rid of them. And most recently: tennis racquets. When I couldn’t really obsess over tennis racquets because of my sprained ankle, my obsession became the Nintendo DS Lite. Now that I’ve bought the DS Lite (and my tennis racquet!), I’ve moved onto a newer, most expensive to date obsession: the Toyota Prius. I’m scared to see what’s next after the Prius. A new house? I suppose it’s a good thing I won’t be able to afford one after the Prius.

I spent the entire day today at lab reading about the Prius and debating over whether we can afford it and whether we should hunt down a 2006 model or wait for the new 2007s. Funny, my whole obsession started because of my post about the flaming red Hummer parking in front of my house. After writing the line about the Prius, I got to thinking to myself, “Why not get one?” The idea simmered in the back of my mind until this last weekend when we parked next to a Prius at the grocery store. I told my husband I wanted one. And he said okay, citing the October 1st ending of the full IRS tax credit as being a good incentive. He probably didn’t think I was serious when he gave his approval (which doesn’t really matter because I call the shots here ). But what was a passing interest has turned into a full-fledged obsession.

We even test drove one yesterday. I can’t really tell if I love a car when I test drive it, so it wasn’t really helpful except that it alerted me of some things that might be issues: I can’t see the front of my hood with this car (how will I parallel park?!), the rear window is hard to see out of (especially if the back passenger seat headrests are raised), no seat position memory (okay, what do I expect—a luxury car?), and it feels like a boat (well, duh, since my current car is a sports car). These are all minor issues that I can get used to. But even so, I still find myself asking if I’m ready to give up driving my cooler sports car for a geeky practical environmentally friendly car. I thought I was, but the difference was quite noticeable when I test drove the Prius. Can I really give up my coolness—the fact that I can pass for a college kid? If it were any other sedan, I wouldn’t even think twice—the answer would be a resounding no. But the Prius…it’s so tempting because I think it’s cool, just not in the same way that I think of my current car. And I really want to do my part, even if it’s not really benefiting me in terms of saving gas money. I guess it’ll be okay because I’ll still be able to drive my current car when I want a break from being geeky cool.

But then there’s the issue of actually getting one. The tax break on the Prius is set to be reduced by 50% starting October 1st. That means I have to have the car in my possession by September 30th to qualify. And this tax break is by no means a small sum of money. So we’re trying to hunt down an 06 with the package that we want and we actually found two in acceptable colors today in our area. But we don’t want to pay full MSRP, which is what they want. Even more bothersome is the fact that the 2007 model is coming out soon (but not in time to meet the tax break deadline). It’s not much different from the 2006 model and I wouldn’t care except for the fact that they’re offering a Touring edition, which is supposed to be sportier, which is awfully tempting. It just might give me what I need to not feel like I switched over to driving a granny car. So the ultimate question is: get a 2006 Prius and the big tax break or wait for the 2007 Touring edition and get half the tax break? Gah. I can’t decide.