Third time’s a charm. So for the third time in the last 12 years, I ended up buying another Toyota. This time it was a Prius and it’s been such a joy so far.

As the summer faded away, my procrastinated mind finally settled to buy a car and replace the Camry that was bought nearly 11 years ago. Given that this was a commuter car, I started to look for an AWD SUV. The new Honda CRV was my first choice, given it was redesigned inside out this year. And when I visited a local dealership, not only they didn’t have a CRV in stock but they also didn’t show any salesmanship in trying to persuade me to buy one. The car wasn’t bad at all, except for the weird taillight situation.

Back at a friend’s place, he showed me his newly bought Toyota Prius which apparently was driving at 55+ mpg. So I test drove a Toyota RAV 4 and the Prius. The Prius was hands-down a better car. There was a night and day difference in the driving experience between Prius and other ICE cars. It was smooth driving, relatively quiet and had a quirky personality to it. From then it was an easy decision to buy a Prius because it was the most efficient car in the hybrid market.

So I’ve been driving it for the past few months. What do I liked about it? Everything – The drive quality, interiors, JBL speakers, maneuverability and of course the king of reasons to buy a hybrid – fuel economy. So far I’ve been averaging at 58 MPG despite the dropping temperatures. What do I hate about it? Nothing at all. I’m sure the styling of taillights look obnoxious to guy behind me but it doesn’t bother me at all. That’s probably why the car was rear ended within a week. But that’s another story for another day. The Entune entertainment system needs an overhaul but given that one can operate everything via Bluetooth from the phone, its bearable.

The best feature of Prius is the driving feedback loop. The digital buffet of data that’s available in front of the driver would make every one of us a better driver. There’s a rating for your overall drive, a quick feedback about the fast turn you just made and the lifetime driving average. Basically the data is gamified to the point, one can say its the best real-life car game ever made. It certainly helped me realize how all these days I was overstepping on the gas.

It’s easy to stereotype a Prius owner as listening to Fleetwood Mac or NPR, shopping at the nearby Trader Joe’s and talking about environment friendliness. But it’s also easy to make fun of the geeks. Regardless, they always strike back with their smarts and the latest Prius is certainly a nerd strike-back car.

Previously – Honda Toyota 1 & Honda Toyota 2