Prius Owners

[sharkasm]

[mik377]

Props to those for driving Priuses and other gas savers. I hate driving with a roof rack period (wind noise, mileage suffering etc.) so I came up with a more radical approach. I removed the front right seat and fold down rear seat out of my compact sedan which allowed me to fit 2 boards (a hifly free 155 ltr. and a wave board, 3 sails, 2 masts, boom etc you get the point)- all inside the car. I think this would work for many cars.
One caveat- your carpool buddies may get annoyed when you pull up to pick them up.

[polarbear]

Hey Rebecca!

I bought a Toyota Matrix XR'07 that I use for my commute East Bay-Marin. I bought it especially because it has a LOT of cargo space, which is ideal when I carry my limited gear (i.e. two boards, four sails, two masts one boom). With the flat cargo, I can put all of this and still have a passenger in the left back seat. I can even sleep in it!!! I have not put a rack on it, and don't intend to do so as I can take the Quest for longer trips, visiting clients, carrying more gear (i.e. too much crap-four boards, eight sails ah! ah! ah!) kinda outings.

Mileage is combined city-hwy 27-28mpg, around 32-33 highway (a very realistic number). I am very satisfied about the Matrix. It's nervous, comfortable for a small car, easy to park (small!) and way cheaper than the Prius. 2007 is the last year Toyota made that model. They're supposed to come out with something new next year. Now is the time to make a deal on one of these as dealerships are trying to get rid of them to make space for the new cars. We got it at $2500 below retail price almost 9 months ago. We got it at a price that suited our budget. I'm sure there are good deals around. Toyota Marin are giving us superb customer service. I highly recommend them.

Isa

[windbetty]

Thanks everyone for the input. Here's how things are going on my end.

I test drove a bunch of vehicles including the Prius. As much as I conceptually love this car, it won't be our new vehicle. The electronic milage display was distorted and made me feel dizzy looking at it and I didn't like the computer screen in the middle of the dash board either. But both of those could have been overlooked were it not for 2 other factors. First, the seat were enormously un-ergonomic. My partner had two herniated discs and back surgery. She could not sit comfortably in the car at all. This included trying to use the lumbar support. The second issue was the back seat. While the car had much more length wise cargo space than I anticipated, the back seat was way too cramped. I am barely 5'2" tall and when I sit in the back seat, there is only about 2 inches of clearance above my head. Anyone over 5'4" would have to hunch forward. The back seats were clearly made for children, pets or shorties like me. Unfortunately, I do have more than 2 adults in my car often....so it's a no-go.

Of the cars I tried, I actually liked the Honda CRV the best. It gets about the same milage as my Jetta w/roof racks, but has a lot more storage - overall. But I'm still scouting around for other solutions. I tried the Matrix and that is on my potential list for now.

As for diesels, I was told by the VW people that they were not going to be allowed into California. Does anyone know the new diesels will be coming into the states at all and if so, why not CA?

Thanks,
-Rebecca

[carl]

Hi Rebecca
Since it's back to the drawing board on your search, I will add some input from my extensive windsurfing vehicle search. As for the small cars
on my list, the Subaru Outback made it to the short list. Lots of equip space inside and a smooth comfortable ride. C.R. likes it's reliability
and safety numbers too.

[ERROR!!!]

My new Prius is in the garage waiting for wind. I will put my equipment on the inside. I will place a large tarp over the reclined seats on the passenger side. There's lots of room for my board, booms, masts, sails, harness and other equipment. I'm going to save lots of money on gasoline. I purchased a trailer hitch mount off of the internet (Coastal Technologies) and bought a rack for carrying bicycles that inserts into the trailer hitch slot. I'm not going to put a roof rack on it because it would spoil the gas mileage and decrease power. Roof rack mounts can increase the likelihood of rust. Things are easily stolen off of roof racks. I'll be sure to secure the load inside the car to prevent it from moving if there is a collision. I am comfortable driving it but I can always use pillows to make the seat more comfortable if I need it. End America's dependence on foreign oil!

[sergem]

[carl]

[SWE106]

If you are concerned with visibility, and your car (such as a prius, spectra5, or matrix) doesn't come standard with tinted passenger and rear windows, get your windows tinted. According to california law, you can have ur back and rear windows as dark as you want, but your front driver and passenger windows must have at least 70% visibility. I put 20% (5% is limo black) in my back and rear (50% in front... oops illegal) and it's really difficult to look through the back. Best thing, from the inside you hardly notice it is tinted, visibity is almost as normal. Only when it is dark, you loose some contrast, but nothing that would compromise safty.

Besides visibility, your car and equipment will also stay much cooler (reduced sunlight), when parked, and it also reduces the need for running the A/C while driving: better gasmileage! And, if you have kids, they won't get fried in the back seat.

Last but not least, it also looks "cool", if you think that's important. Black windows optically lower your roofline, so your car looks more zoomy...(that's why all cars in commercials have tinted black windows all around!!)

For ~$200 you can get your windows tinted. I did it on our prius in the rear and back and it is really worth it. My spectra5 is tinted all around (add an extra $75).

If you decide to tint your front windows with less than 70%, CHP can pull you over and give you a $10 "fix it" ticket. It's not because of safety-issues (as said, YOUR visibility is still almost as good as normal) that they don't want it, but because law enforcers may have a hard time looking into your car to see what's going own, especially when they pull you over. Fully understandable.

[windbetty]

Lot's of great advice here - as usual. Thanks so much for all of the response.

Yes, I have thought about the issue of getting boards on and off a taller car like the CRV. Wagons do appeal to me more, but I have to check out a bunch. I love the thought of the diesel, but it doesn't sound like it's going to hit CA any time soon.

This is a hard call for sure and will take some investigating over the next few months.