Our new car is a thrifty green machine

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We had loved our Volkswagen for 10 years.  It had taken us on many trips, hauled around our children and been a commuting car.  The past few years, it's been a death trap.  It was no longer safe for SO many reasons, and it was time to get a new car.  :-)

Let me say that we are not car people.  So long as it looks somewhat respectable, is affordable, gets decent gas mileage, and reliable, we're okay with it. 

Still, in our minds car shopping is equal to having a cavity filled.  No thanks.

Luckily, my uncle is a Toyota sales manager.  He helped us find our minivan when son #3 was in utero, and we turned to him again to help us find a new (used) car.

We did a lot of research, looked through the inventory, and my husband made the wise decision to go with a 2009 Toyota Yaris.  This is mainly his car, to be used for his 75-mile round trip daily drive to work.  We looked into a Prius, but those actually get better gas mileage for city driving (when it runs on mainly electric - I think it uses mostly gas on highway).  Plus they cost a lot more, and we were worried about repair bills (we have a local neighborhood guy do our car repairs once warranties expire, and we figured a hybrid engine would be a bit much for him).

We've had it for a couple of weeks, and are really happy with it.  It drives very similar to the Volkswagen as far as handling goes - really responsive, tight curves.  Now the best part.  Ready for the mileage report?  The official Toyota report claims 29 mpg city, 35 mpg highway.  Hah!  My husband recently reported this week's mileage to me, as well as how much gas.  We computed it..... and we're getting over 45 miles per gallon!  And that's with the 4-door sedan Yaris, not the 2-door hatchback.

That's great for a standard gasoline engine!  Hybrids are just a bit too pricey for us, so we did the next best thing we could, and we're getting gas mileage almost as good as the hybrids.

It's time for a happy dance.

Thanks for visiting the All-Natural-Mama Blog, home to Wishful Acres Organic Farm!