[USMA:41078] Re: Werlings' recent trip in our 2007 Toyota Prius

[Jon Saxton]

Norm: Have you ever considered having the on-board display converted to metric?  I believe it can be done.  When I was living in Seattle I asked the local dealership about it and was told that it is fairly simple.  Unfortunately I found that out about 2 days before leaving and I haven't asked the dealership here in Brooklyn yet. Norman & Nancy Werling wrote: Here are the statistics for our trip to Maryland for Jacob Bullock's ( Lynda Werling Bullock's son and my grandson) high school graduation.  The trip extended to Connecticut and eventually a visit with Tom and Kathy Schwarz on the way to and from the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, NY.  Tom is a son of my recently deceased oldest sister, Viola Werling Schwarz.   Toyota is selling the Prius as fast as they can produce them and ship them to the US, so we probably paid full price for ours in June 2007.  As gasoline continues to rise in price,over the years that premium will probably be recouped since our payments are a fixed cost whereas gasoline prices are a variable cost which will continue to rise.    Obviously we believe in hybrids.  Why did Detroit ignore making these for so long and why are their attempts now still so lame?   Our trip was 2513.1 miles during which we bought 48.895 gallons at a cost of $194.97 which averaged $3.979 per gallon.  Dividing 2513.1 by 48.895 gallons results in 51.39 miles per gallon.  Using the factor for converting miles per US gallon, here is the conversion: 235.215 ÷ 51.396 MPG = 4.576 L/100km.   We feel that we noticed semi-trailer rigs driving more slowly during the trip.  We assume they have finally accepted that slowing down conserves fuel and wonder why automobile and pickup truck drivers haven't learned the same thing.   Nomran and Nancy