Let's Go Places: Toyota Prius V

Toyota was kind enough to lend me this sweet Prius v for a week while I was in LA    attending the Latina Lifestyle Bloggers Conference. Dude, this ride def. saved us a lot of time and money! Did I mention it's a HYBRID and we spent no money on gas the week we had it?!

We had never driven a Hybrid before sitting behind the wheel of this Blue Ribbon Metallic Prius v and we were psyched to explore LA with it!

Some of the first things we noticed while cruising in the new 2013 Prius v is that the trunk in the rear is HUGE, 34.3 cu ft HUGE! We learned that the trunk of this Prius v is larger than that of most small SUVS. Phew, because we had a ton of luggage!!

Like most Toyota cars now a days, the seats in the back are very flexible, adding even MORE space for storage in the back. While we were arranging some of our things in the trunk one day, we noticed that there was an additional storage compartment under the carpet lining...which would be perfect for storing things like a first aid kit or even an extra pair of flats and heels ;)

The Prius v has an awesome panoramic roof that we tried opening for several minutes. Picture me pressing the "open" button for literally ten minutes and just having the shades continuously open and close a bunch of times until realizing the roof wasn't meant to open! It was cool to look up and get a different view.

We also spent a lot of time playing with the technology in Prius v. The 7 inch high resolution touch screen was a whole learning experience of its own hehehe. We had never driven a car with one in it, so we had a lot of fun playing around with all of the cool commands and apps. I think our favorite was the backup camera! It was just a breath of fresh air while trying to park especially in tiny spots! The navigation was a little tricky, but I think that's because we had never used one before.

While driving around in LA we quickly realized that the gas engine would shut off if we would slow down to 19mph or come to a complete stop. Don't worry, the electric motor would takeover right away. I picture the gas and electric motors like a relay team...hahaha. GO HYBRIDS!

We also noticed that there were buttons with ECO, EV and POWER labelled on them and we had no clue what each did. So while we sat in the car, we googled it and Toyota answered "different modes for different types of driving. ECO Mode helps maximize fuel economy. EV Mode runs solely on battery power for up to one half mile under certain conditions and POWER Mode increases gas pedal response for enhanced acceleration."  

We had an absolute blast driving throughout LA and it's neighboring cities in the Toyota Prius v. Honestly got me thinking that a road trip in this car would be so smooth and comfortable!

What do you think of the Prius v?

Disclosure: Latina Lifestyle Bloggers Collective and Toyota offered me a chance to test drive the Prius v for a week. All opinions and photos are my own.