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oh yeah - don't forget that a new Prius needs a long break-in period before you start seeing maximum fuel efficiency - some say as much as 20,000 kms...

The country figures you posted look about right to me- the more highway driving you do, the lower your mileage in the Pruis as the gas engine is always on at higher speeds. It really does best on Japanese country roads where you can cruise forever at 50 to 80 kms/hr. Compared with other vehicles, its hard to complain if you are getting over 20kms/litre - Toyota doesn't really need to bs about mileage. I'm going shopping for Intake Magic tomorrow for both my Prius and the Delica diesel - I especially hope it works in the Delica - I hardly use it anymore after getting the Prius.

I have heard about Intake Magic - is it available at all the car supply places? I would like to try one on my Delica Diesel 4X4 - if it works on a turbo diesel. New Hybird systems are now available in SUVs and vans - but early adopter prices are still very high. Intake Magic might help make the wait time more efficient - I'll try one if it will fit in my van.

I think you'll find that you don't need to change your driving habits much at all to get amazing mileage. I read all the driving technique posts and have experimented a lot but my wife (who does not care about the details and just drives) got the same or better mileage than I did. Now I just drive and we average about 23 kms/litre which is just fine with me and above the figures on the site in your link. In February when it was cold, we averaged about 21 kms/litre so the weather is a factor. Short trips (to the beer store and back) will lower your average, longer trips are better. We expect o

The rear view is fine but I have read that although the split window in the new model may seem strange, apparently is doesn't interfere with driving... We have access to a licenced auction dealer and pay only a small fee in addition to the wholesale price so we did get a great deal - I have been tracking the auction prices again because I will buy another one but the prices are going up due to demand for used Prius' even in Japan.

I bought a 2001 Prius for my wife in January - got it used with about 70,000kms for 600,000. I was also concerned about power, battery, reliability etc but after 4 months of really enjoying the car, I have to buy another one for my wife cause I keep using hers. I commute about 100kms to Tokyo 2 or 3 times a week and the Prius has already saved me about 80,000 yen in fuel compared to my van. With both electric and gas motors running, it has plenty of power when you need it (who needs to go over 160 kms/hour anyway?) Reliability is reported to be better than average cars because you have 2

I've just put in an offer on land today - if it goes through, I'll be ordering a kit home from Canada. I am negotiating now to see how much extra it will cost to add solar panels to the kit. By importing the house, we are saving about 40% of the cost of building a similar sized Japanese home and we will have insulation and, well, a real house... I expect by importing the panels, we will save quite a bit - should have pricing sorted out in a coupel of weeks. The land we hope to buy has its own supply of natural gas - already tapped. It should provide a free supply of heat for water and win

I've been married for 14 years and my wife uses her own family name in Japan and Canada. No problems or confusion. I use my own name as well. Kids have 2 passports - the Japanese passports have the Japanese family name as the official surname and my surname is in brackets - it makes it easier if they are travelling only with me. (it can be a real problem if you are travelling with your kids and surnames do not match- especially US immigration) The Canadian passport uses the Japanese name as a middle name. This way they can choose what works best for them and we have never had a prob

I am sitting in a Hakuba restaurant now - taking a break from the rain. Snowing on top now but it looks like it is trying to clear - still lots of snow here even at the bottom and this extended weekend trip has been better than I thought - mostly because I am not in as much pain as I expected... There is enough snow left here that we will try and excape the city for another weekend before the season is really over.

If you are having trouble viewing videos (any videos) on a Mac, download and use Video Lan Player. It's available here: http://www.videolan.org/ ...it plays everything...

Thanks! I am calling them today...

when I threatened to go alone, I ended up with the whole family - which is fine with me! When I said "cheap" in my original post, I didn't mean rooms with discarded needles and ODing JET setters... What I would like is a few days of skiing at our own pace without J-Pop blaring from the lift towers and a place where I can get away without worrying about being fined for wearing toilet slippers in the dining room...

This is my first post here - greetings from an ex-ski bum (Kitzbuhel 5 years, Whistler 3yrs) dying to get out for the first time in a long time... I am trying to find a place to take my wife and 2 kids and would love to hear recommendations for a place with reasonable skiing, an onsen/gym facility and 2 to 3 hours drive from Tokyo... We plan to leave Sunday afternoon (March 20), ski Mon, Tues, Wed and then head back. Is there a gaijin friendly place we can call to find out prices etc? We have called a few places but the packages have so many rules and are not flexible so its ha