2010 Toyota Prius Prius II

Pros

better than average MPG, smooth ride

Cons

poor visibility, slow acceleration

Purchased As New

I was a bit apprehensive about the impartiality of some early reviews that I read online (e.g. reviews written in the spring and claiming months of positive experience with the 2010 model), but was attracted by the promise of high MPG and prodded by the wife who wanted a "green" car. I stayed away from the built-in "high-tech" gadgets: such devices usually have a shorter life expectancy than the rest of the car, their technology becomes obsolete pretty fast, and better and cheaper ones could be purchased separately. Why to pay thousands for a built-in GPS and some Bluetooth functionality, when a portable device with these features is about $200 and the new Bluetooth 3 format will arrive in several month? Prius II had all the essentials that I needed. When I finally got it, there were some pleasant and some less pleasant surprises.
I was worried about the cargo space, but it proves to be roomy enough. The car is very responsive and the commute feels comfortable. I am still worried that its belly is so close to the ground that it will end up stuck in the snow in winter (my dealer claims that this is not a problem). It is very quiet most of the time, except when some charging mechanism briefly kicks in.
As I expected, acceleration is sluggish. Moreover, whenever you accelerate, MPG drops into the range worthy of a Hummer. When your daily commute includes coming on and off busy highways, it is hard to keep your MPG near 50. Sure, I still get a better MPG than a standard car, but I did not realize before that Prius requires a pricier grade of gas (88 and higher). So, the cost saving is lower than I expected.
The controls take some time to get used to. The dashboard displays information about the operation of the car in a cartoonish form, which is entertaining, but may be distractive for some. The display is ideally positioned and has some ingenious features that pop up only when you touch the respective controls. As many other reviewers I am puzzled why "Park" is a separate button, and why you need to shift the stick forward in order to go in reverse and shift it backwards in order to go forward. What is worse, going in reverse turns on a siren. This may be a good safety feature, but not when you have a sleeping child in the car.
My biggest disappointment is visibility. The windshield looks big, but it is positioned at such a sharp angle that the visible area is quite narrow. The rearview mirror obscures a surprisingly big part of it. The rear view is split into two parts: regular (but very narrow) rear window and a transparent strip built into the back of the trunk. These two parts differ in color and are separated by a wide non-transparent strip. Very awkward! I also wonder how would the glass part of the trunk survive in a small fender-bender.
I remain puzzled about the utility of the three driving modes. "Electric vehicle" will drain you battery in less than 1 mile and, actually, is not recommended for gas economy (I guess, it takes a lot of gas to fully recharge the battery). The "economy" and "power" modes are turned on and off by default depending on your driving, so why to set them manually? For example, if you choose "economy" and then accelerate, it will switch to "power" anyway.
Overall, after some getting-used-to time, I learned to enjoy the vehicle. Now I am waiting for another spike in gas prizes to laugh back at all those who are passing me on the highway.