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Birth Announcement follows. (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/in-the-news/t-one-of-cleanmpgs-own-has-a-new-addition-to-the-family-4688.html)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Larry_s_Prius_II_Front.jpg Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG (www.cleanmpg.com) - May 20, 2007

I am proud to present the newest addition to DiamondLarry’s family and the CleanMPG community as a whole. Please welcome a brand new 2,890 # Seaside Pearl Prius - package 3 born on May 19, 2007 at 04:00 PM in the town of Burns Harbor, Indiana.

With a new job and a 70 mile daily commute, up from 30 looming, Larry Trowbridge and his wife decided on doing something a bit different then they have done in the past. That something was to purchase a brand new Prius of course! Larry is one of the premiere non-hybrid hypermilers in the country and has finally succumbed to the siren song of the hybrid electric vehicle.

For someone who has pushed older Saturn’s to fuel economy numbers nobody on the planet has ever seen before, what convinced Larry and his wife to purchase one of the premiere hybrids on the market today? Could it have been a decision made in haste? Not a chance as he has been scouring the online boards for new and used Prius’ and HCH-I’s/II’s for almost a year. Did this choice arrive because of the lengthier commute? Not entirely. Was it the charm and attraction of the Prius’ profile? Possibly. What really prompted the Trowbridge’s to purchase this highly reliable, mid-sized hybrid hatch was the online community of fellow hybrid drivers convincing them that it is the right thing to do. Let us all congratulate Larry and his wife for not only making a great choice for themselves but an excellent selection for us all.

The only real question is who will be driving it? I suspect Larry would like to be the sole driver but I am sure his wife will have something to say about that :D

Good Luck with the new Prius Larry. You certainly deserve it!

Just a friendly reminder, if you think you might want a CAN-View (http://hybridinterfaces.ca) get it NOW. Norm is discontinuing production of them at the end of the month.....

Oh, and congrats DL!

:)

Good luck with the new ride.

psy

Congratulations DiamondLarry!

Many happy miles!

Congrats, Larry!! I'm jealous!!

:D

Congratulations!

Congrats, Larry! Man, these things just keep multiplying. :D I hope you and your family enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine. Now go find everything that Hobbit has written and read it all!

Awesome! Congratulations Larry, on both the car & the job. I can't wait to see your daily post grinds. Your skills, plus a rural commute, plus a Prius? That's beautiful.

My only question is.........is your longer commute (35 miles each way?) short enough to pull off a P&G the whole way & avoid the highway? If it is, lord help us all :)

Nice car! :Banane10:

(Exactly line mine, the same color, except I don't have the fog lights) ;)

Harry

Congratulations!!

Now you have to come to HybridFest ;)

11011011

Congrats Larry!

Can't wait for you to post some Teddy-girl like numbers from your rural commute ;)

woo woo. congrats!

Congratulations Larry and family. We're all anxious to see what new limits you'll be reaching with a hybrid. I was also happy to hear that your passion is rubbing off on your son too.

You've been a role model for us all and we look forward to new heights in your Prius.

Why don't you all come up for our Hybrid Gathering at Miller Park on June 3rd. We have enough tickets for you're whole family. We'd love to see them and see your new Prius.

Best of luck and I'm very happy for you, your family, your new job and your new Prius.

Bradlee
Milwaukee Hybrid Group

mua hahaha come join the light side! Its all on the right foot now ;)

mua hahaha come join the light side! Its all on the right foot now ;)


Haha. My employer has an annual benefits enrollment in July, and I suggested that we start offering "right foot disability". It was a non-starter. :)

Thanks for all the congrats. The first thing I want to say is how well my son did on the trip back home from the dealership. He was driving my Saturn and he managed to pull off a 57+ mpg segment for the 63 mile trip.:woot: This was the first time he drove the car.

Dan-Wayne has already been twisting my arm about going to Hybridfest. I need to go to the site and get registered soon.

Efusco-I think I'll stick with my Scanguage2 since I probably won't be driving my Saturn much for awhile.

mparrish-~90% of my new route will still be rural. There is a stretch of road that is 55 mph but it is a 4-lane road so I'm not going to worry too much about traffic. It's just a question of whether or not I want to drag the commute out that long. A couple of weeks ago I travelled the route and it took about 30 minutes for each leg.(from home to the wife's work then from the wife's work to my work) I should clarify a bit on the new job. My wife's shop is planning on moving to a larger building so neither of us is actually getting a new job. Funny you should mention the "right foot disability." The top of my right foot was pretty sore yesterday afternoon.;)

Earthling-Great minds think alike.:)

Bradlee-Thanks for the kind words. I hope my numbers in the future will make everyone proud. As for the Miller Park trip, I won't be able to make that gathering. If it was on a Saturday it would be much easier. When is the next Oak Creek meeting going to be? I'm pretty sure I would be able to make it there. Tom already decided that we would take my car that time if we ride together. Maybe we could even stop by and kidnap Wayne too.:D

Right Lane Cruiser-Sorry we had to put you through the suspense. I only hope it was worth the wait.:)

My numbers weren't very spectacular for today. I've GOT to get my engine block heater and get it installed. PRONTO! Only 53.7 for the day.:(

Congratulations Larry! I'm happy for you... and yes a bit jealous :D It should be great fun to watch you pull some great numbers from the Prius.

I'll offer my (somewhat belated) congratulations. Love the color! Don't love the added pressure to perform.;)

Larry congrats on your car, I know you're going to have a lot of fun with it!

Congratulations Larry! :) :) :)

I can't wait to see the numbers you get now! :D

Congrats Larry!

You're lucky to have gotten one. I've been on the phone today trying to find a new Prius. My wife has finally said that she wants one. Our son is home from college for the summer and she has filled the Nissan Truck and Toyota Solara both up this week at $50 each. One of the dealers that has a few Prius has jacked the price to $1000 over sticker. I told him I would not be shopping on his lot. Does anyone know of any dealers in KY, MO, IL, or IN that is still discounting?

Hi Larry:

___It is truly amazing to see the online community support you with all that can be offered. I feel very fortunate to have been able to cover the blessed event first hand ;)

___Msirach, now is probably not the time to be shopping Prius’ at MSRP and MSRP + type numbers. Larry picked up on a decent deal but try and hold off until fall/winter when gasoline prices have tempered somewhat (hopefully???) and some snow is on the ground for the steal of a deal. There is no national emergency and there are plenty of Prius’ to go around. Anybody that pays over MSRP for a depreciating asset is usually sorry after the fact and I hope you can hold off until just the right deal comes along. It was not but 2 months ago and Prius were being picked up for Invoice. I am sure that is still the case in some parts of the country. If you can hold off, I am sure you will be rewarded handsomely.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

I'll try Wayne.
I've got to catch the moment though. If she's in the mood, I better deal!
I've got three to look at tomorrow evening if there's enough time. I have found a Chevy dealer that has a used 05 with 30,000 and is asking less than NADA. It is $6000 less than other 05's I've found locally with comparable or more miles. I Carfaxed it and found it had been in a fender bender.

#2 is a new Prius. No mark-up. I have the Nissan to trade and I know what I want out of it.

#3 is a new HCH. No mark-up. It's the local dealer that did my IMA work and I emailed them the pic of my fcd yesterday with 90.2mpg showing at 48.2 miles. I also emphasized that I was definitely buying a NEW Insight replacement in 09.

I'll probably come home mad. Oh well, "nothing ventured, nothing gained!":confused:

A part of me kind of feels like laying down the "gauntlet" for Larry. :)

Larry's Saturn skills, plus the new Prius, plus the long 30 mile rural commute, plus the fact that his first tank is already pushing 70, are just begging for some numbers never seen before.

A number of us log our tanks at GreenHybrid too. A good number of drivers have 700 mile tanks. VaBeachPrius & Carl Hurschik have a handful of 800 mile tanks, and Carl even has a 903 mile tank from last year.

But to my knowledge, nobody in Europe or North America (ok, nobody named "Teddy Girl") has been able to secure a real-world commute tank of 1000 miles.

No pressure Larry. :) I know you are still getting a feel for your new Prius, and break-in is still to come. But at some point, I figure your numbers will be in a class all by themselves.

Is a 1000 mile real-world tank possible? Some of you nay-sayers may say NO. My response? If Larry can't pull if off, then I guess I'll concede you are right.

700, 800, 900, or 1000 miles, it will be fun for me to watch!

mparrish-You probably already know that I will give it my best sgot at a 1000 mile tank.:) I can tell you that I'm at ~250 miles and I STILL have all of my pips left.:D Today is taking it's toll on the 70 mpg mark. Temps are at ~90F and the wife made a minor complaint about the heat so I compromised and set the A/C to 85F. I'll post today's numbers in the other thread later on.

I want to thank everyone for the kind comments. I also want to especially thank Wayne for doing a great job on the write-up:bananajump: