I bought my 2009 Prius at Charles Toyota in March last year. As a REALTOR® a 20K lease always has worked out. My whole life I've been a German engineering fan only owning VW, Audi or BMW. 6 years ago I had a BMW convertible that was pretty tricked out and loved it. After two in a row that made go broke replacing sensors and computer components (the car simply wouldn't run without these prone fail components) I turned to my first lease and bought fully loaded VW Passat. I really loved that car but it too was prone to many failures and even had to have the engine replaced. All under warranty of course, but it certainly didn't make it a great car ownership experience.

As I've been green at heart for way longer than my love of fast and nimble German cars, the unreliability turned me to a Prius. Yes I had to adjust to not coming off the line like a elk in rut, I found myself loving this car and the technology within like no other. I'm 57 and pretty much a hippie still with a long gray ponytail so many say that I fit the part: A hippie, Prius driving, eco-green REALTOR®  who just loves renewable energy and keeping the planet healthy.

Although I bought by Prius from Charles Toyota in Norwich because of my sister's relationship with management there, I've always gone to Lorensen Toyota in Old Saybrook because my River To Shore Group Real Estate group is in the quaint village of Essex at 35 Main Street at the Page Taft GMAC Real Estate office.

Even though I bought my car at another dealership, everyone at Lorensen treated me as though I bought it from them. Suffice it to say that I was surprised when service coordinator Gregg Garafalo offered me a 2010 Prius to drive when my 5 hour service was being done so I didn't have to wait for as I've done for all other short service pit stops.

Gregg Garafalo, a fellow iPhone fan, is always smiling and ready to help.

I wasn't out of the lot with the gen 3 version with this leading edge hybrid when I realized this way beyond what I was driving in the gen 2 that I was more than happy with just a minute ago.

After becoming familiar with all of the new features in this larger, more spacious model, I fell more and more in love with it. It's got more power, more responsive drive train, offers a power mode to jump out on the highway with confidence, and and ECO mode that I used most of the day, and a full EV mode for those rare occasions where I might run out of gas and need a couple of free miles sans gas engine to grab some fuel (believe it or not I ran out of fuel 3 time with my gene 2 and the batteries got me to a petrol station each and every time).

When I brought it back to pick up the car it was beyond service hours and I had to go through the sales room. I walked by the cordial business manage Keith and told him how much I loved the new car and was disappointed that they didn't offer a back up camera that I've come to rely upon on a daily basis. He called over salesperson Della Hamberg and he asked her to answer my question. She quickly and eagerly brought me out to a model that had the optional touch screen navigation system to show me the new layout with the impressive sweeping console that reposition the sci-fi like transmission control that is a kind of fly-by-wire control.

Della Hamberg, Sales Associate Extraordinaire

As I was thanking her for her time and telling her how I look forward to my lease coming due she asked if I'd like her to figure out how I could get one sooner. I explained I didn't want to waste her time, that I've only owned my car for 11 months and at this point was over mileage by 11K and still had 6 weeks to go before the 1 year mark ticked off my mental counter.

Della, a consummate pro with a wonderful and laid back demeanor presented the first set of numbers to me for the fully loaded Package 5 car I told her I built on-line when them came out to see where they'd be priced out and I nearly threw up blood. I thought as much I told her but she didn't give up. She simply asked where did the numbers have to be to make the deal happen. Mind you I was just picking up my car for service and here I was now in a very low key negotiation going back and fort to see how this could be done. Within 45 minutes with a little give and take from both sides I was giving her my credit card to bring down the new white gen 3 Prius I thought I'd be waiting 2+ more years to drive of in.

The members of this dealership from the service coordinator to the sales manager were beyond nice, supremely professional, and just the opposite of the stereotypical dealership experience one expects. Suffice it to say from me that this is the finest automobile purchase experience I've ever had. They made me a deal that was more than fair and was easily justifiable to do. Once it passed muster with my better half I drove of the lot feeling like a little kid on Christmas 3pm the following day…just 21 hours later.

Della and Keith and one other member of the team triple teamed me to give me the most special send off. I drove off the lot with a loaded metallic white genii 3 Prius with gray leather heated seats (a feature not available in the genii 2) and was levitating from all the new features, solid feel, and luxurious appointments. Toyota had more than corrected and improved upon their previous efforts as though they were all my ideas. I can play my iPod without wires using the built-in multi-channel bluetooth connection and listen in style on the rich JBL sound system. That same connection seamlessly hands off to the phone when I make a call or wish to answer one. It's an elegant solution to the clumsy but functional audio in function from before. What's more there is a USB 2.0 plug in the console that allows me to plug in my off the shelf iPhone cable to charge it up.

If you want to know more about this car I guess you'll have to go see Della and experience it for yourself. After you buy it you'll soon be great buds with Gregg and his other pleasant colleagues. The sales Manager José is certainly not like many I've met who sit in this chair so don't be bashful. They won't beat you up and it will be a great experience.

BTW: They tell me that if you tell Mick Marsden sent you they will give me $50 to a local restaurant. So if you do, let's meet for dinner!

Visit: http://lorensentoyota.com/Default.aspx