From skeptic to smitten

The first time I drove Laurel Canyon Boulevard, I’d been living in Studio City in the San Fernando Valley for about 10 weeks. This is mostly due to the fact that I’m not a particularly skilled driver. I know this and I’m OK with it. I’m all about being self-aware, and as driving isn’t my strong suit, I often encourage others to do the driving, even if that means they drive my car. 

Alas, that’s neither here nor there. The point is, when I finally got the courage to take the wheel and navigate Laurel Canyon for the first time, I was at the helm of my roommate’s 2007 Toyota Prius. This also coincided with the first time I’d driven a hybrid of any kind. Normally, Andy would never let me drive. She encourages me to let others to take the wheel, as she’s all too familiar with the mishaps I seem to encounter when left to my own devices to man a two-ton metal machine. Suffice it to say, Andy was buzzed. 

I hopped into the driver’s seat at Barney’s Beanery, after watching the Lakers take a beating from the Celtics. After brief instructions, whereby Andy showed me how to insert the key, how to push the half-dollar-sized power button to turn the little sucker on, and how to navigate the tiny little Pole Position gear-shift, I realized I had fallen in love. This little hatchback had clearly been designed with driving-impaired consumers like me in mind. I’m pretty sure a 4-year-old could drive it.

After one final assurance from Andy that the Prius was, in fact, running (cross my heart I could not hear the engine), I hung a left onto Santa Monica Boulevard to head back to Crescent Heights, then went back over the hill to the Valley.

The drive went from fun to a total hoot. This little car ruled. It was zippy; the turning radius on it was tight. Loose? Whatever, I liked the way it handled. I traversed Laurel Canyon with aplomb all the while starting to wonder if I hadn’t misjudged hybrid owners. Maybe they weren’t just trendy hipsters, trying to look all eco-friendly and therefore more socially conscious than I. 

I should explain that I’m something of a skeptic … about everything: global warming, the merits of driving a hybrid, McCain’s ulterior motives, you name it. So even though Andy had been vehemently proclaiming for months that trading in her Sequoia for the Prius was one of the best decisions she’d ever made, I’d been a doubter.

This was, of course, before I had driven the little go-cart. As it turned out, this car was so far up my alley, it had made a little cul-de-sac in my heart to park in.

The rest of the drive I listened to Andy recount all the many benefits of owning the Prius, while I schemed and plotted to somehow convince her to let me drive it ALL THE TIME. I even tried to sell her on the benefits of the XT, thinking a car swap might be in order. 

“You sit up real high, so you can see better in the Xterra. It’s so much safer.”
She dismissed my unsubstantiated claim with a wave around the roomy interior. “This thing has airbags everywhere, it’s totally safe.”

“But you can’t drive in the carpool lane, even though it’s a hybrid.”

“So? I can park for free everywhere and it only costs me $40 to fill it from empty. It’s economical.”

“Yeah, but did your insurance go down?” I demanded, sure that I’d finally found the catch.

“Actually, yes it did. And I get a tax break.”

Rats. I was not going to win this debate. Even worse, I liked the car. I liked it a lot. And it was more economical than mine. Possibly safer — and absolutely more fun to drive. To boot, it was (arguably, I’m still not entirely convinced) better for the environment than my V-6 SUV.

What’s a skeptic to do? I suppose I could remain steadfast in my ignorance, refusing to consider that maybe driving an economical, safe car isn’t the worst thing I could do. But that then begs the question: How on earth am I going to rid myself of a gas-guzzling used SUV in this economy with these gas prices?

I should probably just keep getting Andy drunk so I get to drive the Prius all the time. 

Jen Hadley is, by her own admission, a terrible driver, inept at reading a map and was a former used car saleswoman. Give her the finger or tell her to buy herself a nav system at jmhadley624@yahoo.com.