Guys, my car is slowing giving me car troubles! I’m so sad — we’re going to fix the few expensive issues it has, but for now I’ve decided I cannot take it up any of the steep San Francisco hills while I’m playing tour-guide with my bestie.

Weeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So what better way to show her the steep roller-coaster-like streets in San Francisco than one that doesn’t guzzle gas, and is just as small as my little Mazda?

We went on a 2 day girls getaway excursion to The City (the locals way of saying San Francisco) and then back down the coast for some beach days? Nothin’ better than it my friends.

The car arrived on my birthday (ahem, May 7th for all those who are late wishing me a Happy Birthday) ;)

I have to be honest, the prius never did call out to me when I was looking for cars. I wasn’t a huge fan of the shape of the exterior, I wanted something round and sportier like my Mazda, or even a cool looking Scion.

The Prius is undeniably a popular car. We were seeing different models of the Prius zip around all of the cities we were visiting when reviewing the car. It’s no surprise Toyota has sold over 1.6million of them since they were first introduced.

Keyless entry to the car is the first feature I certainly noticed, and would like to have on my buy-list for the next car purchase. You also didn’t have a turn-key ignition, just needed to press the start button. Madness to me! At first when the car was dropped off, I had no idea how to work it, so I went to one of my neighbours who has one, and asked him to help me out, haha! He was showing me all the tips and tricks with the car.

Can’t tell you how great this one was on gas, due to all the stop-and-go traffic once you hit San Francisco, and parking was easy because hello I’m a professional parallel parker. No, trust me — I am. If you’re having difficulties I will get out of the passenger seat and into the drivers, and parallel park any car/truck for you. The Prius Five had a backup camera, which was so much help for me, especially considering it was a new-t0-me vehicle.

Enough about my parking brag, the prius is a hybrid and obviously means it’s fantastic on gas. My car holds a 55 liter tank (14.5 gallons), and the prius’ tank is a 45 liter (11.9 gallon). Didn’t have to fill’er up much at all, due to it being an amazing city car to zip around in.

Gas prices are SO much cheaper down here than they are in Canada, so I’m still adjusting to how inexpensive it is to fill up my car while living in the USA. It’s great not having to spend over forty bucks to fill up a tank.

I’m sure some of the prius cars come with a sunroof, but that’s one thing I definitely missed. I feel like I am in a convertible when the sunroof is open, the windows all rolled down and the music just cranked. Wind blowing through our hair, driving through the California coast. I MEAN… COME ON. I love living here. Have I said that yet? :)

The Guy and I will always have a car with a hatch back or a car with a trunk large enough to fit his bicycle, the Prius Five is roomy enough for that.

With my Mazda, I have many buttons on the steering wheel so I can set the cruise control, switch radio stations or crank the volume. Pleased to see it available in the Prius since it comes second nature to me when driving, especially for long distances.

Back seat spaciousness isn’t a huge deal breaker for me, since it’s usually only me or my husband driving each of our cars solo. We don’t usually carry many passengers and I can count on one hand how many times someone has sat in the back seat of my car. Although, that could change in a number of years considering we’re a married couple now!

With my Mazda, I have many buttons on the steering wheel so I can set the cruise control, switch radio stations or crank the volume. Pleased to see it available in the Prius since it comes second nature to me when driving. But the coolest part that sets it apart is that all you have to do is glide your finger over the buttons you want to press on the steering wheel, and in your peripheral vision on the windsheild, you’ll see what button you’re hovering over, so you don’t have to look down and check! Madness. Technology.

The Prius Five was so quiet, and I noticed that especially when I was slowly driving through a parking lot, pedestrians didn’t realize I was behind them because you don’t hear the engine of the car going. So I thought that was a little interesting.

I was not a fan of the center console though nor the built in navigation. I’m not the hugest fan of built-in nav boxes anyway because I feel like I can’t update them as often as I can with my BlackBerry and the maps app on that. The centre console was at an awkward height. I forget which arm it was, but when I was resting either elbow on the two sides, one was significantly lower than the other. And there wasn’t a proper place for a bit of lipgloss, or my cell phone to rest, unless I put it underneath. I’d rather have that space entirely open.

If you’re looking for more information regarding the Toyota Prius Five check out their website.

Disclaimer: The 2015 Prius Five was loaned to me for a week to review. All opinions are my own.