Learning to hate Prius

Maybe one should research the options they are adding onto the car before purchase. If the OP had done that they would have quickly found out that multi-disc cd changers are very prone to failure. I'm not placing blame on the OP or anything, I'm just saying that more research should be done and having blind faith in ANY product is not very wise.

 

I'm just wondering why they are so upset about the Prius? To me this malfunction can be something that any Car with a Multi CD Changer has. IMO this is just one of those unfornutate it is broken. Any car can have this issue.. my 2 cents.

 

And to exacerbate the issue, library disks with peel-n-stick labels should never be used. Not just in the Prius, but in any disk drive. I bet it is even in the manual somewhere.

 

Indeed. People usually don't sell their car because they get tired of the color or because the ash tray is full.

 

I would argue that. We as well as others around us (somewhat affluent area) buy a new car because we want a new car. Not because there is an issue with the old one. Actually the last time it was because of the colour! We had a gold RX300, and grew tired of it. So we traded it in for a new white RX350.

There is no reason to not trust used cars. If you buy from a dealership then the extended warranty will cover most things. And you can usually tell any defects rather quickly, and if they were not discolsed you can return it.

One of our friends is almost in the heiress category and she buys a new car every couple months. The "old" cars either get donated to charity, given to friends, or traded in. She doesnt own a car more than 3 years old. Nothing wrong with them, she just doesnt want to drive them anymore. Someone has to fuel the used car market.

 

Alright, so maybe spoiled people with more money than they deserve buy new cars when they get tired of the color, but I agree that for MOST people the purchase is big enough that they need a better reason.

However, I have given this advice to people and changed their minds, at least temporarily...whenever people start talking about buying a new car, and they already have a perfectly decent car that is meeting their needs...I always advise buying good wax, polish, and detailing supplies...if you don't already have them, and spending a weekend detailing the inside and out of your vehicle. I had a friend who was going to trade in his car, who took my advice and ended up keeping his vehicle, he realized after he cleaned it, and got it looking good again, how much he really liked it.

So sometimes, I think purchase can be a very expensive way of someone getting a clean car.

My "logic" also is, if you put some work into the vehicle you have, get it clean and looking good, but then STILL want a new vehicle, well then your current vehicle is in better shape to either be sold or evaluated for trade...so it's not a waste of time either outcome.

 

I dont think it matters that it was multi-disk or not. Bottom line is it should be a reliable piece of equipment and if it's not then it shouldn't be sold in the first place.

My CD player is not a multi-disk changer and I cant use it because it keeps skipping CDs.

You really think Toyota put a great audio system and components into the Prius? Take out the OEM speakers and look at the size of the magnet. Its something I'd expect out of a chevy aveo.

I dont blame the OP. For the price of a Prius, you'd expect better quality components. The one nice thing is.. that the Prius is fairly easy to install aftermarket radios and speakers, and the little cubby hole almost seems designed for a 1DIMM stereo

 

LOL, I have done that a couple of times on my own without intending keeping the car to be the result, but it worked anyway.

 

That is one of the reasons that companies like Alpine stopped selling multi-disc in dash changers. Every aftermarket brand I can think of had issues.

The size of the magnet is not always a good indicator of speaker quality. Especially if a high quality material like neodymium is used. That being said the speakers are not that great and nearly any decent aftermarket pair would sound better to most ears.

Like this? I totally agree!

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...alth-install-aftermarket-stereo-in-prius.html

 

Yes sir, I actually followed your post and installed an alpine unit in the same spot. it looks fantastic had to file down some of those little metal bumps that held the cubby but i think it was worth it in the end.

Neodymium magnets do allow manufacturers to use a smaller magnet.. I'm not sure the Prius speaker uses neodymium. When I took out the OEM speakers I was surprised to find a magnet about the size of an ice cube. Overall the feel of the woofer too was low-end.

Polk now has neodymium speakers so the depth of the speaker went from like 3 inches to 2 or 1.5 inches. But still, these neodymium magnets were way larger than the prius ice cube.

 

Oh and to the OP: Try getting a real custom audio upgrade. Sound proof the doors, get some new speakers/tweeters, an amp, a sub, sound tuning and some great staging... I think you'll learn to love your prius.