Mid-Cycle and 4th gen update wish list

I know another one ...

Sun visors with sliding extender. Those are a really nice touch in the Accord and should really be in the Prius at its price point.

I've seen the slider that come out of the visor in the Tacoma, Ah those are ok. But the whole visor that extends on an arm is much better. Simple device, probably costs marginally more than one without it. It should be in Prius and the v, both driver and passenger.

Bigger battery and quicker acceleration ... that's a tough one. Maybe someday Toyota will go to the Li Ion battery in the non plug in, maybe not. Li Ion is more powerful and in a smaller package. Toyota will only do it if they feel it all works better.

As for accleration, I wouldn't be surprised if the v's modest acceleration allows it to beat the EPA handily. I'm thinking the Camry hybrid with 200 hp may not beat EPA ratings easily.

 

Yeah, I was puzzled by the lack of extenders on sun visors in my 2nd gen Prius. I have the 2nd to highest package (has everything except leather) which includes nav, Bluetooth support, HID headlights, VSC, CD changer, "premium" stereo, Homelink, etc.

My cheaper 02 Nissan Maxima GXE (lowest trim) had extenders. My 04 350Z (w/2nd to lowest trim) w/its cheap interior had extenders too.

 

Toyota should push the vendor for that feature .... and another inch of SW telescope on regular Prius

 

After two test drives,

My dislikes:
1) Sun visors don't extend - really?!?! After 10 years now?? That's not really advanced technology....
2) No DC outlet in 2nd row for kids playing games or using MP3 players.
3) Rear cupholders and front "side" cupholder don't appear sturdy enough to hold water bottles.
4) MFD has to have the contrast & brightness turned nearly all the way up to see it with polarized sunglasses. Gen I-III didn't have this problem as they were oriented correctly. The new screen should be turned 45 degrees.
5) The center console armrest opens oddly. I read why they did it, but for us, it's a big hole for a lot of stuff & the passenger gets in there all the time. This makes it nearly impossible to use for the passenger.
6) Stock all-weather floor mats are not deep enough for all the snow on my boots.
7) No power seats
8) No seat memory
9) Headrest seems to make my head go too far forward (but my car-seat technician wife says it's the right position). It just feels uncomfortable.
10) Can't call a human and have them send your destination to your NAV like in a Lexus (subscription service).
11) More paint colors please! I'm tired of red, white, blue, black, silver, gray, beige. Give us purple, orange, yellow, lime green, etc! Some of us want to be different! And doesn't Prius scream different?


My likes:
1) Seat comfort
2) Roominess!
3) Easy to get out of
4) Hatchback door is much easier to use
5) Rear all-weather mats "touch" each other (no hump in the middle)
6) Rear seats slide and recline
7) Lots of cubby holes to store stuff under the cargo floor
8) The tilt telescoping steering wheel and seat positions now make it usable for really short people (without being too close to the steering wheel [12" max])
9) Bluetooth music streaming!
10) 17" wheels are much nicer looking

--Russ

 

So Toyota knows, this IMO is the better style of extender (works really well) :



Think I said above, but I can't imagine this feature costs much more at all. Should be on both sides too!

 

Huh? That's interesting because the 3rd gen's steering wheel can telescope about an inch closer to the dash than the Prius v's. And 3rd gen's seat scoots very close. You sure you didn't push the 3rd gen's wheel all the way in?

 

Yeah, my wife sat in it (5' 2") and she could not reach the pedals without being more than 12" from the steering wheel. Toyota should really add adjustable pedals to its vehicles for shorter people. I know Nissan includes them. It's a very nice feature that is linked to the seat/mirror/wheel memory settings too.

--Russ

 

you should see about duct taping a bunch of legos to her shoe, that might give her better control

 

Ok. They definitely need the 'steering wheel vendors' to put in more adjustable range in both tilt and telescope. I know it will add some cost, but will make a lot more people feel comfortable in these cars quickly. Especially important on things that really cannot be modified, like steering wheels. Adjustable pedals a good idea too. Never seen them although I sure wished my 2nd gen pedals would adjust.

 

I want to see Toyota use their higher efficiency ICE in the GenIV. As it sits now the GenIII does not offer enough of an increase to sway me into upgrading from my GenII. The GenIII is definitely more efficient but some of the posted numbers acheived by owners do not reflect the larger discrepancy between MFD and calculated mpg which is a larger discrepancy than the GenII exhibits.

If the GenIV can provide an honest 55mpg+ EPA rating then I would be happy to upgrade considering a little bit of hypermiling would result in 60mpg-65mpg in my daily driving. Which would result in a 10mpg increase over the GenII EPA rating and a real world increase of 10mpg+ for me.

 

I have the top of the line model and I wish Body Side Molding, Leather steering wheel and Shark Fin Antenna were standard..

Also, I personally don't like the radio knobs..too cheap to the feel and channel selector knob is too far away and is uncomfortable when scanning...

I would prefer the round AC knob to be the Audio/nav control knob..

Just a thought........

 

Hear hear! I agree wholeheartedly with all of that!

--Russ

 

put a dimmer on the nav screen, and hook up the nav unit so the passenger can use the nav feature w/o stopping the car !!

 

So are you saying you can't put in a destination and navigate while the car is moving at all? thats retarded!

Is that on the regular V5 NAV as well at the AT package nav?

Also I'm surprised that the power drivers seat is listed as a "Leave it alone" item. I really think a 30 to 35K car should have a full function power driver seat and memory wouldn't be out of the question for that price.

I was hoping they might midyear add that since the regular Prius now offers it. I do not know if its the same seat or not and could maybe be changed out.

 

-Add auto headlights to the base model.
-Better rear hatch area lighting
-Make the front wiper lever opposite; UP should be on, DOWN should be off.
-Make it so the rear hatch cover doesn't detach from the rear seat headrest when adjusting the seat forward.
-Put a 12V power outlet accessable to rear seat passengers
-Make the sun visor with a wing or slide
-No more wheel covers
-Guide lines on the backup camera even without the navigation system
-Remove the VPNS; this just sounds like there's something wrong with the car
-User settable back-up beep
-Better cruise control system
-Make the steering wheel able to come out further