Disappointment Moving from Gen II to Gen III

Meh, if I ever had to trade in my Gen II for anything, I'd probably get some ancient Corolla and save up for the Gen IV Prius. The GIII may be better mechanically, but the GII got everything correct ergonomically. If you feel THAT bad about it, I'd say trade back to a low mileage Gen II if you can afford it.

 

No car is going to be 100% perfect....I too just switched from a Gen II to a Gen III and no, I do not like having only 2 cupholders, hate that I don't have my sunglasses holder, dont like the fact that I feel like there are less compartments and storage places, the center console is just weird, BUT those are all minor things compared to the newer hybrid system, lack of the bladder fuel tank, sleeker design, moonroof (which I LOVE), solar roof, and the satisfaction of having a newer car.

Life is rough.

 

Really? How many car models have their own eHow page about 'Problems with Driver's Seat' like 'GII' 04 - 09 Prius?

Problems With a Prius Driver's Seat | eHow

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True ... no car is perfect.

But how does Toyota get Prius to approach Civic, Corolla, Cruze, Focus, Elantra in US sales?

July 2013 U.S. Passenger Car Sales Rankings - Top 151 Best-Selling Cars In America - Every Car Ranked - GOOD CAR BAD CAR

 

I just made the switch last Friday from my 2008 Touring Pkg 6 to a 2013 Prius 3 and there is a sunglasses holder where the old one was on Gen 2 BUT sunglasses won't fit in it and be able to close the compartment. The only glasses that will allow the Gen 3 compartment to close is my prescription glasses. For some unknown reason there is a plastic protrusion inside the compartment on the back that prevents you from closing it with sunglasses in it.
The compartment was obviously not made for sunglasses because I tried a number of different pairs.
FWIW I agree with some of the original posters complaints (not all) and it seems that toyota went backwards on some of the interior (especially storage and armrest placement) features and forward on technology.
Anyway, just my 2 cents worth, who knows, maybe toyota will read about things that "some" people aren't thrilled with.
Keep posting skilene, that's what this forum is here for.

 

"Initial" Toyota designs are right hand drive. Something must interfere with centering the steering wheel.

 

I read carefully through the OPs message, and have to agree with most of what he said. But the GII did have its' problems as well. Pearl S, "warts and all" still blows Pearl away. Better mileage, more comfortable, quieter. Not sure about the handling yet, as I haven't had her into the mountains. And being still on the OM tyres that handling evaluation will have to wait. The "flying bridge" took a bit of getting used to but I don't notice any problems with it now. It is mostly perception I think. You get used to the empty space and get upset when it's taken from you.
The loss of storage space was regrettable, though I knew it going in. Never used the sunglass holder in Pearl, so I don't miss it. I find the rear floor to work exactly like it did in the GII. I love the way the rear seats fold flat in the GIII and how the headrests flip forward to make that happen. I don't like the flaps at the bottom of the rear seatbacks as they can catch on items that are dragged from the car. I haven't noticed the gaps in the cargo cover. I'll have to check that. I added tool kit liner or kitchen drawer liner to the glove box just as I did with the GII so no problems there.

It's hard to read a complaint when you're an owner as well. Keep an open mind.

 

Hi Skilene,

. Most things take a bit of getting used to, others can be fixed easily. Here are some of my ideas. Some I had used; others I did not bother with a 'fix or workaround'.

1. The cargo cover - I used a sheet of Felt from a fabric store to cover my amps should someone get nosy and look in the cracks.
3. Bisque interior - I like the contrasting colors. I understand the cost savings aspects from using same color 'uppers' and flooring, but I agree for a $30K+ car it does seem on the cheap side. Kind of like opening the trunk on a Chrysler 300 and seeing unpainted bare sheet metal. On the 2011 Prius, the carpet was gray even with Bisque, and the mats were black. In the brochure for the 2013 it looked like bisque A pillars, but I guess not.
4. Sunglasses compartment - This was the first difference I noted with the solar. I got an eyeglass case at Target and keep it in the cup holder area of the driver’s door otherwise I lay them under the bridge. When I just put the eyeglasses in the door cup holder they got scratched laying side ways at the bottom.
HUD - I use it for the speedo and HSI. You can adjust the brightness and up/down placement plus: Speedo, Speedo+HSI, or Speedo+HSI+NAV Arrows (when needed). It is centered so you do not have to turn your head now to see the speedo or HSI.
5. The center console is smaller and is missing the electronic device tray, but here is the P/N (about $20): 58825-47020 "Console, Rear trim pocket"
Glove box lining - felt with one sticky side to line it
6. JBL sound quality - I played with the sound levels and fixed it mostly, except for XM still sounds tinny. (I max TREB and BASS, and +%50 MID) Turning up the volume seems to help too.
7. Steering wheel buttons - some have dual functions if you press and hold...
10. Arm rest - I bought a small fluffy beige towel from Target to cover the cup holder - It seems to fit my elbow nicely as well [See Pic]. Plus if rain gets in the car, the towel will come in handy and help dry it up quickly.



I like the sun roof and have been experimenting with using the AC settings for pre-heating the car vs. AC in the winter (seat heater switch, etc.) So far; it tries, but then shuts down (probably based on outside temp). I will try again when it does get colder. I hope these ideas are helpful! Enjoy your fantastic new car!

 

lol

 

Recently migrated from a 2002 Gen 1 (see Totaled in Sedona) to a Gen III 2013 Prius 2, and it's taking some significant attitude readjustment. Mostly delighted in the changes; roomier, better mileage, quieter (but not enough), geekier... But I'm really missing the turning radius of the old '02! I sheepishly confess to finding the vastly enhanced audio electronics gear to be both great fun (playing iPhone tunes via bluetooth stereo- way cool!) and sometimes dangerously distracting to fiddle with. I know it will become more automatic with practice (I have yet to really read that audio manual). All things considered, I wouldn't go back, but still regret the loss of bragging rights that accrued with proudly piloting a Gen 1 with 260+k!

 

10. Arm rest - I bought a small fluffy beige towel from Target to cover the cup holder - It seems to fit my elbow nicely as well [See Pic]. Plus if rain gets in the car, the towel will come in handy and help dry it up quickly.







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ummm, doesn't your arm rest slide up to cover that cup holder like mine does?

 

ummm, doesn't your arm rest slide up to cover that cup holder like mine does?[/quote]


I believe that they changed it due to the complaints.

I guess that the lesson may be that there is no design that is so ergonomically poor that someone can't make it worse.

 

Yeah, if you are 5'8" tall or less. I just bought a 2005 Accord Sedan for our family. If I had bought a 2005 (Gen II) Prius instead and had to drive it, I'd be throwing up in my mouth going down the road, that's how much it sucks for this 6'2" tall driver. Gen II Prius .... Eeewwww. Yuck. S*&^ the Gen III Prius dr. seat just barely works even with lots of extra arm pads an finagling.

 

2014 PiP has a drop-down sunglass holder in the roof, but it only holds really narrow sunglasses. So I just put the ones for the other driver in there and mine in the center compartment. This is kinda flipped around since the other driver is much shorter and I'm the taller one but.. oh well.. we hardly wear those sunglasses anyway!

 

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Here's a quick solution that works well for me. I place my sunglasses/glasses in crevice below the cup holder on the flying bridge. Works well for glasses folded or open. I can reach or store them without taking my other eyes off the road. I place my reading glasses in the overhead compartment and leave my sunglasses stored on the flying bridge. They won't slide or fall off. ​

 

As far as not being able to see the park button... you don't actually need to use it. If you are stopped and you press the power button, the car will automatically shift into park.

 

I don't like to leave anything valuable or seemingly valuable anywhere visible in the car, and my sunglasses're Oakleys. (I should probably just take them out since we hardly use our sunglasses, heh..)

 

Just a suggestion for those looking for other options.