My thoughts on the Prius

Double Daz said
[/QUOTE]
A keen eye? Come on. What you're saying with 2 of those photos is that the door armrest and console were just fine when you did your test drive, but over time you found them both to be too low, too hard and too uncomfortable and now you want to complain about the design and quality of the Prius compared to your 8 year old Accord that I think has a larger interior and gets less mpg. You didn't notice during the test drive that both were different than your beloved Accord? You didn't notice where the cupholders were and didn't put a cups in them to see how they'd work for you? We did.[/QUOTE]

Nevermind the stupid cupholder. I was talking about checking out the 2014 with power seat, a car I don't own.

I bought the 2011 Prius because at the time, after test driving and renting for a day at a time, I believed I could get used to driving in the driver's seat position of -

backrest 5 clicks back from first slot, seat height 3 pumps up from full down and seat 2 clicks forward from full back,
while using a one hand grip on steering wheel with thumb and forefinger only at 8 o'clock. I made many complaints that 'the steering wheel doesn't telescope enough', but bought the car anyway. I trusted Toyota that the seat adjusts very well. Over time, steering the car and using that grip was not going well.

But, putting the backrest forward is not such a good option because the seat bottom (front edge) does not tilt down to compensate.

So, it's my mistake and another lesson learned. Get it?

 

This is a full length armrest in Civic which also slides forward and the cupholders are below


This is a lopped-off armrest due to complaints of sliding the 2010/11 armrest back to reveal 2nd cupholder. Like said, right elbow would land right in the cupholder of a 2012+. Don't bother preaching 'you shouldn't be using an armrest while holding the steering wheel.'

 

Yeah, I got that a long time ago, just wanted to see you admit it. All I'm objecting to is your generalizations about car guys, etc. There are plenty of vehicles I wouldn't buy for one reason or another, but blaming designers, etc., is not my style. I wouldn't buy a Corvette, but I certainly don't question the design choices that have been made. It's a beautiful car, just not for me.

Anyway, yes, I'm 6'1", but my wife is 5'3" and I'm surprised she has no complaints about seat front height, the console or anything else for that matter. She has mentioned blind spots, but we come from a van, so there is a period of adjustment for those, just like there is for cargo capacity, having to think about battery temperature, etc.

I do see what you mean about the Civic design, but I'm not convinced it's any better. Yes, there isn't a cupholder on the end of the Civic console armrest like there is on the Prius, but if that bothered me, I simply wouldn't have bought the car. Looking at Honda photos, the interiors of the Prius and Civic appear quite similar, but if I weren't in it for the mileage, neither car would be a blip on my radar. They both represent a collection of compromises designed to please their potential customers and we are not forced to buy. Fortunately, the Prius design is not a problem for us. Obviously it is for you in your 2011 and I'm sorry about that. I like to think I would have figured out those problems before buying, but who knows? I could go out and measure my seats, but somehow I don't think that's the real problem. Simply put, you bought a car only to find out later you couldn't get used to it. Hopefully, you won't make that mistake again and then blame the designers.

And with that, I'm moving on. Hopefully you'll find a car that suits you.

 

We moved in June.

 

Nice part of the country for sure. We lived in Colorado Springs for 4 years and spent a lot of time driving around the state. Have relatives in Estes Park, Loveland and Denver, but we haven't been back as much as we'd like. Colorado Springs has grown too much, Estes Park and Durango are more to our liking.

 

BEAUTIFUL country. Durango is a short drive away for us. I cannot take it too seriously -- so many yuppies. It sure is a nice place to visit and play though, and they have pretty good Indian and Thai food

An acquaintance of mine liked to say that you can move to Durango, but you do not belong until you drive a Subaru LOL

 

Toyota Sunnyvale is discounting prius three liftbacks $4,600 across the board and Twos $4,300 off sticker price ...

and the 4th gen is still 1 1/2 years away!

They are discounting Camry LEs about $4,000, but the heavily revised 2015 is coming in October.

Rav4, Corollas not discounted nearly as much as Prius.

Seems the demand is sagging

 

More accurately, the demand:supply
You might also notice that the difference in price between the two cars is ~ $3500, which is only about $500 less than we have seen for years.

Now is an amazing time to buy Prius. The price difference compared to a Corolla is recouped in fuel savings in less than 90k miles at $3.6/gallon.

Damn

 

I probably should have waited a month, but got in a hurry because there were no BPs available except for the one that was on its way, so we grabbed it. Oh well, it's only money, right? Still going to be saving gas and will feel safer on the trip with a new vehicle.

 

Try ceramic tint for your windows. I put on Formula One. 35% in the front and 40% in the rest of the windows. it makes a huge difference. cost was $330 to do all 11 windows. i thought about doing the front windshield , but i passed on it due to cost. a simple shad screen works well enough when the car sits.

 

You're supposed to keep both hands on the wheel when you drive, so I don't get this armrest stuff.

 

HybridDave, amazing transformation! From performance car aficionado to Prius admirer. Quite an evolution!

 

With arms like this , I can keep both hands on wheel and elbows on armrests. I try to keep both elbows up sometimes, but it's only doable for 5 or 10 minutes. If you don't wear anywhere near a 35 or 36" sleeve, don't bother arguing the point. k? thx.

 

If you have unusual body lengths and proportions, it is not terribly surprising to hear that you struggle to find a comfortable seating position.

A suggestion: since most (all ?) of your posts are related to sitting comfort, it would be reasonable of you to add to your signature your relevant arm/trunk/leg lengths, as well as your sitting position and steering wheel grip. That way you will provide useful information point to the 1/20 people who may find seating to be a problem.

 

Longo Toyota says that their first shipment is coming this weekend. my guess is after the close of the labor day sale. I will personally go down there and snap a few shots. I think it is a facelift on the front, along the lines of a corolla and the rear Bangle Butt cut a snip and a tuck.