Auto temperature control

Exactly. The A/C green light on the MFD just means the compressor is enabled, not necessarily running. Also, with the Prius, it's not a black or white issue: the compressor can be off, on, or anywhere in between. If the Prius needs a little bit of cooling, it runs the compressor just a little bit.

Tom

 

This is good to know... I've been leaving the auto function off to avoid using A/C.
Do most of you leave the auto 'on' and adjust the temperature set-point as needed?

 

I leave my climate control on auto and adjust the temperature as needed. On rare occasions I switch to manual for open window driving.

Tom

 

Here it's the only way to fly. I really like having the auto feature on the AC, even in a very hot car, it cools off quickly and then goes into "maintenance mode", all without making the car really cold.

 

This might sound dumb, but is there any way to 100% stop air from coming in from my vents? It seems as though even if I have the AC off and the fan off, I still feel air coming through the vents at whatever temperature I had it set to previously.

I'm disappointed if I'm can't stop air from coming in. My 97 Mustang had few redeeming qualities, but it allowed you total control of the air -- you could turn it off when you didn't want any, and nothing would come in. My girlfriend's 2000 Accord won't let you turn the air off, ever, you just have to shut your vents and get it down as low as possible. It seems like my Prius suffers the same odd fate. Why are newer cars giving you less control? Or am I missing something?

 

It's a dealer configurable option. By default, the Prius always brings in some air from the outside. Your dealer can switch the settings to turn off the outside air.

Tom

 

If I turn all the climate controls off and keep the the recirculate button on I will not get air from the vents.