Power adjustable seats?

I have been in Ggood PV with ATP and no power seats, forget memory seating...

 

It was a conscious decision. Apparently all those little motors and actuators are heavy...

=( Believe me, I hear ya. My current car memorizes the mirrors, temperature, seat position, even the radio station... all via key.

 

My 2010 Prius V w/Adv. Tech package does NOT have power adjustable front seats.

 

You ordered without ever seeing one in person and checking all the specs?

Power seats aren't even the most glaring missing features since very few or no Japanese hatchbacks in the US have power seats.

More notable than not having power seats in order of how suprising:

No automatic-on light sensing headlights (even a Corolla has this).
No remote control window control from key fob (Hondas and Nissans).
No rain-sensing wipers (less common, but not rare either). I think this is offered in the new 2011 Ford Fiesta.

 

... they would have to move around an adult American male.

I would like to see someone come up with at least a seat conversion kit for the Prius. I would give up some FE for the convenience.

 

For me:

I prefer to decide when to turn on my headlights anyway and it's not really too much effort to do so.
I don't see any need to control the windows from the fob.
I prefer to turn my wipers on and it's also easy to do.
​

The seats on the other hand can take some time to get adjusted right. And once I do, my wife will get in and readjust the thing leaving me to spend eternity trying to rediscover that sweet spot. I would think that would be more of a concern to most people.

With that said, adding the features you suggest would seem easy and not add any significant weight. So I have no idea why they have been excluded.

 

Yeah and some people like to open their windows and doors manually and with hand cranks and never use cruise control or even the FM band on the radio.
Even if you have automatic headlights, rain sensing wipers and remote keyfob windows, you can still choose to turn those features off or do it manually if you enjoy manual operation.
More people will enjoy having those features than will want to pay for the automatic self parking that is actually a real feature available on the 2010 Prius.

 

How Toyota handles the weight issue is confusing. They seem to have no problem adding heavy options that make them a ton of money such as the 17" wheels in the Prius V or the solar sunroof. As options, I suppose those don't affect their 50 mpg rating. You would think that power seats could be part of an option package but maybe they don't think that people would pay a lot more for it. Like I said, confusing.

In their favor, designing a new vehicle involves thousands of design and marketing decisions. For the Prius, some of those are definitely quirky. Nobody has designed a car exactly as I would like it. I am about to choose the Prius with all of it's faults.

 

They could bundle it into another option package that would be another opportunity to make more money.
Power seats, auto-lights, auto-wipers and remote windows could have been bundled as an option pack or even push it up to only the Vs so you get more of an useful upgrade going from IV to V than just the added style of 17" rims and fog lights.
People buying the V are obviously not penny pinching.

Maybe all this stuff is going to be in the Lexus hybrid and they are trying to artificially differentiate them by leaving these things out, but that doesn't explain having the Advanced Technology package that adds much more cost to the Prius than power seats and auto-on lights.

 

This is so true for me as well. My wife has to adjust everything in the car. If it's moveable she'll move it! Finding that sweet spot is not easy.
Memory seats are great for times like that. I know power seats are heavy but it would be a nice addition to the Prius.

 

Like I said, I see no reason for Toyota to exclude those features. And if they were included, I would have no problem paying for them. You assume that Toyota would allow those features to be turned off, but they may decide otherwise. For example, the stability control apparently cannot be turned off on the Prius, which may make it difficult to get out of snow. Also, I do not believe the shifter spot light can be turned off. Nor do I believe the backup beep can be turned off (just reduced to a single beep as I've gathered from PC). So while I would hope your suggested features could be turned off, I would not assume that.

From my personal perspective, I just don't see a need for them. I do understand that some would like auto-on headlights (and even DRL's) and rain-sensing wipers, but I personally would have little use for a fob window control because I rarely have my windows down while outside the car and have never had the urge to lower the windows before getting in the car.

You feel that those are more important than power seats for you, and that's great. If I were the only one who would drive my Prius, I also would see little reason for power seats. But that's not my situation, and not many people's. I also understand Toyota not wanting to add the extra weight associated with the power seats.

 

But BMW does offer power seats as an option as well as sport seats and sport seats with power and memory. They are expensive but at least they are available and it would be nice to see similar options on the Prius. Power seats are heavy but maybe if they put them on cars without other heavier options like 17" tires?
Myself I would pay extra for power sport seats.

 

The Prius does not even have optional power seats. My 3 series has power seats, but I think got all the options anyway.

I also wish there were a moonroof option (even w/o solar) on the V. Without the solar components, it probably wouldn't add a lot of weight. Hell, I would actually prefer a two door hatchback. But I'm sure Toyota thought about all this stuff.

I guess we settle for what we can get.

 

They can always be turned off. Automatic headlights and wipers have an automatic setting and an off setting on the selector knob.
The Toyota Corolla (and every car I've seen) requires you to turn the headlight switch to the automatic position before the automatic mode works.
I have a car with automatic wipers and you have to activate it each time you want the rain sensor on. It is off by default and turns off each time the car it shut down.
Just like cruise control doesn't turn on automatically, you have to activate it if you want to use it.

I never said I was against having power seats. Why not offer power seats as an option for upper trims?
People who personally don't care for many frills can get a Prius I or II and people who want a loaded car can get the V or a future VI model.

 

I would definitely want to sit in and drive one for a long time (maybe rent for a weekend) before I placed an order.
Not everyone can get comfortable driving a Prius even though the seats and steering are more adjustable than the old style.

 

+1
That's for certain! That's why I'm selling my 2010 because I just can't find anything that works to make it comfortable.
If I had rented the 2010 and driven it for a couple of days and gone on a long trip I wouldn't have bought it.
It's a great car if the seat fits you tho.