Why of why - lame designs...

I have to agree, plus how do you route the aux wire out of the glove box? leave it open?

 

Yeah, thats annoying...I guess they intended for you to put the ipod or whatever on that tray, but I like to keep it up in the cup holder so I can see it, change it, etc. I honestly find most of the interior to be entirely baffling...worst cup holders ever, no ash tray for change, bad arm rest console design, etc. etc. Wish this car had my wife's civic's interior...

 

VERY valid point. This week I got an Aux cable and MP3. Nice addition using the player since I lost Satellite. Great Aux sound and selection.

BUT - the Aux connector location is well, stupid. Why in such a place? At the very bottom of a storage container? Then have to string the cable around "stuff" and attach to the player. The player fits nicely in the little finger scoop area ahead of the armrest latch. But, is there a notch to run the cable and close the armrest? Nope. So a choice - leave the armrest open or unlatched. Or slam the armrest to latch and potentially damage the cable. The little tray - That came out of my car months ago. Why place your iPod inside the console on the tray if you'll need to access it to change tunes or power down?

I was thinking about going for the $$$ USB option - but hearing about the performance issues, that's out. Sure seems as if Toyota didn't sweat the small stuff interiorwise. Glad the big stuff IS well thought-out.

Don't they build mockups of the interior and have ergonomics engineers test extensively?
Now, I KNOW that the 2011 will have many of these niggles solved - and I KNOW that I'll be a bit miffed.

 

It is a terrible design. The only thing I can think of is perhaps their team of legal experts forced them to put it in there in an attempt to keep people's eyes on the road and off their iPod. I'm a safety-freak too, but people are going to do what they do and Toyota should leave the choice up the individual. (assuming the placement is because Toyota doesn't want to get sued)

Bryan

 

For sure...and it isn't perfect, but the Civic may have the worlds best cup holders. They'll hold anything you put in them snugly and there are two of them. The Prius cupholders are terrible. I always am afraid a drink is going to go fllying out of them, and the upper one can get in the way of the shifter.

I like the Civic seats better too...better side boldtering for a skinny guy like me, and a little more support (I'm 6'4").

It isn't flawless, though...similar huge storage bins that make it tough to store anything small with it rolling around. Audio controls are a tie, but at least the civic's dash doesn't creak when I go over tic tacs, haha....

 

I definitely feel like they skimped on the interior design/materials to make up the money spent on the hybrid system. The interior just feels cheap to me. My seat fabric isn't even tight and my whole car creaks and rattles...none of these things become apparent until you drive the car for a few hours, too. I didn't notice this stuff in the 10 minutes I got to test drive it...

 

I agree 100%. The Insight's interior is terrible. Very cheap feeling. Our Civic is MUCH better than that. I drove the Insight before I bought the Prius and everything about that car felt cheap to me...

 

I was surprised when I drove my son's leased 2010 in that you can not use an ordinary thin coffee cup, because Toyota forgot (or saved 9 cents per car) by deleting the cut out for the cup handle! My 2003 Avalon has cup holders with notches provided. Toyota does some incredible things. I really wish the Opel Astra five door hatch was much closer to being a small Buick; but then GM shoots themselves in the foot so often, it's hard to tell how they will screw up what looks like a very nice car -- probably no turbo diesel, for starters.

 

Remember a time before humans evolved into a form which requires drinks at hand when driving a car? I do, my last car had 0 cup holders.

 

I find the cupholders to be very odd if I have a short drink in them. A grande (medium - don't laugh!) star bucks fits very oddly in there.

I like the center console with the aux in there. I keep an aux-in cable plugged in and it stays hidden in the center console. I like that "stealth" look.

I'm baffled about where to keep change too. I've been casually looking for one of those old school change holders to put in the center console, but I don't think I could do that to my lovely prius

 

It sounds like you messed up while doing an install on your car. Don't blame the car (This is not an attack on you!! - These things happen! I am notorious for spending twice as much money and four times as much time doing anything to my car because I screw everything up!)

 

Buy the ashtray from Prius Accessories and place it in a cupholder your not using, (Console or someplace) to keep your change. That's what I would suggest. Remember the days when they put the change holder in the console on some select models....Guess all the EZ Pass/Toll Tags, made them think we didn't need them anymore, and with the advent of Credit Card/Debit Card at the drive thru, I guess we are in a Electronic World..LOL

 

Try one of those old but of course new, PVC Change holders..they work great. I picked one up and because it's PVC/soft plastic, it doesn't rattle and holds the change quite well and it's not sloshing around in the console or any plastic tray....You can sometimes pick them up at flea markets, auto stores, dollar stores, wal mart.
Works great! and you squeeze it to expose the change, I am sure you may recall what I am talking about?

 

I keep an aux cable plugged in at all times, along with a charger for my iPhone plugged into the power outlet. The only awkward part is find the ends of both when I need them, but that could be easily solved with a little velcro.

 

I just keep my change in the bottom of the inner cup holder...doesn't ever jingle or rattle.