JimBobWay

I bought my Gen. 1 in 2003. Loved it, drove it, and finally gave it to my daughter for a work car (70 miles/day). She is till driving it after 18 years with parts being: 12 Vdc battery(s), tires, shocks, spark plugs, filters, and consumables. Now I have an XLE-AWDe. I am not sure what I think about it yet. At 336 miles, a nail punctured the sidewall of a rear tire. Un-repairable. No help from Toyo tire, Toyota, or the dealership. I did not need to use the roadside assistance, as I was able to nurse it home. A spare tire of even limited capability, would have been welcome. Crazy to leave it out. I am retired, from programing industrial automation. Accordingly, I am sensitive to the choices the auto designers make. I had a big name SUV, that was quite comfortable, but the crazy automatic transmission drove me to curse at it. Not defective, just a bad engineering choice (from my perspective). The same perspective makes me angry about the Boeing 737 Max. There were unfortunate choices made in the programming, that killed people. Someone with enough experience, would have called them out. Management would have to listen too. The Prius has many good engineering choices. The friction-less, low parts count, CVT is genius at its finest. Why my car did not come with the ubiquitous automobile navigation system, is a huge mystery.