What I don't like about my Prius

Hi Booger,

You really should not let the marketing FUD (look up FUD on wikipedia) regarding the hybrid battery concern you. This is similar to being concerned that the 300 HP pocket watch, otherwise known as an automatic transmission in a standard car is going to fail.

The brakes do not fail, they switch. One brake system requires more pedal for the same braking force than the other. Be ready for them to switch below at 7 mph, or when where is a rough road ahead. Just push harder when you feel them switch. Its just that simple. In tradional cars, we learn practically subconciously to lift pressure to avoid brakes locking up as one comes to a stop. You need to unlearn that and do the reverse.

At -10 F, most cars need grill blocking. You see it on trucks all the time. You need to do that on the Prius too. Search "Grill Blocking" here on Prius Chat. There are litterly several hundred pages on what to do.

If you have 30 K miles on your factory tires, there is probably not enough thread left for winter driving. Go get some new tires. This is standard on all cars. Is this the first car you have owned? Or is it the first car you have owned in winter driving conditions?

In coastal areas, where one gets winter conditions, one can come around a curve and onto a icey road, when the temp is as warm as 37 F, which when the little light comes on. Being a Japanese car, this is a standard thing.

Oh, and if you really need a replacement battery, there are many around for modest cost. Google Autobeyours.com . Or, I can send you the one out of my 2006, that was in a crash for a modest compensation.

Its wise not to jump a Prius with another car, but to use a jump box, with reverse polarity protection. Most autostores have these. As only the computers need to be booted by the jump box (versus actually cranking the engine in traditional cars) this is eminately practical. You can do a car to Prius jump in an emergency, but yea, if you reverse the polarity, you will do major damage.

Which reminds me of the 1970 something Ford Granada my mom sold to one of my brother's friends. The battery went bad a year later, and he jumped it on the side of the road, and blew out a bunch of the electrics and electronics hooking up the cables backwards. Such, that the car was not worth repairing. Which begs the question - Is that anything really new ???

 

Many of us abandoned the factory tires years ago. The upgrade to high-traction tires on my 2004 worked so well, I didn't see the need for snows. Definitely consider getting something better.
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As of this writing, there are over 1.2 million posts on this board. Of those 1.2 million posts, not one is "You know what I really love? The factory-installed tires that came with my Prius!"

 

i don't think i have ever loved tires, but i have nevr had a problem with the factories. not on my 04 and not on my 08. would i replace them with the same thing? no, michelin energy savers. but toyota can't put evryones favorite tire on each car.

 

exactly. my 04 made it to 50K, before it needed new tires. (my daughter drove the final 15K) i'm only at 24,000 on my 08, but the tires look like new. and your right, i don't drive it like a race car either.

 

If I owned a car where I had this many dislikes......I would unload it ASAP......do your self a favor....get rid of it.

 

The reverse beep is annoying, but I'm not make a special trip to the dealer to get it taken care of, I'll have them do it at the first 5k service. The lack of thigh support in the driver's seat, but I see a remedy for that - add a washer or two under the front seat mounts - looks like an easy fix. I wish it had auto-on/off headlights instead of just auto-off. I was complaining about the lack of dimming in my auto-dimming rear view mirror, when I noticed last night it was really working well.