What you don't like about your Prius?

That's an awfully big wheel / low profile tire on a Prius, but if some customers like them, so be it. I've seen a Black 3rd gen with 16" wheel off Matrix and it looked very well balanced.

I don't care all that much about wheels really. I'd be just fine with the 15's and plastic wheel covers, except for pulling the covers off the clean the wheels, argh! But so worth it to get 55 MPG!

 

I don't have a Prius and I only test drove for 10 minutes or so for the first time yesterday at a dealership when I was there to check out an used 2010 Prius base. These were what I didn't like:
1. Non-linear brake feeling. It seemed like braking force suddenly increased at the end, like sudden grabbing feeling.
2. Poor rear view. Now I know why backup camera is optional which is pretty rare on a small/medium car like this.
3. Steering wheel material - already worn out at only 4500 miles on the test car!
4. Center console bridge - taking up unnecessarily so much space, why?
5. Interior plasctics/seat fabric - cheap feeling, doesn't feel durable, etc.

Am I gonna buy a Prius?
Hell Yea!

 

I always tell people to rent one for a weekend before buying one. There are many, MANY aspects of the Prius driving experience that are not clearly brought out by a 10-minute test flight.
However (comma!) your experience hit all of the biggies.
It's a pretty good car.
Beat of all.....they're getting cheaper!!!
Supplies (outside SOCAL) are up and gas is down.

It's a good time to be looking for one.

 

I have read nothing - this is all my own observation. I can tell/feel/hear the difference between regen and friction. I've tried this countless times... canceling cruise by depressing the brake, as I described - even slightly - instantly goes to friction with zero regen. Try it, you'll see what I mean.

-Iain

 

I don't like the difficulty of getting rear hatch open when battery dies, which for me has been very frequently!

 

I was just given a 2008 prius with 28,000 miles for a few months. Coming from an incredible environmentally concious person I must say that I would never buy a prius after my experience, below are a few complaints:

1. car a complete divorce from the outside world
2. marshmellowy
3. revs at bizarre times
4. Soggy acceleration, not sure that you will get out of the way of semis
5. very boring to drive
6. strange vibration that makes me feel nauseous
7. can not save a trip and have it learn the trip (ie. Battery charges uphill and then is too full to keep charging on downhill) resulting in 39mph for my drive
8. tells you the gas consumption not the mpge so it is hard to “learn†without a clean feed back loop
9. still takes gasoline
10. sloppy steering and brakes, catch sharply but not immediately
11. lots of braking when not actively applying the gas, does not coast smoothly
12. can not turn off backlight on screen when driving at night
13. does not allow for manually improved radio tuning on stations to improve clarity
14. car is almost as big as a van
15. everyone's prius looks about the same (we are being taken over!)
16. Air still flows through the vents in the off mode
17. does not have a manual parking brake
18. lights turn on automatically and stay on when you turn off the car (wasting energy) until you open the door
19. car is expensive to boot!
20. do not make a 4-wheel drive version

As long as I think of the vehicle as a transpotation appliance that gets okay fuel efficiency then it is great.

 

Not sure what Prius you are driving but here is an off the cuff reply to some of your critisisms,
1, Not sure what you mean by divorce but I'll hazard a guess at lack of feedback, the steering can be improved with a strut brace as can many other cars out there, it is not a sports car and it is set up for gentle cruising not the Nurburgh ring
2, Same as above
3, Well it is a hybrid and effectivley automatic maybe you prefer manuals
4, Seems you have avoided the semi's so far and even though you are aviously still getting used to the car
5, I found many a car to be boring when I was a youngster in fact as soon as I got used to a car it seemed boring and I wanted more power. I like to think I have grown up and am much more considerate to others now and enjoy the challenges of driving smoothly, economically and efficiently
6, sounds like you had better get your car checked over, I haven't noticed a vibration in the last 100,000 miles in fact its the smoothest most comfortable car I have had
7, The Prius does learn from every trip and does different things for a multitute of reasons, there is much information on this site should you want to know. it is by far the most economical gas car for it's size
8, you have an excellent tracking of MPG in your display you can always invest in a Scanguage if you want more specific trip, day, tank information
9, Yes it still takes gasoline as you call it but that is the compromise until the infrastructure is in place for long journeys in electric or fuel cell cars
10, As mentioned it does benefit from a strut brace maybe you are expecting a sports car. the brakes are good and progressive for the purpose of this car there are many mods available
11, Virtually all cars have engine braking of one sort or another the Prius has the added benefit of you being able to release that braking with a little of the right pedal without engine input. masking it coast better than any
12, You can turn off backlighting for you display see owners manual
13, I am yet to see a hermetically sealed car but you can close the vents that can be directed at the driver
14, I believe you can turn off the automatic lights mine doesn't have that function unless you mean interior lights 5 watts?
15, I think it is cheap when looking at similarly equiped similar sized cars perticularly when you take running costs in the equation
16, Radio works well for me I just scan in an area where the presets are not in tune. Again many options are available
17, 4 Wheel drive is not an option on many cars built for economy or cleanliness

The Prius is not the car for everyone, enjoy it or sell it to someone who will. Maybe a Subaru would be more your type of car

 

Like others have stated, the rear visibility is quite poor and the side mirrors are small. There are some squeaks too.

 

1. Stereo and climate control LCD is unreadable. Toyota should spend another 10 cents and make them a flourescent blue display like the dash. Then it would be readible. Like my 99 cent calculator has.
2. Rotate the steering wheel touch controls 45 degrees, where volume UP is facing UP, and channel over is over. Duh.
3. The nice dash display tells you what you press, but it doesn't tell you any more. The car display should change to show what you just changed. Like a Volume control bar with the number or the air temperature, or the radio station and smaller on each side the previous or next station. Pretty simple stuff but way safer than having to adjust you focus looking down away from the road to an unreadable LCD.
4. The transmission selector should straight up for forward, right and down for reverse and left and up for B. What are they thinking, push forward to go back?!?

 

It's the same basic pattern as a floor shift automatic.

 

For number 1 I agree with you regarding the cost (I personally don't think readability is that bad, but it's a matter of taste, I would say) and the type. But it's typical of Japanese manufacturers to use (old) reliable and likely economic technology, rather than the latest tech. Moreover I work in the automotive semiconductor industry and you would not believe the efforts and the pressure the suppliers get to save money on *everything* to reduce costs... So rather 10 cents less than more. And because the third gen clearly looks like a new but cost optimized gen 2 to finally make (more) money out of it, they tried to squeeze every penny possible. What about the70s looking light/switch in the boot trunk then?...and the cheapest possible incandescent lights when competition on this class of vehicle is already using LEDs extensively??

Regarding 3 I fully agree with you. It defeats the purposes of the touch tracer. One thing for example, adding to your list, is feedback about recirculation. For the ore things you have somehow a feedback (e.g. Whether it's louder or not), but with this you really have to look...

Regarding 2, they changed this in the Prius v/+/alpha by rotating them 90deg, if I remember this correctly.

Regarding 4 - well in an (useful?) effort of making the car look like a conventional automatic drivetrain car, they kept the same order as the automatic gearshift lever you find there, where D is selected going downward, and R upwards. They had the chance to do the opposite mimicking the real movement, they decided instead not to, for some reason. The hidden agendas of marketing.... I could add also that I don't understand why they have the car crawl when in D, at least for EU markets, since the car can stay put when in D, compared to a conventional hydraulic coupling automatic gearshift...consuming energy when pressing the brake just to keep the car sitting there (I don't feel like the electric motor is off when depressing the brake pedal at 0km/h)....

 

Perhaps the Prius V features may be in the 2012 prius. If so, I will be kicking myself for not waiting a month. Are these migrating to the standard prius:

1. Rotated steering wheel buttons more logical. (with Mute)
2. Readable Flourescent blue display for climate control
3. Power lumbar standard.
4. Steering wheel Bluetooth standard.
5. USB and iPod input standard.
6. 16" wheels standard (with hubcaps on base, but better looking than the 15". You can still ditch the hubcap and add a center cap to the alloys).
7. Backup Camera and display for stereo.
8. 3 door smart key auto door locks.
9. Remote Air conditioning.
10. HD Radio.

...or am dreaming on the changes. It would be nice to see a complete confirmed valid change list for the standard Prius.

 

The only complaint I have is the car is so light, it does not stop easily on snow, slides on rain and pray if there is ice...Otherwise I love the MPG!

 

On snow! Once the tires spin, I am stuck. Very little or no power to the tires.

 

You both need to buy better tires. The OEM tires are terrible!

 

I like my Prius, but it does have its faults. First is the visibility out the back, especially after dark. Second is no one but the Toyota dealer wants to work on it. Original tires didn't last long, but the General Altimaxs are doing great, over 60,000 so far. The last thing is the milage posted on the screen is off by 2-3 mpg, actually getting 42-44 mpg. I calculate the milage on fill ups and it's been off for a while now. Currently have 105,750 miles on my 2006.