I am calling for a boycott!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ghostofjk @ Jul 3 2006, 08:18 PM) [snapback]280723[/snapback]</div>

Well, at the risk of posting in the wrong place I will give my unprofessional review of the car.

I rented a gray (didn't have the choice of color) Prius from http://www.rentahybrid.net/ They are located at 617 South Highway 101 in Solana Beach about 15 minutes north of San Diego along the coast. The actual building (really just a hole in the wall along Highway 101) seems to house several car rental agencies and, I believe, the RentAHybrid company is actually National Rental Car. It cost about $50 per day with 150 miles free per day. I went over it a bit (357 miles) which cost me an extra $20.

The introduction to the car was too quick (they gave me a little card which showed how to start and stop the car) and before I really knew what I was doing I was driving freeway speeds on I5 South. I did not know where the cruise control was and it was a bit annoying having to drive without it. After I got the car home (I live in North City/Mira Mesa in San Diego) I went over it to familiarize myself with the car and its controls.

The sticker on the door post on the driver's side said it was manufactured in 04/06 so I am guessing it might be an '06. There was no automatic rear view mirror, the radio had a single slot cd player and the console only allowed you to balance between left and right and front and rear speakers so I am guessing this may have been a package 3 or 4? It had the gray fabric seats. No HID headlights or fog lights. No backup camera. The seats seemed comfortable but they were not power seats and I have short legs. I had to sit up close to the steering wheel and lean the seatback further back to be able to drive with my feet close enough to the pedals and my arms and hands back enough to rest comfortably on the steering wheel. For me, a telescoping steering wheel would really be nice.

My first experiences were freeway driving and I was surprised at the pick up and ability to drive at freeway speeds. I don't tend to go much over 70 mph when I drive freeways so I found the car had more power than I expected. Up until then I was undecided on which color to get because I like the Barcelona Metallic Red and also the Seaside Pearl. Figuring it would not be a very fast car I thought I might like the novelty of owning a red electric hybrid car. Almost everyone has heard the story about how Police like to pull over speeding red cars. Some say they do it because the red makes the drivers speed others say that the police like most other people notice the color red more. That may be why red is used to denote danger in our society and why stop signs are red. I am slightly color blind so I don't see the attraction myself.

The best I can figure is whatever a normal person sees as red I see as a muddy brown. The first time I actually saw real red was at a laser demonstration where there was enough coherent light that even I could see the light emitted by the ruby laser. Anyway, I might reconsider and go with the blue Seaside Pearl because I found it very easy to creep up and speed in the Prius.

Freeway driving was a bit fatiguing because I felt the road a lot and I was conscious of the fact that it wasn't very economical. I did not feel much effect from cars and trucks passing me so I don't know whether one of the after-market stiffening plates would be necessary. They are an inexpensive upgrade and I probably will get one when I get my Prius. But, I did not feel a need for one with this car. However, my test drive was during the day and in good weather over reasonably good roads.

I found the CVT Transmission an interesting experience. I kept expecting to feel it change gears, which it didn't of course. The days I had it were hot and I ran the air conditioner almost all of the time so I seldom felt the electric motor running without the gasoline motor running even when driving at slow speeds of say 20 -30 mph. I would like to see the air conditioner have dual settings for the driver and the passenger.

I did find the console distracting and having the speed and other items displayed out over the hood of the car a bit difficult to read. I finally caught on as to how to read the speed and ignored the rest. Once I figured out how to change the display I left it on the screen that presented me with a real time chart of how much electricity vs gas I was using. It took a little thinking to realize that the chart was running right to left instead of left to right. It made sense after I realized it was a chart of performance over time. I found the screen that showed the drive motors, etc. to be useless. I figured it was a nice advertising gimmick but once you know it is a hybrid you wish for more useful information. The CAN-view mod that I have read about on the list is appealing to me. I am a computer geek by profession.

Over the two days I test drove the Prius I took it on freeways, side streets and into the back country of San Diego County. I drove up to the Mount Palomar Observatory and experienced the concern about watching the "charge" get quite low. Fortunately I had read about this on the list so I did not panic. When I reached the Palomar Mtn. parking lot I parked in a marked stall only to realize I was nose to nose with another Prius. I walked over to the picnic area under some trees to stretch my legs and rest a bit and watched as people kept walking up and checking out both cars. I had done quite a bit of driving up to this point and I realized that my left foot was sore and stiff because of how I had to sit to reach the pedals and the steering wheel. My left foot was crammed up against the firewall and wedged against the corner the whole time I was driving.

When I left Palomar Mountain I drove the back way down the mountain towards Julian. As I was coming down the mountain I was rolling along at a leisurely 35 mph, braking as I was going down to maintain my speed. The wheels seemed to make a roaring noise and I figured that was the wheels recharging the batteries. As I drove down the mountain I came up on a bicyclist from behind and he did not hear me. When he realized I was behind him he almost fell off of his bicycle. I passed him and then he raced me down the mountain. There were times when I accelerated and left him behind and then other times when I braked to keep my speed around 35 mph and he rushed up on me so quickly I thought that he was going to plow into me. He gave up chasing me when I reached the bottom of the mountain and started to head east towards Julian. I stopped in Santa Ysabel and bought some fruit and a bottle of water to snack on. Then I headed back up the mountains to Julian. I drove the back country going through Julian and then over Mt. Laguna on the Sunrise Highway and down to east of Buckman Springs on I8 to Cibbets Flats where I took another break to sit along a stream and watch people come over from their campsites to look at the car.

As the sun was going down I returned to I8 and headed west back into San Diego. I found the lights and the windshield washer controls just where they would have been in the Toyota Corolla I had owned back in the '80s. The brakes took a bit of getting used to because I normally drive a Chevrolet Lumina Sedan which is larger and has power assisted brakes. Steering seemed okay. I do not believe it was power assisted steering but it isn't that big of a car. Night driving was okay but I did find having the rear window split by the bar across the back a bit odd. I kept looking through the 'trunk'. I also found myself looking through the little wing window on the passenger side at one point and trying to figure out what was behind me until I realized that what I was seeing was beside and slightly in front of me. I had thought I was looking into a side mirror instead of through a window.

The next day I did some local city driving and a bit of grocery shopping. It was nice to be able to lay the back seat down to accomodate the groceries. I stopped and filled the gas tank when I returned the car before noon on Sunday. After 357 miles it required 7.4 gallons. The trip odometer said I had averaged approximately 46 mpg. Not bad for someone who was not trying to get any extra mileage out of the car by gliding or doing anything extra from the way I usually drive. This test drive included a lot of freeway driving and a lot of driving up and down mountains and through switchback roads where it handled very well.

Overall I was very impressed with the Prius. I have checked out, and driven, the Honda Accord Hybrid as well as the Toyota Camry Hybrid and Toyota Highlander Hybrid. For my money and needs the Prius is the car for me for the next 10 years.

The irony of all this is that despite all of the best intentions, I forgot to look under the hood before I returned the car!

Hope this has been helpful. For what it is worth, I am 53 years old and do tend to drive a bit more sanely than some younger folk. ;-)

Rick

 

quick note, the steering is electic assist not conventional PS fluid pump hoses steering box etc. because the ICE stops and starts as need and as it will stop when the car is moving no assist would be available. Glad your test of the car was a success.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Betelgeuse @ Jul 1 2006, 09:16 AM) [snapback]279648[/snapback]</div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mssmith95 @ Jul 1 2006, 12:51 PM) [snapback]279739[/snapback]</div>

Not quite. What Betelgeuse suggested is that you ignore posts if you aren't satisfied with the information provided. You, on the other hand, are trying to arrange for everyone to ignore such posts. It's rather disingenuous to imply that the 2 positions are equivalent, as that quite simply isn't the case.

 

All this badgering about the profile information is silly.

In protest, I've removed my profile information.

 

So..what if I don't actually own a Prius? Am I not allowed to be here?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ Jul 6 2006, 09:44 AM) [snapback]281952[/snapback]</div>

Here, Here! I'm joining you.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mssmith95 @ Jul 6 2006, 11:20 AM) [snapback]282007[/snapback]</div>

Then "please, please" don't start an aggressive thread calling for a boycott of people who don't update their profiles. It's not the fact that you're requesting people update their information that bugs me; it's the fact that you're badgering people about it. I've seen a number of posts here where the Model/Package and Location are TOTALLY irrelevant to the question being asked, but you (or someone else in the "Profile Gestapo") feel the need to take the person to task for not updating their profile information. If the lack of that information makes it harder for you to answer the question, then I think it's reasonable to ask. Otherwise, just let the person alone; don't answer if you don't want to answer.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Betelgeuse @ Jul 6 2006, 10:32 AM) [snapback]282015[/snapback]</div>

Which has caused, it seems, valuable contributors to leave the forums entirely in some cases. I'm thinking specifically of the Oh, deer. thread, but I'm pretty sure this wasn't the only occurrence.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Frank Hudon @ Jul 4 2006, 09:02 PM) [snapback]281212[/snapback]</div>

Thanks Frank!

There is so much technical stuff to learn about the Prius that I really did not have enough time during the test drive. Once I had my hands on one I wanted to drive it. I noted in my review that I spent so much time trying it out that I forgot to look under the hood before I returned it to the rental agency!

Rick

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ Jul 6 2006, 06:44 AM) [snapback]281952[/snapback]</div>

Hahaha, LOL!! :lol: :lol:

I'm going to boycott the boycott. :huh:

All this Profile Policing is ridiculous for the most part...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rancid13 @ Jul 6 2006, 01:32 PM) [snapback]282191[/snapback]</div>

Thing is, it seems to mirror what our government is doing, Maybe mssmith is an undercover operative trying to undermine the (misguided conception) liberal, tree huggers on the PC site. We know Toyota is watching us but who else??????????

Big Brother wants to know.....