2019 Prius Wish List

Having owned my 2018 for a day now, after a nice Accord EX, here's what I think it should have added:

• Sun visors should extend on their shafts, so sunlight from the side, a bit further back can be blocked.
• Closed cell foam in the arm rest areas. This cheap open cell stuff will deflate pretty quickly, I think
• Pleather on the armrest console cover; that roughish fabric is going to wear pretty quickly
• Lumbar support on the front seats. Even if it's mechanically adjustable, this is old tech.
• Do NOT charge $400 extra for real colors. (i.e. not white, black or any shade of gray or sliver) And make them available.
• Lithium batteries on all models. This isn't the 90s any more.

 

I think you need to rent a Gen 4 for a while - and you'll appreciate that it's astronomically better than Gen 2 ever was. Gen 2 was clever - but such a lack-lustre drive, I bought a KIA instead at that time. When I bought the Gen 4, I could have bought a NEW but superseded Gen 3 for $$ubstantially cheaper - but when I checked it out, it was like chalk and cheese - you wouldn't entertain a Gen 3 after driving a Gen 4.

1) I notice that Mazda hasn't got a HYBRID battery to worry about - so forget them. As for headroom, the car's profile changed for better aerodynamics, an all new platform, when released, the best in mass-produced cars. Boot layout - they've compromised, yes, and I think they could have thought out the design a bit better - some cars do it better than others, but remember that PRIUS has 3 different layouts depending on which country - some have a full-size spare, others a pretend spare, and some no spare at all. I suspect they've pandered to the home-market, as that's where the bulk are sold - with no spare. The full-size and pretend spares are later additions to their thinking, I'd suspect.

2) The inside looks just fine really. BMW has a funky design with their i3 and i8 interiors too. Surely you don't want it to look like a boring VW or AUDI? I don't understand why you'd want better resolution - the backup camera works fine, much better than many other equivalent cars I tried - many in the same price-range didn't even have moving grid-lines like PRIUS. Personally I hate those big screens - look like someone is trying to "out-TESLA" TESLA's horrible interior - reminds me of an office. The SOLAR roof - yes, probably OK for some markets, I wouldn't mind having had it, but as an AU$8000 option, it wasn't worth the effort. Plus the weight was the reason I heard they dropped it. We'd be better with the Thermo-tect heat-reducing paint available in Japan only.

3) The lights are great - best lights I've ever driven with. Have you driven one at night - try it and you'll love them.

4) Hmmm, that's very market specific - I'd prefer cooled seats and wheel - here in the semi-tropics.

5) Really - who cares - I've never looked at the ceiling till you mentioned it. And I still think it looks good. Better than the all black or all tan ceilings I've seen at times in cars.

6) you're comparing with a car treble the price - and is shoddily built. And TESLA didn't bother with an ICE. That's like comparing a Clydesdale with a racehorse - different horses for different courses. PRIME is a later design than PRIUS, but had to be based on PRIUS and restrained by the TGNA chassis design. Sure, they could have started again with a clean sheet of paper, but you'd be talking TESLA prices.

7) - IDOL button? I presume IDLE? You CAN have it stopped with just the A/C on - it'll run off the HYBRID battery till there is no charge left, then it starts the ICE, which runs till it's charged the battery. I've done it several times. There are several people who have camped in their Gen 4s using it just like that.

8) I don't get where you see "grainy" - it's quite clear, perfectly in line with what the rest of the market in PRIUS's price range. Front camera - you won't see that on a budget car range yet, and Gen 4 is much better ground clearance than many other cars on the market - I like how it's a substantial improvement on my last FORD. Maybe front sensors, they're on some in this price range.

9) The mirror has got indicators on them already - and quite visible ones compared to some others I see - that's all we need.

10) The fob DOES lower the windows already, and puts them up again. And, no, please not an Apple Watch - I hate those things, another thing to charge at night or go flat during the day. Nor a Mobile Phone.

11) NO, NO, NO. Leave that to Rolls Royce.

12) Yes, the glove boxes etc were good on Gen 3, but the rest of Gen 3 was a bit ordinary, thicker pillars and drove like an old design. Gen 4 is a brand new platform, and actually drives well. I don't want a Gen 3.

13) No - I hate those things - very USA-centric market. BUT Toyota has got one which is offered as an option on a couple of their newer designed cars, but remember PRIUS was released Aug 2015.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++​

14) - if we get a Gen 4 update - just give us better seats. And a hill-holder which works when wanting to reverse while facing down hill. Oh, and a radio with buttons and knobs rather than a silly piece of glass.

 

one company can't dominate forever, time to move on to tesla.

 

I think my Texan Friend needs to spend a while reading the manual on the Gen 4 Prius. Like most young men he seems to have gotten hold of some inaccurate misconceptions and feels he's become an expert on the car. Ah, the vivacity of youth. Could be it's wasted on the young and old farts like me could definitely use some more of it! Welcome to Prius Chat @TexAmi

 

I want an idol button. I can't think which idol I'd like. But what could it do? Pop out of the dash and do a dance? You know like with hula skirts? Sorry, I just had to.

Here's my take:

1) Sunshades should work on the side. They should be able to extend.
2) Make the charging tray large enough to charge the current offering of phones. My phone doesn't fit. I'm mad. It was one of the reasons I bought the phone... you know so I could charge it in my car. <wink> I really should have done the tape measure thing.
3) Spare tire
4) Seats must fold flat. Mine don't. There are many reasons why seats should fold flat.
5) 360 degree camera. This should be a must in the top of the line models.
6) The tires have pressure monitors. Why can't they display the pressure on the screen?
7) I bought a white car. I had to pay a $400 premium for white. All of the paint schemes have the pearlescent paint. Why did they charge more for white and red when I bought mine? Go figure.
8) Apple Car Play

 

I agree with all of those (although I would need Android Auto)

Regarding the paint, the reason those two colors cost more is because they are tri-stage, meaning that between the base color and the clearcoat layer there is a middle layer of partially transparent color which is different than the base color. Visually the base and mid-coat colors merge together to create a color effect which is not possible with just one layer of color. If you get your car repaired these colors will cost more because the painter has to mix two separate colors and apply them separately, car paint is very expensive plus the extra labor so their cost actually is somewhat higher. Even in the case of a new car where they are painted by robots it's still an extra paint cycle that it has to go through.

That being said, like any option from floor mats to door edge guards they make a huge profit on those items compared to their actual costs. All you can do is try and negotiate a selling price that cuts into the profit they are making not only on the car but also any add-on options including special paint.

 

Now - that's a realistic list (along with @MichelleStone 's list). Thanks. Just post it to TOYOTA and hope they respond.

Except it's already got repeater indicators in the mirrors.

I'm not sure of the screen - mine is quite good, and the reversing camera is better than most cars I test-drove in late '15, early '16. The only ones better were AUDI and LEXUS from memory - which were double+ the price. But then, I don't have Navigation (don't want it either - it's a rip-off in most cars with the cost of updates etc). But maybe if AndroidApple Carplay comes, it might need better resolution.

I'm not sure of heated seats - here they'd never be used, but maybe down south where it snows. I use A/C 80-90% of the time.

 

[I'm sure you don't really mean IDOL? Maybe IDLE?]

If IDLE - the ICE has to run at a reasonable speed to do what you're talking about, it's not just idling. It's busy running MG1 at the very least, which is rated at 31HP / 40 Nm as a motor - as a generator, it would require a considerable amount of ICE power to do so. So the ICE has to be spinning at a reasonable speed to enable that to happen. It's also got to run the Pump etc while it's driving MG1 via the planetary gearset.

If it just idled - all it would do is idle. Like in your normal Corolla - when it idles, it only idles, a bit faster if the A/C clicks in. PRIUS only runs the ICE when the battery hasn't enough charge to run the A/C - and it is then BOTH recharging the battery AND running the A/C.

 

No - we don't get dual-zone climate here - seems only EU (maybe home market).

 

Yup, and those side mirror blinkers
and a roll-up hood cover
and a hud
and self-leveling headlamps
and UK taxation on everything.

In case you think we got it all, there's ~57% tax per litre on motion lotion plus another 20% VAT on the entire sale! That's making us pay one tax on another tax! It happens a lot.

 

Of those 1), 2), and 3) I've marked - we get them here - but not 4). Weird how they must flip coins to work out the equipment.

And please keep the tax to yourselves. Tho - our mob manage to tax us in so many sneaky ways, you have no idea what's going on. And, fortunately, I think our fuel is a bit cheaper than yours too ($1.60/litre approx for regular unleaded last I looked) - though that depends on where in the country you are. Distant country areas can be very expensive - but transport is probably the biggest factor there. My daughter was at Bamaga 2 weeks ago - $2.05/l.

 

Actually I kind of like calling it the idol button, sort of a catchy name

Although I would want it to work a little different. The problem, well I should say annoyance in my Gen 2 is that when I am sitting in my car for a period of time with the AC on it lets the battery get near the lowest bar before starting ICE to charge it. Which is fine that's what I want. However it then only charges it enough to raise it one bar then it shuts off. Then after about five minutes it drops down a bar and ICE comes on, and this cycle repeats the remainder of the time that I am sitting there. Having ICE constantly turn on and off tends to interrupt naps and is somewhat distracting if I am reading, on the phone etc. I would much rather that it charge to full each time. Even though that means ICE will run longer that is fine, in a nap for example I might briefly wake up when ICE starts but then I can drift off again, and if this only happens every twenty minutes or so that's better than every five minutes.

However I suspect the reason it works this way is because the system thinks that at any moment you might start driving again, and it will be more efficient to fully charge at that time. In that case an idle button would be a way to let the system know that you will be stationary for a while and you want a full charge each time ICE comes on. In theory you could even use it in a traffic jam, so that when the traffic finally does clear you will have full power, instead of being underpowered for the first minute which is currently the case if I am in a long traffic jam with the AC on. Maybe a little less efficient but at least you would have that option.

Unless it already works differently in Gen 4 and charges fully each time? Or maybe it doesn't allow the battery to get as low, but that would still cause ICE to have to run often. So the idle button (which I guess in my scenario means you are idle, not the engine) would tell the system that you want the battery to drain to low then fully charge during each cycle. Of course battery life could be an issue here if you did it every day, but for occasional use you would at least have the option. Also it would automatically go back to regular mode once you start driving, and the next time that you are going to be "idle" for awhile you would have to press the button again.

 

Average UK fuel prices
Fuel prices as of 3.8.2018

Unleaded
129.1

Diesel
132.1

Super Unleaded
139.8

Premium Diesel
146.0

Prices are shown in pence per litre.

I'm lucky to get £1.26/litre from a supermarket forecourt!

BTW, the UK Gov't is considering adding another £0.08p/litre tax to help fund our National Health Service. I believe the motorist has become a govt cash-cow.

 

I suspect it's efficiency. The proportion of trips who "drive" compared to "sit and read/snooze" - is probably 9,999%:1 - so it's not significant for most cases. I'm not generally in my Gen4 when I've left it Locked with PowerOn - but in a traffic jam it went down to 2 bars - as low as it ever does - then charged 2 notches before switching off. Not sure if it would do that exact pattern forever. In my case, it was good - as it was mostly downhill once we got going again, and a lot of regeneration "free".

I haven't noticed Gen4 has lower power available with a low battery - possibly measurable on a dragstrip/stopwatch, but not detectable on the road.

 

Stronger, crack-resistant / chip-resistant windscreen glass. (Somebody posted in another thread a link to a class-action lawsuit filed in Texas? Not sure.)

Much bigger and brighter tail lights and brake lights. The great looking brake lights on the Gen3 are some of the best I've seen.