Likes and dislikes about the 2004 Prius

I've never had a car with an under hood, light, would never thought of it not existing as "mystifying"

The ability to tilt the forward edge of the seat up a bit would be nice for thigh support.

I would like the lumbar 'bulge" to be up about 2 inchs.

Agree on the cruise. Actually, it drops memory if you drop below 25.

 

I drove the rental (base model with optional floor mats) round trip (over 400 miles) to Peabody, MA from Burlington, VT yesterday so I can finally post from personal experience.

Starting with the dislikes (no deal busters here!)

• There was a thread (which I can't find) started by someone saying the headrest was uncomfortable. Some of the replies said it isn't for resting your head on. I may not be experiencing the thing as the original poster, but I might now understand what s/he meant. I find the headrest to be too far forward of the seat back. If I sit with my back fully against the seat, the headrest forces me to push my neck and head forward. This is not comfortable at all and I'm am NOT trying to rest my head. I am OK with it in its lowest position and the seat tilted back 2 clicks since the top of it is then somewhat below the back of my head. BUT, at 6'2" and with maybe 1.5" between my head and the roof, the headrest would be most effective safety wise up at least 1 notch if not 2.
• Wish the side vents were not shiny silver as they reflect heavily on the side mirror. The car is silver, don't know if other interiors have different color side vents. The dash could also be less reflective. It isn't awful, but I see why some people are getting dash mats.
• Agree with other posts on glare washing out the display at certain sun angles. A built in, retractable hood would be useful at times.
• As others have mentioned, It would be nice if one of the glove compartments locked.
• I think having a number rather than vertical bar for "current mileage" would be an improvement. I like seeing the 5 minute intervals (AKA inverse topo map ), but having to interpolate the current mileage isn't useful. Maybe they could use the regained space for a tach or engine run indicator.
• For my 'normal, longer distance driving', I would like the center console to be about 2" lower. In my car, I tend to have my right hand at 3 and/or my left at 9 on the wheel with my elbow on the armrest. Maybe it is just muscle memory, but it seems less comfortable in the Prius. I found the 'shelf' where the window meets the driver's door is several inches too high for the same reason. I'm sure lowering it would affect the crash ratings so I'm not going to ask for that to change .
• The car didn't start when I put my Odyssey's remote starter fob in the slot They are almost exactly the same size, color and shape and I grabbed what felt normal when I was leaving Peabody. I wonder what would happen if the car had SS/SE and I did that. Would it gag on recognizing there was a fob in the slot that didn't have a chip and detecting the SS/SE fob as well or just ignore the useless blob?
• My daughter couldn't see the clock from the back. I suspect that will change as she gets taller.
• The owner's manual says "see the dealer" to change the back up beeper, etc. Should have it in there. Actually, they should have it on the multifunction display.
  • 
    OK, now for the likes:
    • A lot of versatility, though I haven't yet tried to figure out how much lumber I can get in it ;-) Certainly not as much as my Odyssey. Whoever had it before me must have gotten some mulch because when I folded down the rear seats to see how it looked, there were bits of in the the fold.
    • I am amazed at the amount of technology in this car for the price!
      • Auto climate control
      • trac
      • touch screen
      • the entire HSD system, what marvelous engineering
      • very tight cruise control
      • Toyota VSC !!
      • stealth
      • the highway mileage - over 50 mpg avg (99% interstate) on a car that just rolled over 5000 miles and needs its 5K scheduled maintenance.
        • "heads up display" Very nice for us old guys with multifocals and safer for all drivers.
        • the new shifter, the one on the 2001-2003 is quite clunky and obscured some controls.
        • controls on the wheel. I know, for a lot of you this is nothing new, but my Odyssey has only cruise on the wheel.
        • The girls like that the rear windows go all the way down. This is not the case in either my Odyssey or my wife's Legacy wagon. The "squished nose" car isn't so "ugly" in my 11 Y/O's eyes now
        • The ride. Some have noted body roll, but I don't see it as excessive. Maybe because I'm not comparing it with a sportier car.

 

After some 500 kms driving the Prius (thanks to my dealer! ) I think I can comment on this as well.

I certainly consider this to be a mid-sized car. But that's maybe because I live in Europe and cars tend to be smaller over here. I think it's safe to compare this car with the Avensis, Renault Laguna, Saab 9-3, Ford Mondeo (not estate), Volvo S50 etc.

Sorry to disagree again, but comparing it with the cars I mentioned under #1, the Prius doesn't do that bad. Maybe the 0-60 is a bit slower or just as fast as some of those cars, but the Prius is pretty peppy. Especially compared to my current car: 70HP Peugeot 206 1.9D...

This has been my experience as well, on the highway the car still is pretty careful with the fuel. And when driving on country lanes is even better!

True, under windy conditions the car needs some attention, but so do lots of other cars. Two of my co-workers own the new BMW 5 series, fully loaded. They also complain about it being subject to side winds. Tsk tsk.

SS/SE: not on the one Prius I bought, but it's on the one I test drove several times. While it's certainly nice to have, I don't think it's as good to have as some people on these boards. But I *love* the power button!
Rear window wiper: is on wrong side of the hatch and it's too short. Bad.
Fog lights: not on the Prius I ordered, I don't need them anyway. It's illegal to use them under anything but foggy conditions (and then only if you can't see more than 50 meters). Plus lots of people use them always, day and night.
I :cussing: that, especially when the road is wet (= extra glare). :guns:
VSC/traction control: I like it, although I've heard it's a bit too conservative and has no off switch. Lots of rain in the Netherlands. But also under dry conditions roads can get slippery (oil, sand etc).
Aircon: worked just fine, but then again the outside temp was just over 20 degrees C... it hardly gets over 30 over here anyway.

The light interior has me worried as well. Also reports on the durability of the fabric (especially of the armrest) are worrisome. Ah well, having a light interior is much nicer than a black one to sit in. It brightens my day!




Things I'd like to have on the next Prius:

• SS/SE on all models
• Rain sensor for windscreen wipers
• Vertical windscreen wipers, the current windscreen wipers generate a bit of wind noise on the highway (the noise is much less when they are vertical, just try it!)
• MD-player
• I'd love to be able to connect Prius to laptop via USB or Bluetooth and export the MPG figures and other data (and also upload MP3 songs)
• More information screens for the MFDisplay
• Better radio reception

 

I must have missed this thread the first time around.

My own dislikes:

I want an engine temp indicator or a light to tell me when to stop for 10 seconds to put the car in full hybrid (S4) operation. My commute is short (4 miles) and a few blocks makes a big percentage difference in how much time the car is in S4.

I'd like an ammeter. The instantaneous mileage indicator gives me a rough feel for whether I'm burning a lot of gas or a little, but the missing part of the equation is how much of the excess energy is going back to the battery, in those times when, for example, I am driving 20 mph on a level road and not accelerating, but the mileage is showing 25 mpg.

Handling in high wind. We have about 3 days a year when the wind speed is less than hurricane strength. Fortunately, I seldom drive on the highway.

My biggest dislike was the lack of an EV switch. But I installed Costal Tech's switch 3 weeks ago, so that problem is solved and this feature is now in my "Likes" column.

My own likes:

Costal's EV switch, as above.

Everything else about this car. It is powerful, really powerful, after my old Civic. It is comfortable, luxurious, roomy, fun to drive, green, and geeky. It's fun to tell people how it has no transmission, and make like I'm slightly "disappointed" to be getting "only" mid-40's for mileage (and watch their faces, because they're getting 12 or 15 mpg) and how clean it is, and about SS/SE etc., etc., etc. While it's not as nimble as my Civic was, I've decided that now that I'm an old man I don't need nimble any more.

And some comments on other people's dislikes:

Coin holder: I use the door-pull for bridge tokens. It's very convenient, and would work just as well for change if I needed access to change. (I never buy drive-through food.)

Engine-run indicator and tachometer would be pointless on this car. Any time the mpg reads 99.9 the engine is either off, or burning so little fuel it does not matter, and the HSD makes rpms meaningless.

I see nothing wrong with the light-colored interior. Maybe if you have muddy children or dogs it's a problem.

What's the deal with auto door locks? With one button you can lock all the doors. You worried that Jason or Bruce Willis is going to jump onto the roof of your car while you're moving and open the car and jump in? I don't want to have to unlock the door every time I get out. And if you live in L.A. or Mexico City you don't want to wait to be moving before you lock your doors. You want to hit that lock button the instant you close the door. Plus you want armored glass so they don't break your window with a baseball bat.

 

Just before I left for Peabody, my neighbor was telling me how "Those hybrids don't get the mileage they are supposed to". I said even if they don't hit EPA,it was still at least twice what he gets. He said, "No, they get like 25 mpg". Ignorant fools, gotta find out where he's been getting his info and set them straight. I'll give him my 50+ avg on 420 miles next time I see him.

 

my only problem...

Is that where the rear window is bifurcated obscures observation of ascetically pleasing females behind me while at stop lights.

 

Most people simply make up numbers when they are arguing. The unwritten rule seems to be that whoever says a number first gets to stick by it. However, you can trump a claimed number by making up an authoritative-sounding citation. E.g.: tell them: "A three-month study by Exxon, leaked and published without permission in the March 27 issue of the New York Times, found that although brand new 2004 Prius get 25% below the EPA numbers, the figures improve, and by the time the car has 15,000 miles on it it gets 3% above the EPA mileage in real-world driving in summer, or 2.5% better with the A/C running, or just 5% below the EPA figures in extreme cold weather with the heater running." If you can say that with a straight face, chances are your friend will buckle.

 

yep most people have no concept of mpg's on their cars because they dont have real time feedback.

i had an interesting conversation at work today with someone who just noticed my Prius...(getting more converts everyday!!)

when i told i was averaging 53 mpg his comment was

"is that all? VW's and chevy sprints get that much"

"i said, the Prius is #1 for all 5 passenger gas vehicles in the world"

he said "that dont seem like much mpg's to me"

i said "i used a chevy sprint for work in CA and it only got about 40 mpg and it was GUTLESS!!"

then i said "lets go take a ride"

he said..."oK"

we did

his jaw was still dragging the floor when we left work 3 hours later...

end of story.

 

Hey Dinger: "Ascetically pleasing" (instead of 'aesthetically') - used as a way to describe the finer female form - is a pretty funny typo, as far as unintentional typos go. (You could look it up

And while we're on the subject, some critics seem to regard our Prius as merely ascetic in its capacity to please. But I think 'aesthetically pleasing' applies here too - almost as well as to that lovely crossing the street behind you! Don't crash... ;^)

 

Do you always remember to lock your doors before driving away in your Prius? If you do, you don't need auto door locks. For everyone who does not remember it is a useful safety feature--how many stories have you heard about burglars entering cars at red lights?

The base VW Golf (priced well below the Prius) has auto door locks. It also has side and curtain air bags.