I just bought a prius on friday. I was offered a coating package--paint/upholstery/underbody but declined. Having driven three miles home, I could still do it but have never coated any of my cars (with good luck as they were well coated by the manufacturer). I am reluctant to do it but have never owned a car with so much "non-metal" based parts. (My next youngest car is 12 years old.) I am a bit intimidated by all the computer stuff and question an extended warranty. I didn't buy one (just made the cost of the car). Should I consider this??? What else should I know or consider??? I'm in Buffalo and we do have snow. I had not planned on putting snows on the car but maybe I should. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
A total wast of money. Just a bunch of crappiola to make the dealer more $. If you want to protect the upholstery you can buy a spray can of upholstery protectant from any auto parts store for under $5.00. You car paint is clear coated. No need to do any more than wax it from time to time. Underbody coating: fergedaboudit. Arizona Charlie.
You made the right choice to turn down the undercoating. Mine came with some kind of undercoating designed to "reduce" road noise. Most of that crap fell off o the car over the first week of ownership in big noisy chunks. Since you live in the rust belt, all I'd do in your situation is get the undercarriage cleaned on a regular basis to keep the salt buildup at bay. Stealerships like to add that stuff since they can pocket pretty much the entire cost that they charge to add it.
Worry, CONGRATS.... welcome to the owners side.. here are 10 points to get you started.. :lol: I agree with the other posters on the undercoating... my dealer in Denver didn't offer it.. I don't feel that there is too much road noise in the Prius as it is.. Bob Andersen
Worrywort, As far as the tires go, I know the weather in Buffalo has ALOT of snow. You will find many opinions here. People like John1701a and Daniel used the OEM Goodyear Integrity's without problems last winter in cold snowy northern midwest climates without difficulty. Some have still switched. The most popular All-Season tires for upgrade right now seem to be either the Goodyear TripleTreds (have to size up to 195/60/R15) or the Michelin HydroEdges. The reports so far is that they are far superior on snow than the OEM tires. If you read Jayman's posts (a Canadian), he would argue for nothing but dedicated snow tires. Tirerack.com does have a winter tire package deal that includes rims for the 04/05 Prius. Personally, I went with the Goodyear TT's which should be more than sufficient for my needs. Just would have liked to have seen a comparison between the top end All-Seasons like the TT's and the HE's and the full line of dedicated snow tires. I am sure that I give up something but wonder how much. (and even wonder if they might be at least as good as the lower end dedicated snow tires)
If you have just snow, not slush, then i would recommend blizzzaks. Don't drive them when theres no snow on the road. The are strictly snow tires, they wear down extremely fast on conditions without snow. The Dunlop M3s are the best for slushy/not much snow. These are also best left for winter only. I have ordered M3s for my evo and they are on a worldwide backorder. They will be instock near JAN, but if your car can even get traction in the snow, i would wait to buy snowtires on any season except winter for M3s.
Worrywort: My advice on tires is to forget that it's a Prius and use the tires you would on any other car. The Prius handles great on ice, and though reports on snow are mixed, most report excellent handling. If you have VSC, all the better. Personally, I consider tires a safety issue, and so upgraded to the HE tires even though the OEM tires did fine last winter. If I'm lucky, I'll never have occasion to notice the difference. But I feel better knowing I've got top-of-the-line tires. If you always use snow tires, get them for this car. If you always use all-season tires, stick with all-seasons. If you normally stick with the OEM tires, the ones you have are fine. If you normally get the best tires you can, do the same for your Prius.
You have 3 years to decide if you want the extened warranty if you decide that fixing the car for non-warrantable repairs are to expensive. In the mean time the normal warranty will cover most expense. By watching PriusChat we'll all get an idea of what breaks or wears out and the costs involved. Then we can all make a dicision to get it or not.
