Yesterday I got my new 2005 Prius, package 6, Seaside Pearl. It's a beautiful car. I'm a bit overwhelmed with all the features and haven't figured it all out. My only complaint is that the view out the back window is horrible. The window is small and slanted and small window at the bottom of the hatch has a bar or some type of divider between it and the regular window. I'm surprised that someone designed this and then sat in the drivers seat and looked through the back window and thought it was fine.
It's the necessary result of the aerodynamic shape. I don't like it either, but I've gotten used to it. You learn to rely a bit more on the side mittors. One of the few low points in an otherwise exemplary car.
True, so far, I haven't found any real complaints other than my Motorola RAZR V3. It was designed to upload only one phonebook entry to the car at a time. It's really lame for a $500 phone.
Do several things and it won't seem so bad: 1. Rotate the interior mirror 180 degrees so it's upside down. (just rotate it the right direction so you don't break the wire on it). This way it fits the shape of the rear windows better. Also, the auto dimmer works better this way. 2. Set your outside mirrors according to the following link: http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/mi...rors/index.html 3. If you have small kids in the back (or no one usually rides there), set the rear headrests to their lowest position. Together, these eliminate most of the blind spots.
And of course, read this thread I started a half year ago... http://priuschat.com/forums/visibility-ove...html?highlight= ...and know that we all know EXACTLY what you're feeling and that we have all gotten 100% completely used to it. And you will too!
As canuckican said, you will get used to it. You'll also come to like the fact that at night the bar hides the headlights of most cars behind you.
