anyone out there not happy with their Prius

I don't think that you'll find too many around here who are "unhappy" with their car. There are certainly things that some of us might like to change, but they're pretty minor when it comes to brass tacks.

With respect to the "kind" of Prius, remember that there are only really two models (touring and regular.) If I remember, the touring edition has only been available for a couple of years. With such limited model choices, the things that really distinguish individual cars are the color and the trim level (i.e. what Toyota option package was purchased.)

Do I regret having purchased a "regular" Prius (as opposed to the touring edition)? No. I understand why some folks would buy the touring edition, but those thing weren't important enough to me to spend the additional money. Would I have purchased a "higher" package? Again, no. I got pretty much what I wanted in the package I purchased. However, I will say that Toyota's strategy of not offering their options a la carte is one of the things that does annoy me. (Sorry, this is personal thing, but I do think that I appreciate why Toyota does what they do.)

There are a couple of things that I don't think are optimal about the car, but as I said in the beginning they're minor:

• The various displays/readouts really should include a tachometer, at least a user configurable option.
• The rear wiper is a tad too short or (because they really can't make it longer) too far to the left side of the car. As a result, there's a fairly wide section on the right side of the rear-window that becomes hard to see out of when it rains.
• Some people think that the seats are uncomfortable. I used to be one of them, but I adjusted to them very quickly. It would be nice if the seats didn't require that kind of "getting used to"

I knew about the last two of those before purchased, but none of them were/are deal-killers.

So is the Prius, THE perfect car? Well for some, probably yes, for others no. It all depends on what perfection is to you. To me the car isn't perfect per se, but it's pretty close.

 

I love my Prius, but the one thing that has always bugged me is the small rear window and the very poor rear vision. My wife's Prius has the backup camera, which attenuates the problem somewhat, but still, Toyota should have known better when they designed the body.

 

The Prius is not perfect.

However they do have a higher percentage of owner satisfaction than any other car.

 

I love my Prius, but I would have preferred a different color, larger wheels, and VSC. The 2006 silver that I have is too light and bland. I don't think there was a touring edition with the larger wheels for that model year. They had a package with VSC though and I regretted not getting it.

What I would really like is a 2008 touring edition in spectra blue.

 

You mean like the one in my avatar pic ?

 

Absolutely love mine period end of conversation!

 

I hate mine, only 53.1 mpg in the summer and 47.6 in the winter (NH)
Air conditioner makes it way to cold on HOT days
Being first away from every stop light is really dragging me down
The fact that the police never look twice as I ramble around, carving corners, zipping thru traffic has me terrified
And there's way to much interior space, it's lonely
The XM radio really makes me wonder why
The ev switch makes it to quiet
The BT tech chassis stiffering plate takes away the straight line wavering, I really miss it
The BT tech strut tower brace makes it to much of a dream to drive
But I will just have to grin and bear it

 

I've occasionally stared at truckloads of roadcases stacked on
a loading dock and thought "geez, it'd be nice if I could get
all that in the Prius" ... but other than that it's done pretty
well. Who else do you know who writes whole webpages about the
loads he's put in his car just because it's so much fun??
.
_H*

 

I have numerous complaints about my Prius. We've had two; the first one would be four years old if we still had it. My main complaints are:

• Crappy seats
• Too much road noise
• Poor ride
• Traction control is not actually traction control but rather "powertrain protection"

All of those problems could be addressed without affecting mpg. I can overlook the fact that it has mediocre acceleration in return for the fuel economy. Our Hybrid Camry is a huge improvement over the Prius in all of those areas. However, I prefer to drive something smaller 90% of the time, and I'm not willing to take a 10mpg hit on my daily driver, so I drive the cheap econobox Prius, and look forward to driving the Camry when I can. Guilt, and the embarrassment of driving a "dumb" vehicle keeps me from driving my SUV except when I need its load carrying and 4WD capabilities.

 

I love: the MPG; technology; roominess; ride ==> I love my Prius

BTW notice I did not say the looks ... but it has grown on me

 

Good one, Tony.

 

I really love my prius and things that others don't like, don't seem to bother me. I think the rear view is fine - I find it is very good actually. The seats are a bit high for me as I used to drive a camry with 6 way power seats, but as another poster said I did get used to them. The one thing that bothers me is why they lock out certain features unless you get the NAV system. Package 3 has voice command for phone, but nothing else. I don't see why they couldn't do audio and climate controls via voice also. Maybe something to do with the computer. I also would have loved fog lights, but did not want that "package". And like many others I took what package they had coming in rather than waiting. All in all though, I love package 3 - the backup camera is great, the stereo is sweet - love the ipod connection - I could go on and on.

 

I'm happy with it.

But if I could have a do-over, I'd get the Touring Edition because the handling of the Standard Prius is subpar for a car of its size.

 

no, he means like mine

 

I WANT A TOURING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My back is starting to hurt too. hmmmmmmmmm..............seats maybe.

 

I would complain about the cd text disappearing and locking out the song titles while the vehicle is in motion but then who listens to CD's these days. It's all iPods and Satellite radio nowadays.

 

You mean a 17 second quarter mile isn't respectable?
... just because your coffee is cold by the time you finish .... heck next time, bring a thermos

what we REALLY hate is not having to go to the gas station often enough ... I keep forgetting which side the fuel cap is on. That REALLY angers me

.

 

Had mine since Mar 08, pkg 6.. Absolutely love the car and it has benn a good investment for many reasons, gas prices being probably the most obvious. Yes, it is not a perfect 10 as there are always somethings that could be improved. But it is very close - socre a 9.9!!!