How would a prius hold up in Hawaii?

I know there's at least one owner on the Prius-2G chat group. The only problem that I know of (there may be more) is that the NAV system won't work in Hawaii.

 

I guess the Nav dvd doesn't have hawaii on it.. hehe.. if you can find a nav dvd with hawaii.... and it works in the prius, you should have it. I don't think GPS should be a problem. If it is, you still have wheel tracking. no guarantee on accuracy though.

 

The navigation systems do work here. Most dealers do not bring it in because of the cost and limited area. You won't be making any long road trips. Servco, the Toyota/Lexus distributor here (might be an independent dealer on Maui or the Big Island) does not bring in any cars with it. They are a different distributor from mainland so what applies to your mainland car might not apply here.

I did check with Servco about the extended warranty that's sold on PC and they said they will honor it but there to be a slight delay because of verification. I am on Oahu and always seem to get better service on my Toyota truck (purchased from Servco) than my Camry (brought over from mainland).

As far as how well the Prius will hold up in our environment, I think the salted roads on the mainland are far worse than the constant salt air here. I just sold my 91 Toyota truck with 220,000 miles on it and it had some rust on both doors and by the muffler. This truck was used daily to tow and launch a boat at the harbor. I think the Prius and my new Tacoma have better rust protection now than Toyota's of 15 years ago.

The tap water here tends to be pretty hard so make sure you dry you car off after you wash it because the sun will cause water spots very quickly that are hard to get off. Keep it away from sprinklers too.

It will cost about $1000. to ship your Prius from the west coast to Maui, maybe a little more (it's been awhile since I shipped a car). My 06 Prius package 8 (no nav) was $28,630.28. This includes doc fees, tax, license and registration, and destination charge, but NO extended warranty (another $1805 + tax, which is refunded if you don't use it). Just giving you this info in case you are thinking of selling your Prius there and repurchasing another here.

 

Would he be able to buy a DVD that would work in Hawaii? I had asked that question (actually on if you could buy a DVD from another country were they compatable) on a Yahoo group and the answer was that there was none in Hawaii.

 

I just wanted to add that I was on Kauai'i last summer and saw a lot of Prii rentals, so I'm guessing they probably hold up well. We saw tons of roadway where the speed limits were under 30 mph.

 

Don't do it. The battery will short on the drive to Hawaii. The Pacific is awfully wet, you know.

 

A lot depends on whether you live on the wet (windward) side or dry (leeward) side of the island. A tip: if you are to work and live in, say Wailuku, avoid the temptation to live directly on the coast...It's romantic to think you will be on the beach in Hawaii, but there are very few places on the windward side to swim, and all your electronics would have to be replaced about every 2-3 years. If you must live windward, live away from the coast. If you are fortunate enough to live/work leeward ie: Lahiana or Keihi both your car and electronics will be fine. If you've never been there consider a short term rental (even motel) for the first month till you get the lay of the land.

 

My aftermarket nav setup (Garmin) seems to have good detail for Hawaii. I have no way to tell if it's up to date, but the maps have detail down to side streets. Toyota either buys their maps from a company that doesn't cover Hawaii, or they saved a few dollars by not buying that coverage. Maybe the dealer there just figures that no one needs nav in such a small area. Is it possible to scan the map in the Toyota system? Can someone with Nav check their map for coverage without going there?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stairman @ Apr 5 2006, 02:59 PM) [snapback]235497[/snapback]</div>

The only way to upgrade is get the newest DVD. You can't add maps yourself. On my 2005 the search area doesn't list Hawaii.

 

Growing up in Hawaii in the '70's and 80's, I do remember watching our cars and everyone else's corroding away week after week, as well as the paint fading. But in visits to my family since then, it seems like the rust issue has been a non-factor since the early to mid 90's models, and the paint these days seems to hold up to the sun and elements fine as well.

 

there is a 5-year warranty against perforating rust.