NEW Prius Prime Plus member -- start issue and general complaining

that's why it sells for 18-25k

 

In Canada too?

From Toyota.ca, choosing British Columbia.

 

Most of the complaints listed in here I do agree and some I can survive without it..

I wish the EV/HV mode button is on the steering wheel as I use it a lot

 

How would you have designed this?

 

The centralized dash is one of those things that's been around so long, we've just given up talking about it. That and the #*#$% wheel covers on alloys...

 

A little clarification on that is needed.
In the "summer time", both coasts are prone to afternoon showers caused by the action of the "sea breezes".
Just because the sun shines MOST of the day, doesn't mean that there also is no rain.

 

This fixation with the rear view.

Good point. They call it the Sunshine State because we get lots of sun. But we get a ton of rain, too!

 

Hardly. They added 300 lbs of battery, cooling, heating, cables, chargers, etc, and they meet all the crash specifications without having to redesign the body shell, which would have made a Prime unaffordable.

 

I use it maybe 10 times a year to ferry groups of colleagues/friend around short distance if it happens to be that number. Being squeezed is less of a problem than having to use a second car. Not really a deal breaker but the tradeoff doesn't seem to be worth it for me.

I think, in addition to what you say, my problem may be that when you press start, if you haven't pushed the break far enough yet, it's also considered a failure, no matter if you continue through with the breaking. So first complete the full break motion, then press the button, I get it conceptually but still miss it in reality sometimes. In any way, I have driven so many different cars over my life (mostly rentals) and never, except for the Prius, experienced these kind of 'Did it start now? I guess I messed it up again.' moments. Maybe I just need to re-learn, and the Prius teaches me a valuable lesson in patience and hand foot coordination On the other hand it would not have hurt to make the software a little less OCD about the proper sequence to be followed to the microsecond.

And it would be nice to have LEDs indicating state right on the gear lever.

I put a piece of rubber on top of it, held in place by two sided tape. Gives it some grip and makes it more useful.

I agree with you when it comes to a platform redesign, which is not worth it. But the current battery is just a flat box with the lowest point sitting on top of the highest point of the axle curvature, wasting quite a bit of space underneath.

Coming up with better designs would no doubt also added some cost but I don't think it would have been prohibitive.

 

I would bet it would have been expensive, which is why they didn't do it. Once you get into crush zones and the like, it gets expensive very quickly.

 

I live in upstate NY and we get a bit of snow. With rain, the dual bubble funnels the rain into the center while driving and Rain-X keeps even the snow from sticking. I watched what it does while in a car wash and the rain isn't going to be a problem. Wet snow can be an issue because of the low slope overall of the hatch. But with Rain-X, even wet snow rolls off much better when brushed.

I will never buy another car with wheel covers. Just putting air in them becomes a chore with plenty of matching 4 letter words.

 

On the first two tire fills and checks (when new and a few thousand miles later), I managed to drop 3 valve caps and had to either fish them out of the wheel cover or replace them. Very tough design, with a short valve stem and cap buried inside the wheel cover. I'm going to get a soft plastic tube that will push tighly over the valve caps so i can unscrew them and hold onto them.

 

I have two cars with the gauges in the middle and I like it there. I could never see the speedometer behind the steering wheel on most cars and didn't like taking my eyes off the road to look.
Back in day one when cars were new and exciting all the gauges were in the middle of the dash. They just moved them back.

 

I believe the design, because of the global nature, was due to having a NiMH storage battery for the solar roof in that area. So we don't get that option, but that's where it's supposed to go.

 

On day 1 of my car delivery, I gave instruction to remove the wheel plastic cover and it is sitting in my basement fresh and new. I don't know how much of MPG I lose but it costs more to replace them if they do get loose on uneven roads or stolen. I also ended up buying the center logo from ebay. I am still getting 2.5L/100kms since day 1 so not sure how that wheel plastic cover do much on aerodynamics.

 

First gen Plug-In Prius had some sweet 15" rims, no covers.

 

I doubt the wheel aerodynamics are much of a factor unless you're at freeway speeds.

@Mendel Leisk, I was tempted to ask about keeping my PiP wheels when I traded it in.

 

In California, we have the "rainy season" (October-April) and the "dry season" (May-September). It rarely ever rains in the "dry season", due to the jet stream taking moisture north into Oregon and Washington. It is not uncommon to go six months without a drop of rain, and then the sky opens up. I grew up in an area where afternoon showers were common (central Texas), and it took some getting used to to not see a drop of rain for months. During the "dry season", you can pretty much assume that there will be no rain, and schedule outdoor events such as kid's birthday parties accordingly.

 

I would have used the gear shift from another Toyota or a knob if you wanted to be different. Something that clearly indicated the position the transmission was currently in use and had all options in the same interface. Why reinvent the wheel if you are going to do such a terrible job doing it?

 

But look at the dash. You could just move the gauges to in front of the driver and leave them in the same part of the dash and you wouldn't have to look through the steering wheel OR look at the middle of the car. And to be clear, the lane assist and adaptive cruise lights are on the far right so you have to look at the passenger side. It's bad design.

And just because Mini puts the speedo in the middle of the car doesn't mean anyone else should. Or are you referring to a Model T? We could go to hand brakes and no synchro transmissions, too.