Package #2 Vs. Base and why pay the difference.

I purchased a base model, mainly because it was all they had, and it was the last day of 2.9% financing. Lets just say my wife and I liked the car from the start.

As I was wondering what differences there were between models and why should one pay ~$1500 more for a #2 package, I looked into what you get. From what I see, you get to play a CD full of MP3's. OK, well I think an Ipod and Dice are far less expensive, and the other feature was the smart key. Hmm, so I dont have to press a button to unlock the car, or slide the fob into a slot to start it. OK, $1500 sounds OK for a lazy rich feature, but then it dawned on me why that is one feature I wouldn't want. Being that I am a Security specialist, soon to be professional, I started thinking about ways to protect my car. If stolen, there are plenty of high dollar parts on it that would appeal to thieves, the battery being one of them. Without the key fob, the car wont start, nor can you unlock the doors. The door locks from what I heard are also pretty hard to jimmy. Now with the Smart key, it is based on what I believe is RFID. Someday soon, if not already, someone will hack the RFID systems, and once they know what frequencies that the Prius uses, it wouldn't take them long to figure out a hacking algorithm to use to crack the locks on the Prius, once they have that they have the ignition code too. Then all they need to do is locate a Prius with the Smartkey system, which is easy to spot, just look for the little black square on the door handle or hatch and you found one. Walk up to it with their scanner and run the program, once it locates it, the doors unlock and they can start the car and off they go. At least without that feature, they first have to figure out how to unlock the doors, then have a method of inserting a fob that will match the RFID, which would be much more difficult and noticeable since they have to sit in the car and wait for the program to find the right code. Since there is a certain radius that the devices work in, they can find one in a parking lot and if they can park next to it, the can sit in their car and run the program and listen for the doors to unlock. Once they do that , they know the code, get out of their car, into yours, press the power button and good bye car.

 

Ahh, didnt know it had a backup camera. Personally I havent had issues backing it up, then again I used to drive an 18 wheeler and backing is second nature, never use the center rearview for anything but watching the kids. I guess another way of stating it would be, if you cant find a #2, but just a base, you really aren't losing out.

BTW what is the difference between the #2 cruise control and the one in mine? Last I checked, there weren't any squirrels to feed, so it must be electronic.