Prius hub cap, SF Bay Area, please? + long personal review

I would like to buy a hub cap for an '04 model Pruis, please. Hopefully someone has a "take off" or generally good condition unit they're willing to sell. I need only one to repair some curb rash.

I'm renting (trying the Prius on for size) and scraped a hub-cap on a very high curb. I don't want to return it damaged (the rental company could charge an astronomical fee even for a hub cap) and I thought I'd ask for help from the forum -- happy to pay for a "take off" if someone has upgraded. Otherwise, I'll call the dealer and ask for a spare part.

By the way, we just completed a round trip driving holiday from San Francisco to L.A. for two days at Disneyland, then hopping back up the coast (Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo) with a four year-old and an Australian Shepherd. We folded the single seat behind the driver to give Taz space to stretch out, still leaving ample luggage and baby stuff packing space in the rear. The baby seats goes in the LATCH child seat system on the passenger side, leaving room for toys, snacks and junk in the middle between the seats. Two laptops, a box of "work on the road" stuff and various souvenirs fill up the space in the rear foot wells. I'm typing all this from the passenger seat, with a laptop powered from the cigarette outlet (using a small AC/DC invertor) and wireless Internet access from Nextel. Pretty comfy traveling. The two glove box design is great. Some more space in the door pockets would be good and the inch gap either side of the centre console seems like it could have been used to make a larger, deeper cavity.

Surprises:
* This thing is fast! (It's a hybrid?!)
* There's no apparent way to hold the car to stay on electric motor drive (preventing the fossil engine from running ... this would be a huge plus for me around my home and office (in-door spaces without sufficient ventilation for carbon monoxide etc.) ... from reading the forums, I guess this is the infamous "EV" switch?
* CVT is great -- there's no way the Prius would drive so well with a conventional transmission)
* Economy is better than expected based on pessimistic review numbers ... but not as much as the factory claims
* Leaving the car running with the A/C on and locking with the removable key
* Great headlights
* Good HVAC controls

* Fun handling and performance -- put dampers and better tyres on this thing and go play with Boxsters ...

Disappointments
* Crappy, grabby brakes (needs more rubber or much better ABS)
* Throttle and brake pedal pressure are not linear and the transition in and out of engine-driven propulsion is not always smooth
* Nervous, over-assisted steering at highway speeds (lacks "on centre" steering) ... very tiring until you learn to suppress the constant wandering ... this car might be an especially bad example, but in general, I've read the same comment in the magazine reviews
* Difficult to drive smoothly for the first 100 miles until I adjusted to the throttle, steering and brakes
* Lack of traction (combined with grabby brakes, makes for unnecessary lock-up and a lack of confidence)
* Excessive wind noise above 60mph
* Excessive vehicle noise around town
* Flat seats get uncomfortable before the tank is half empty
* Head room and driving position are good, but the lack of steering wheel adjustment is a mistake from Toyota
* No coin trays?
* Wasted space (?) below centre stack on dash (under the storage/expansion DIN space under the CD player)
* "stick" antenna is ugly and should, at best, be an option ... at least the rear window wiper is optional ... blecch on both counts ...

Potential:
Order one with "the works" pack #9, then do the following:
* After-market high grade leather (we find leather survives dogs and babies better than cloth)
* Delete beeping reverse (why in the cabin? and not outside? ... seems a little too idiot proof)
* Fit a review view camera
* Fit a baby mirror (I know, small stuff, but why not have it from the factory like the Ford Expedition)
* Put a visor on the central display (to block sunlight making it impossible to read)
* Fit a DVD player and pipe it to the main display (as well as for the baby)
* Upgrade the tinny speakers
* Find an after-market turbocharger kit (power on demand, economy around town)
* Slightly wider, sticky tyres to improve traction and braking
* Nice wheels (personal touch)
* Window tinting and blinds for rear storage and rear side windows (heat and UV, baby, dog)
* Storage box to maximize useable space in rear, leaving space for dog
* Laptop stand, built-in AC power between front seats
* Redesign custom door panels below armrests for maximum storage (maybe a lockable laptop pocket)
* Hardwire radar detector power and remote display (this thing sits on 90 with the cruise control ... hybrid?!)
* Hanging storage for shirts/dresses protected from dog hair ...
* Built-in cooler/warmer instead of factory centre console
* Replace front seats with Recaros (okay, maybe that's a bit extreme, but I could keep the seats for more than one car ... )
* Longer sun visors (something that extends to cover the whole front door windows )

What I miss:

* an AC power outlet (laptops, phone chargers)
* "family" stuff (rear side window blinds, coin tray etc. ... the usual mini-van/SUV amenities)
* sense of secondary safety in a collision (how safe is this thing in a crash?)

Summary:

We rented the Prius as an extended (one week) test drive. Only $189 from enterprise.com -- excellent value. The conclusion is to buy a Prius or whatever Toyota/Lexus does next with the Hybrid platform. Maybe the RX ("h"?) I could happily drive it from the dealer and not touch it, but I like to "personalise" my cars, so I'd tinker with it, just for fun as much as anything.

With gas prices always going higher and having a lot of city driving during the week, I am toying with the idea of a turbocharger kit for fun. My business services Porsches and builds track and competition Porsches, so I'm tempted by the idea of a something fun to drive, sort of environmentally conscientious as well as sort of (for a US$30K car) economical and not ugly or boring.

Also, according to new California legislation, the Prius lets me in the commute lane -- which will really be a time-saver for getting my daughter to and from school.

Cheers,

 

Re: Prius hub cap, SF Bay Area, please? + long personal rev

Thanks for the reply -- I got a laugh out of it. It sounds like you read my whole post!

Personally, I find the Prius fun to drive and quite entertaining as gadget. I drive it flat-out (wide open throttle) all the time and still average over 44mpg. We ran along I5 at 90mph and still covered 400 miles on a tank. I live at 2000ft and work at sea level but the display shows an average 45mpg since the last visit to the fossil station. I get between two and four 50kWh "cars" per bar on the chart. I'm confident there's huge potential for the Prius to run stronger with more battery capacity. And I build Porsche race cars as a day job, so I'm not too daunted by getting at that little gas engine and breathing some life into it. Plus, I'm in the process of putting the electric a/c compressor in a 993 Porsche Turbo to save weight and reduce plumbing complexity. The Prius is quite the marvel.

Cheers,