Questions,Questions...

Normal, and normal.

There's a split in the plastic on the speedo, and if you took apart your dash to see how it's constructed, you might be a tiny bit forgiving. It's not the greatest thing in the world, but not the worst either.

The engine shudders a little when it stops sometimes. Usually for me it shudders more the first time on any given drive. I think the idea is that it's trying to stop with the crank in a specific position, and if it misses that position, it cranks around once more and tries to hit it again. Maybe when it's all the way warmed up it has an easier time stopping just right.

 

I used to have some shuddering when the engine kicked on, in those 1st 7-10 seconds, but it oesn't happen any more.

I offered myself 2 explanations:

• Car was new (bought in Jan. 08) & was still in a self-sdjusting mode.
• Cold winter weather was a shock to it's new systems.

Hasn't occured in a couple of months, but if it comes up again next winter, I might blame it on something seasonal. (how about winter gas?)

 

No car is perfect. But the Prius *is* the number one selling car in the country right now for a reason.

What it does for the Co2 levels from an auto and what it does for your gas relief is amazing and no one is close to it without being a complete battery only vehicle.

The paint is not perfect. The seats are not perfect the speedo is not perfect. But overall the experience of owning and driving a car like this is liberating to say the least!

 

Keep in mind, it being designed to minimize emissions and optimize fuel efficiency, the Prius is as light as economic tradeoffs allow. The items you notice, and other items you will eventually notice, are not a reflection of poor quality, but the result of purpose driven design.

 

Something I noticed the other day. The bottom and top glove box don't line up all the way across. One gets wider the farther to the right it goes. Normal?

EDIT: What I mean is the gap between the two gets a little larger towards the right. It almost looks like the top glove box isn't sitting straight. Minor, but I found it odd.

 

RE: the shudder--read the FAQ on the Five Stages of Prius Hybrid Operation- I think this is the link, if not you could do a search.
http://priuschat.com/forums/kb.php?k=14&mode=articleThe shudder happens when you are at warm-up stage 2; after that the engine is warmed up enough and goes into stages 3 and 4 seamlessly.

Now that the weather is warmer, it sure happens a lot earlier.

 

Thanks for helpful tip

 

The Five Stages page is here.

 

Got it -- thanks!