Yes those are good examples of the advantages of experience. On the other hand I just got through reading a thread on the Prius C horn, which is abysmally weak. Somebody jumped into the thread and provided a link to another thread on changing the horn DIY. Somebody else then had to point out that the provided link was for a Prius V and did not apply to the C. Even within the C category itself I was driven crazy for an hour or two by people posting claims that you could display the outside temperature by resting your thumbs lightly on the steering wheel temperature controls. Couldn't get my C to do that. Turns out that feature is only for trim levels 3 and 4... When I use the term "old-timers", I am not referring to age, but length of time fiddling with the car and answering posts on this forum. For many old-timers, a lot of these "rookie" posts have clearly gotten old and tiresome. There's no need to completely segregate old-timers from new guys, but maybe it would be nice for each of the different model owners to have some kind of area dedicated to their particular model, where their rookie perspective won't be subject to quite so much attack...
But that has nothing to do with non-c owners? Those are just c owners with different trim levels who are didn't know that particular feature is only on their trim level. Would you have us segregate the c One and Two owners from the Three and Four owners as well? I personally haven't found it to be that difficult to figure out what information applies to my car and what doesn't. I very much appreciate that owners of older/other models of Prius are willing to take the time to share their knowledge with us, even if once in a while it doesn't apply. People are pretty quick to correct them in that case. I wouldn't throw away 10 years of knowledge and experience of the Prius simply because it sometimes won't be exactly the same for my model.
We have that already with the different forums, unless you are thinking about some sort of private forums. We even have those as well, but not for the various years and models. I have seldom witnessed rookie posters coming under attack unless they really asked for it. Generally the old timers are willing to help, although it would be nice if people learned how to search. I would estimate that around 90% of the rookie questions have been previously answered. Using this thread as an example, I would have posed the question like this: "How does the Prius c out-of-gas behavior compare to other Prius?" Or, perhaps: "What happens when you run out of gas in the Prius c?" The later question would most likely have been answered with a "same as any other Prius" statement. The members of PriusChat are a pretty friendly group. If you are nice to them, they will usually go to great lengths to be helpful. Tom
I don't think the OP was asking to be attacked here, as your post would imply. I think he was attacked without "asking" for it. The bar for attacking people was probably lowered a notch or two to accommodate a couple of people's innate hostility/frustration/weariness/anger. I think my suggestion of providing some form of (optional) separation between Prius owners in these forums will probably become clearer and more obvious as time goes by and the differences between models become more and more pronounced...
But it already is separated. There are subforums for different models, and we're in the c subforums. Unless you're suggesting locking people out of subforums if they don't own that particular model, I think I'm confused about what it is you want...
We already have this. The only other option is to lock people out of forums, and I don't think that will happen on a year/model basis. Perhaps the upcoming new BBS software will offer users more control over what they see and don't see, but that won't keep people from participating in forums of their choice. It would only make it easier to ignore forums -- kind of the flip of your suggestion. Tom
The OP wasn't attacked, he was chastised. He deliberately ran out of gas, then continued to drive on the battery. This is not a good idea for any Prius. It's an interesting experiment, but anyone attempting it needs to know the potential risks, and anyone posting about this topic should point out the risks for new owners. The name calling and finger pointing didn't really develop until you decided to step in and defend the OP. Your defense of accidentally running out of gas has merit, but this was no accident. This was a calculated risk run in the interest of knowledge. We should leave it at that, but certainly not encourage others to try the same without understanding the risks. Tom
Let's assume I ask how to lower the noise level when I drive with 4 flat tires. If you respond that it is incredibly bad for the tires, and I should never do that, are you attacking me? If, so I attacked folks. (but it IS incredibly bad for the tires)
I'm not offended by anything ever said in a forum, I do not personally know any of you and none of you personally know me, so why would I take anything said, personal. I still stand behind what I did, like it or not, but we need to move on either with gas or on battery. I now know the limitations of both
You can't have it both ways. Sure, there are features about the C that are new and different, such as the mono-horn, and subtle differences between trim levels. The mono-horn is interesting information and many of us learned something new. If it were me, I'd try wiring a pair of Sequoia/Tundra horns in parallel, but that's just me. But many of the questions are the same: how do I get the best MPG? Why does a dead 12V battery make the car flip out? What tires/wheels should I use? Will a K&N air intake make any difference? [NO! lol] I can guarantee you that you will get better answers here generally than if you go to a dealership and ask a service advisor or salesman. The system here works fairly well, but if you are really picky, you can find counter-examples. No one is forcing you to be here, and continued rants will only alienate those of us who can answer the harder questions.
Oh, you haven't seen anything yet. Take a look in the Volt forum. There is heated rhetoric everywhere if you know where to look.
Fred's House of Politics, Prius Connection Detroit, Beta Users, and of course all the Mods forums. More useful, though, is the ability to ignore. If you don't want to see posts from the older members, just put them on your ignore list. It's as simple as that. As for me, despite little dust-ups like this one, I enjoy seeing posts from all of the members. Those with differing views make me think, which is a good thing. Tom
You got him with this one - it was a direct hit. Seriously, though, I'm not trying to give you a hard time. We have some differing views about how this site should operate, but at the end of the day we are like two fleas arguing over which one owns the dog. It's Danny's site and he can do as he sees fit. Danny has been working on the new software. Perhaps it will be more to your liking. If not, it will give us all something fresh to whine about. Tom
OK, maybe the new software will offer more alternatives! I'm not sure the alternatives you mentioned above are germane enough to the Prius C for my taste. I realize that for all the "rants" I am making, I look identical to a troll. The only differentiation I can claim is that annoying people is (astonishingly enough) not my end purpose.