Steering wheel vinyl coming off

It's been screaming hot in the last few months here in Orange County California, with no end in sight. Have had my Advanced now for a year-and-a-half with about 25,000 miles. I have had no quality control problems or any deterioration on any part of the car whatsoever.
I didn't like the original factory tires that came with the car, and replaced them with Michelins. This is a typical complaint I have with all new cars I've purchased in the past. I still find the "faut leather" interior to be excellent, even after the car is parked in over 100°F, direct sunlight for several hours. Yes I'm wearing shorts. I did get the medium dark tinted glass on all my windows. The steering wheel is perfect; have used the heating a couple of times, just for laughs.
I'm on my second "over 4,000 mile run" gas tank, with still an indicated 329 miles left of gasoline range. This is truly a MARVELOUS car for my environment!

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

I just don't know how you can say that. Even with my car parked under a tree in 80 degree weather with a sun shade in the windshield, the back of the driver's seat is so burning hot my back gets soaking wet and I constantly have to lean forward to let the air get behind me.

The Softex material is by far the worst part of this car in my opinion - worse than the almost-useless voice recognition.

 

Different body chemistries?! Maybe after a couple of sunburns on my back as a kid has desensitized my back to heat. I know the seat bottom is warm, but it doesn't burn me, even wearing shorts. The irony is, I absolutely hate high heat, yet recently, I'm stuck in it. Did you ever tint your windows?

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

No, but I don't think that much matters. I've been in a parking garage in 90 degree heat and found the seat back uncomfortably hot.

 

And now KRMCG, is reporting some weird black spots and pitting on the plastic screen display on the top of the dashboard.

My Prius is doing pretty well. But I kind of have a love/hate relationship with it. Good gas mileage is not the only important thing in a vehicle. And there are just too many weird quirks and oddities about this car that bug me.

I just left one of the dealers and I was looking at the Corolla and the Camry. And the new small SUV. I really don't drive enough to be concerned with MPG. I want comfort and reliability. And not have to worry about all this crazy hybrid stuff. And everything about this car, regarding parts and repairs, is so damn expensive. If I like the new redesigned Corolla (2020) I might just trade my Prius for one of the basic models. Or, just drive this Prius to death and keep putting duct tape on the windshield and steering wheel!

(And yes, my car is hotter than H inside, no matter how many heat shields I put up, or how dark I get the tint, it is just hot as Hades and my car is white. That doesn't even help!)

 

Sounds like a plan, the sooner the better, see ya later alligator, don’t let the door hit ya where the lord split ya.

 

Clever! Did you just make that up? Jackass. Enjoy your cracked windshields!

 

2nd verse same as the first.

 

Yeah, that's a good sign. It would be interesting to know how prevalent this problem is. Hopefully if it's out there at all, they'll nip it in the bud. The Socal area here where I live has been hotter than you know what, well over a 100° for weeks, and I have seen no problems with the steering wheel or any of the other interior components. The A/C is marvelous. There is however a HUGE, as much as 3.2 mile penalty, in EV range (from 35 miles) when using the A/C.
Man, just let me at one of those climate-change naysayers! I've lived out here for 62 years, and I've never seen sustained heat, and just plain crazy weather like this !!


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AChoiredTaste.com

 

Wow!! Yeah, and I was unhappy with a 3.2 mile drop! I do mostly surface street driving, around 35-45 mph; what's your driving like? Prior to these massive temperatures, I was seeing a hit of about 1.5 miles with A/C. The use of the heater is irrelevant out here!

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

Peanuts! Being cool & comfortable (yourself, and the expensive tracrion battery) would seem to be a priority. Blast that AC, gentlemen! I would not be concerned with a very minor loss of 3-5 electric miles. Or gas miles. Enjoy that new Prime...
and just drive it.

(No peeling steering wheel in my gas-guzzling regular Prius.)

Henri, how are your Michelin tires doing? My Michelin Premiers are noisier than a jet engine! Just as bad as the Toyocrappers we got rid of.

 

I emailed this to LouG123:
I've got 19,000 miles on the Michelins, as of July 30, 2018; I bought them a year ago.
The only complaint I have with the tires is they're not as quiet as I'd like. I drive in Socal, on Anaheim area surface streets for the most part. I now realize that the traction problems I had with the previous Factory tires (Toyo) was probably due to the much greater instant torque that this car has compared to other cars (including 2012 Prius Plug in) that I've owned. If you tromp on this thing, you can get it to squeal the tires, especially in turns (my Prime is set to POWER/EV 95% of the time). The previous tires didn't have as good traction as these Michelins. The Michelins handle fine in turns, for example from Anaheim to Hacienda Heights on surface streets, I can drive through the hills at almost double the speed limit with no squeals and terrific handling. The car feels wonderfully balanced and is a joy to drive. The Michelins ended up costing me about $300 installed by America's Tire, Anaheim including a $100 rebate which was a wonderful deal. These tires come with a 80,000 mile Factory warranty, so I don't expect to ever replace tires on this car again. I keep my cars to about 100,000 miles, and with Michelins, unlike my experience with Goodyear, the tires should easily reach the 80k threshold. The fuel economy (ridiculously good) appears unaffected, even though these tires are not LRR like the Toyos. I currently keep the pressure at 42 PSI front, 40 PSI rear. I recommend these tires with the caveat of, find the "quietest rated" version of the Michelins. Remember, since I'm almost always driving in electric (EV) mode, there is no engine noise to cover up the tire noise. Yes, Mr. Starship 16, I would do it again.

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

Thank you sir. I just think I may have bought the wrong Michelin's. I don't think I needed the Premier. But they were on sale, like yours.

The treadwear rating is not as good as yours. I think mine is 40,000 miles? Maybe it's 60. But I've been reading reports from owners who are only getting 25,000 miles out of the Premier. Time will tell, I guess. They seem to handle well, but I am disappointed with the noise level. I wish we would get some rain so I can see how they do on wet roads.

You are driving your Prime in the power mode? Outstanding!

 

Yeah, only in POWER mode! It's so much more fun to have that nervous, responsive throttle. I love it! You don't have to slam it every time, but it's really nice to use. My EV range, with A/C is at about 30-31 miles driving surface streets. With POWER mode, I'm frequently gunning for the new Mustangs (they all seem to be running glass packs out here!), Chargers, Audi SUVs, X3 Boring Motor Works, souped up trucks, etc. Of course, they don't even know I'm racing 'cause they can't hear me! When I want to, I'm frequently ahead of the pack; cars are still fun! Of course, if I have to run the ICE mode, THAT has become a real bummer. I guess I'm being Primed (har, har) for full electric. For the time being, I'm very happy with my Prime compromise!

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

I agree. Nothing wrong with having a little FUN in a Prius. I drove mine in PWR mode for the first year, and the gas mileage was great. I liked it much more than the "old man" ECO mode. Now I've mellowed a bit, and compromised with the Normal mode. Of course I don't get the EV range like you do, but the car can still be fun.

These guys buy a car that already gets 50-55 mpg, but then they try all kinds of weird things to stretch that to 65 or 70!? Like never driving over 35 mph. And never running the AC? PHOOEY! Just drive it normally, like a regular car, and enjoy it! I honestly have always gotten better gas mileage when I stop trying to do all those silly ECO tricks. Don't think about it... Just drive it.

 

The super cool thing with Prime driving is, if you want to drive like a decrepit Crippled Snail to beat the oil companies and/or just be Citizen Green, you can; BUT if you want to nail it and have some (responsible?) fun, you can do that.
The important thing is that you've got CHOICE!!

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

That's suffering hot. We're riding on the edge of the same phenomena I think: hot for weeks, predicted high today 92F. Walking our Shiba in the morning, then around 8:30~9:00 at night.

 

Yep. And California is burning up, with several fires still going. So sad to hear about many people losing their homes & property. Here's a pic I took this morning looking North/East, from the coast. Almost looks like the sky is on fire.