The 2 things the Prius could use improvement on..

I will give you 3:

1. Offering an 8 way power adjustable drivers seat.
2. Dusk/Dawn sensing headlights.
3. Auto Door locks once the car starts moving.

 

Mayhem, get your alignment checked carefully. That helps quite a bit.

I also saw a big improvement when I swapped the Goodyear Integrity tires (at 25k miles) for 195/60 Michelin Hydroedges.

As for your battery experience on the hills:

1. The Prius will take care of the battery automatically; no need for a "battery preservation mode." Just let it do its thing.

2. The Prius is not a truck. You were probably exceeding its weight limit---810 pounds for the 2006.

 

Hmmm...have never seen one bar on my 07 trucking along..only when stuck in stop go traffic with ac on. But even then it charges real fast back up to 3 bars when you start moving. One bar huh? Maybe its like the previous poster said max load stressing it out. Not a truck,...well put. Be careful because if anythings getting stressed its the MG's. Be good to that trans and change the fluid often 'cause your super duty'ing it.

 

Huh? Haven't auto on/off headlights been mandatory for years? The Prius doesn't have automatic headlights?

 

The lights turn off when you stop the engine with the power button. If you leave the light control 'on' they will of course come on when you start the car. He was talking about a sensor to make then come on at dark and go off at daylight automatically like alot of US cars. You see them do that in car washes and tunnels and such. The Prii doesnt do that. And no there is NO law about that. shouldnt be either.

 

Every car I've owned in the last 13 years has had an auto on at night headlights.

The Prius doesn't have this????? My dealer just called today, btw, and the Spectra Blue touring I've been waiting to show up in their allocations showed up yesterday.

I have to say though, between the lack of adjustable driver seat, no telescoping steering wheel, and this, no auto on headlights at night(I'm not going to leave them on during the day because they lower MPG), I'm having serious second thoughts about getting it. How can the Prius have so many high tech gadgets but be missing basic features that are available on the prius in every other market.

 

Not that I'm aware of.

Depends on what you call automatic.

My big issue (and it is with just about ALL cars!) is that NOTHING should stay on for longer than say 15 minutes once the thing is powered down. No interior lights should stay on no matter what you do after turning the car off. In other words, no car should allow the Aux battery to drain because of one mistake of leaving a door open, or an interior light accidentally turned on (and yes, I know the door lights turn off in the Prius - but not the hatch!)

 

Back to the OP's subject I say the biggest flaw with the Prius is the OEM Goodyear Integrities. They really are an embarrassment of a tire to be stuck with on a new vehicle (Prius or even one of the hundreds of other cars that come with them).

Another feature I would like to see is a grill with automatic grill blocking that automatically opens and closes. For example it would start opening to allow in some air before the fans would turn on and start closing to maintain an optimal engine compartment temperature.

 

Of the 3 improvements I mentioned above the power adjustable seat with driver memory would be the most important. It is a feature I would really like and be willing to pay for. Don't get me wrong I still think my Prius is a great car and would recommend it.

I am thinking of getting new tires eventhough the car only has 1100 miles. Hard to justify, but it sounds like it would make a big difference.

 

1.) Pull the climate controls back out of the MFD. Have physical knobs on the dash so you can work them by touch, like any other Toyota.

2.) Have a trunk hatch release handle by the drivers seat and a mechanical keyhole on the hatch.

 

Put on a set of Michelin Primacy MXV4s and suddenly, you won't find the decision hard to justify at all. The GY Integs are a pox on both Toyota (for installing them) and GY (for putting its name on them). I've had them on several new Toyotas, and one way or another, they all got replaced early. Check out a dismounted Integ -- the sidewalls have the approximate thickness and consistency of a rubber raincoat. Scary. No wonder they handle so poorly...

 

Oooh. I'll give you another vote for that one! I find it comical that for "safety" I can't use certain features of the MFD while driving (blue tooth, NAV, etc). But climage!? Sure, go ahead and take your eyes off the road while fooling around with those settings. No problem!

 

Absolutely.

My '04 Prius has dash plastic that does not wear well, and tends to squeak. I don't hold it against Toyota because they were using plant based materials, but hopefully it is improving. On the topic of the dash, material that absorbs heat in the winter and deflects it in the summer would be nice. An additional layer to use part of the year would be ok too.

A different upholstery. Mine is just too plasticy.

As much attention to wind flow under the car as above.

Manual vertical height adjustment in the drivers seat.

As you well may imagine, this car as it is now barely rates a 9.5/10.

 

I'd rather be safer and run my headlights during the day (makes you more visible to other drivers in ALL weather) than save a few 10ths in my MPG. The only time I turn mine off is when I'm going to be sitting for a few minutes in park listening to the radio while waiting for someone or waiting for the end of a radio story or something.

 

Are people finding it difficult to turn the lights on/off manually ?

I'd hate to be paying that person's home electric bill.

 

Hi EM,,

Since you have the 16 inch wheels and the Bridgestones, alignment should be double checked next.

I would also recommend the BT Tech brace. The BT Tech brace makes the car much more linear in response to steering command. The main impact is that it reduces the magnitude and duration of that tail-end vibration. So, when you feel where the car is, that is where it is. Without the brace, you need to average a few vibration cycles, over about a second, to know where the car is.

Ex-SUV, Pickup and Van drivers do not have a problem with that vibration. But small car/ sports car drivers just cannot stand it. Me included.