Time to take off the gloves with Toyota NA

AMEN

I have been waiting ten weeks with no information as to my Prius order.
My decision is to wait no more than six more weeks then cancel my order.
I believe Toyota NA has poorly handled this whole debacle...no information, no news, no anything.

 

My car just kinda showed up. Mid-December, it was assigned to my dealer. They were as surprised as I was. Ordered 10/27, picked up 1/3.

I'm not saying your car will just show up soon, but it could happen...

 

I was told by my sister-in-law that she waited almost a year for her New Beetle when they first came out. I have to remind myself that the car has only been in Pioneer's hands since late October. We are only three months in.

Jeff

 

RobertO and any one else.
Let's just start a list of problems and suggestions for the 2004 and future models.
We can make it cumulative and then decide what to do with it individually and collectivly.
1. Battery runs out on long steep climbs. (Continental Divide)
2. Interior lighting deficient. (Dash dimmer switch, storage compartment below radio, storage drawer, cup holders, center storage box, ODO button)
3. Would prefer 4WD and disc brakes on all 4 wheels.
4. NAV sytem a. Passenger navigation override option.
b.
c.
d.
5. Gas gauge calibration option.
6. Rear wiper doesn't clean snow off the lower edge of the upper window. The arm should curve the oposite way and be adjusted to wipe lower.
7. Auto headlights should dim the display screen at night.
8. Trunk mat tab interferes with trunk locking.
9. Need separate "door open" indicators for each of the five doors.
10. Quiet package
11. 15-20 gallon gas tank.
12. A little more leg room for the front passenger.
13. More adjustment for the drivers seat (or power)
14. A little more headroom for rear passengers.

 

I ordered my 04 in July, took delivery on Dec 17. It seems to me that for a popular car that is pretty typical, but thats just my opinion.

I agree with Steve's list, but doubt most of it will show up in what is, to my mind, basically a cheap car. It is very well made and reliable, but bottom line it is still quite inexpensive compared to most others. Its nice to have all these options usually only available on much more expensive vehicles, and for me that is why I have to remind myself how inexpensive it was. Especially when I find myself complaining about how loud it is, or some other relatively minor (to me) complaint.

My suggested improvements: A "quiet package" , and a 20 gallon tank.

Peace.

Jeff

 

My dealer told me that in the BC package there was a Driver side power seat. As they only had a #7 to test drive and no # 9 to look at I didn't know any better. My $11,000 Elantra has a manual 6 way adjustable driver seat, I would think Toyota would have matched that with little added expense.

Rich

 

I've been looking at the list of options, changes, additions and suggestions for improvements to the Prius on this and the YG website. After a thorough analysis of all the suggestions I've come to the conclusion the that only vehicle large enough to handle the options, additional fuel, leg room, rear seat ceiling height etc is the Hummer.

Yes, there is tremendous room for improvement in the Prius but for the money and the wait I received more than I expected.

 

With regard to: 7. Auto headlights should dim the display screen at night. ...

If you turn on your headlights and then rotate the dial to the left of the steering wheel, there is a point at which the screen dims for night driving. Just leave the dial at that setting and whenever you turn on your headlights (presumably at night) the screen illuminates at a lower intensity for night driving.

hope this helps, Alex

BTW - While I understand why alot of the features you mentioned are desireable, some of them are counterproductive (like the weight of 5 extra gallons of gas) to building a car as lightly as possible so that it gets the best MPG it can.

 

I'll throw in my suggestion for the one thing that disqulified the 04 from being purchased by me:

Make the back seat capable of fitting 6 ft tall plus adults. The classic fits them, aleit tighly in the legroom department. The 04 has the legroom, but it's basically a four door two passenger car for people like me who typically is the driver when all of my friends and I are out and about.

 

Re: Off With The Gloves; Let's stay Relevant to the '04 we H

I am getting frustrated by what I call Prius bashers. Most of them want the Prius to be equiped like a Town Car. It'l never happen.
I had the pleasure of knowing Dr. W. Edwards Deming, the noted mathamathician(sic) who convinced the Japanese to produce quality products instead of the little dolls they were famous for. His equasions turned the Japanese industry around to what it is today.

Toyota correctly designed the Prius to be an economical, fuel efficient automobile by eliminating weight. An example is the back bumper applique which is costly and profitable but its only about 1/64" thick, of extremely durable vinyl for application to the top surface of the rear bumper, to prevent damage to the top surface of the bumper. If U. S. automakers made it, it would be made of heavy rubber, about 1/2" thick.

Next, consider the automatic parking feature on Japanese models. It's fantastic but U. S. automakers would just say-"It won't work"
Electric seats, moon roofs, etc. just add weight and defeat the objective of the car. Ever wonder why there are thousands of people in the US who want the car but can't get one. Toyota MUST BE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT.

End of sermon. :mrgreen:

 

As far as the interior fit and finish are concerned, I think Toyota DID get it right. The inside reminds me of a Lexus. Looknig at the RX300h pictures only served to reassert that feeling. If there were to be any changes in the options lists, it would be to allow for a more al-a-carte means of adding stuff that you want to the car. The only change to me that Toyota needs to look into is a means of getting that needed couple of inches of headroom in the back seat. The Toyota feels upscale enough.

 

The links have been password-protected.

They listen too well...

 

Glad I download the report and the previous two weeks reports.

Brian

 

I, however, harbor no proprietary information, and in a real and legal sense, am forgetting everything I saw today.

Who am I?...

 

I probably shouldn't have bragged.

I cannot in good conscience(sp?) send the documents along to anyone.

There is nothing very surprising in them to anyone who reads anytghing online. People are concerned by the gas tank issue and the long wait times. Some people have good experinces with dealers -- others have had bad.

Brian

 

Re: Love the car we have; improve the post-delivery experien

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(\"RobertO\")</div>

I'd be interested in knowing in what areas you feel that Toyota is not providing sufficient support.

In my mind, the most important area of support is in dealing with problems with the car. So far, I have not gotten a sense that lots of people are finding that the car breaks down and Toyota is deficient in helping them in this situation.

I understand from reading this Web site that other people would like support from Toyota such as (a) help with making modifications to the car (e.g, installing Xm and other audio components that Toyota does not offer) or (b) with explanations of how the car works. For the most part, these latter areas are of lower priority for me personally (which is not to say that they aren't important to other people). However, I would also say that Toyota needs to do a better job with the Smart Entry & Start system (either with the design of the system itself or with documenting how it works) if people are unclear about what ought to happen if you leave the car running but take the fob away.