What I hate about my Prius

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(clarkeb @ Nov 5 2006, 08:52 PM) [snapback]344276[/snapback]</div>

My steering wheel is leather-wrapped, and it's in the specs.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(clarkeb @ Nov 5 2006, 08:52 PM) [snapback]344276[/snapback]</div>

Yep, the steering wheel is leather covered in my package 8 '06.

 

Leather-trimmed seats and steering wheel, option #8 for 2006.

 

The Cloth interior. From the day we brought our 2004 home, the center armrest cloth is peeling off. The rest of the material stains to easily and is impossible to clean. Not to mention the way the fabric "pills" it is starting to look like granda's sweater. The interior design is so flimsy that we will probably say goodbye to the prius and hello to the civic hybrid next time around.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(XrayLady @ Nov 12 2006, 07:03 AM) [snapback]347761[/snapback]</div>

Keep talking gentlemen.... Toyota is listening. How do I know you ask?

I just returned from an Inquiry meeting with Toyota reps.
Indeed they are listening

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Roger3125 @ Nov 12 2006, 10:41 AM) [snapback]347862[/snapback]</div>

I suppose they are listening.... How else would they have known to change the configuration of the 2006 Navigation/Phone/Radio Control Center, so that we can't make it usable while in motion (it's a car, so it moves...) by aftermarket hacks?

The motion lock is an idiotic scheme! That's why no other car manufacturer uses it!

To force your customers to have to buy aftermarket parts to hack their brand-new car, so that they can use features they have paid (dearly) for, is crazy! To actually go out of your way to change the software to keep the features unusable, is adding insult to injury!

As I said, I love the Prius concept, like the car, but this policy would weigh very heavily against my buying another Toyota product.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(narf @ Jul 10 2006, 10:18 AM) [snapback]283827[/snapback]</div>

Pa inspection law is the fog lights can only be on when you have low beams on. There again most have their fog lights on even when no fog and for some the lights (especally big SUV) they blind :blink: the on coming traffic.

 

2006, had it for three months now. #1 squawk?

GRIPE (Display Screens): So, the CONSUMPTION and ENERGY are on two different screens. On such an (overall) brilliantly-executed car, who came up with THAT idea?

If we could move the cutesy little animated REAR wheels a bit closer to the cutesy little animated FRONT wheels (groan), there'd be plenty of room for me to get the CONSUMPTIONS screen's Realtime Mileage bar on the same display with the much-needed ENERGY FLOW info.

CONTINGENCY PLAN: Okay so you like it just the way it is; fine. But why not have an available HYPERMILEAGE button on either of the above screens; press it, and you're taken immediately to a sooper-dooper screen with all the stuff on it that we need to know in order to Save The Planet While Getting 300mpg And Whipping Wayne Gerdes's Gas-Sucking Behind And Preserving The Tasmanian Fruit Bat At The Same Time. (say, has the dreaded hyperbole reared its monstrously-unabashed, ego-feeding cranial structure?)

DREAM LIST: And while in the world of Prius electronics everything is being integrated with everything, how about a USB memory stick slot on the dash panel. Yes, it would play MP3s, but "The System" (not just the radio) would see this USB port as an Honorary System Device, and would harmoniously 'talk" to it, continuously writing and/or updating all your PriusINFO (reverse beeper mode, door lock mode, endless array of little green mileage bars, driver window mode, etc.) into the PriuSystem INFO Database file. Imagine having lifetime mileage info, oil change info, service info, etc, available on the Prius "InfoStick."

Modern ECUs "learn" your driving style, so why couldn't that be on there too? Dealer had to flash your ECU's ROM? No problem! Stick in the PriuSystem INFO stick, hit the "UserData Restore" button on the MFD, wait ten seconds, then drive away.

An incredible amount of data could be logged and modified on your computer with a browser-style, cross-platform Java applet. Leave the stick in the dash, and your Toy dealer can add his service department's updates. All this stuff is sent to Toyota anyway, so why not just let the service manager update YOUR memory stick with YOUR info while he's at it.

...and then the world, as I know it, would be perfect and no longer in desperate, heart-wrenching, unduly lugubrious need of my superciliously supplied services. (Run for your lives; it's elementarily-applied ALLITERATION! Followed, of course, by assiduously-executed assonance)

GeronimoPFudgemuffin

 

I can't understand why the Prius can't go 170+ MPH like my other car, that really bothers me........ Seriously, this is a great car and sure, I would have liked it to have a leather sterring wheel from the factory, (they do now) I wouldhave liked it to have auto-tilt/fold mirrors and a few other things that I have enjoyed in the past, but overall I just love the Prius.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GeronimoPFudgemuffin @ Nov 15 2006, 06:08 AM) [snapback]349400[/snapback]</div>

If these were to be implemented, I'm sure it will be a Lexus, not a Toyota, unless it's Japan or UK. See self-parking feature.

 

1) Rattles. I'm chasing them. Especially the small plastic piece by the small window next to the A pillar.
2) Traction. It's raining again and this is getting scarey.
3) Cruise control. When you press it at 40 MPH, it allows the car to drop to 38 MPH straight away before returning to 40 MPH. Bugs the crap out of me.
4) Cup holders have no retainers, so you need to buy the SuperGulp size to stop it from rattling.
5) MFD washes out in just the slightest of sunlight.
6) That nasty pip on the steering wheel control for Mode. (Put that on the top of the list). Why is it there, for the blind people? I hope they are not driving.
7) I have the JBL - I wanted the Package 4 and let car toys fix the crappy sound. The JBL system is just nasty.
8) Friggin fuel tank. Be honest, it's a crap shoot.
9) Auto dimming rearview mirror, not adequate to stop you being blinded and I have the tape trick on the sensor behind the mirror. New car works beautifully in this respect.
10) Press brakes when over a man hole cover or similar, the car lurches forward. Do that downtown Seattle on a hill with a car in front and you better and brown color seats.
11) When the car is doing down hill, the engine switches off an the cabin cools down, you get cold air, even with the air-con switched on.
12) Winter is here, temp 41F and fuel economy is down to 41 MPG from the 50 MPG or so in the summer.
13) Dealers. Consumer reports continutes to berate the service from Toyota.

2005 Prius Package 5

I said farewell to it on Saturday. I wish you all the best. I just could not stand the rattles any more and the lack of traction. The trade-in was too good to ignore.

Things I will miss:
1) Sneaking up on people in the parking lot when in battery mode.
2) errr, ummm help?

 

Let's face it, we're paying for hybrid technology, melded into a Corolla.

When I first went looking for a Prius and found a few with ALL the options, it's MSRP was more than the base BMWs, Mercedes and Lexus. That's crazy!

I bought my '07 black Prius with the #2 package and paid $24K... which was all I was about to pay for the added MPG and HOV lane access. The added leather, navigation, etc. is all just candy coating on a car that's still a compact inexpensive car, with added hybrid tech.

With that said...
- wish there was a rear hatch release inside, this is so absolutely basic, bad planning there
- the AC blows out the stalest air i've ever experienced after turning off the Air but the compressor was still on

Other than that I really like the Prius for what it is and for what it does, I didn't have high expectations before buying and was pleasantly surprised by the technology, comfort and ride. If I was going to buy luxury with excellent handling I would have bought a BMW.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(HOVer @ Nov 15 2006, 03:47 PM) [snapback]349723[/snapback]</div>

There is (check the manual) but it's not very accessible.

 

1. The filling the gas tank issue. I suspect this isn't an issue on the newer Prii but on my 2004 ...

2. In my last car, if I left the car then noticed all windows were not fully up, I'd place the key in the door, hold it in the counter-clockwise position, and all open windows would close including the sunroof.

In this car, it's necessary to unlock the car, get back in the car, put your foot on the brake, press the power button, close each of the windows, press the power button again, then re-exit and re-lock the car.

3. Sure wish this car had a telescoping steering wheel. Cars are made for one body shape and size. The more controls you have for seat and steering, the less that body shape and size becomes an issue.

4. Does anyone know how to set cruise control to where it powers on by itself each time you start the car (always on, button disabled) ? Every car I ever owned that had cruise control used the button on the end of the stalk to set the speed. I keep inadvertently turning it the darn thing off. On earlier cars I was always able to leave the cruise control switch on.

On the plus side, I love being able to, for instance, click the lever up three quick times and have my car increase its speed EXACTLY 3 miles per hour. Speed change was approximate on all my earlier cars.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Porridge @ Nov 15 2006, 04:08 PM) [snapback]349690[/snapback]</div>

I don't understand this one either. We had a Toyota Rav4 that probably had the best cup holders ever and thought the Prius would incorporate them but was unimpressed to find out they didn't.

 

Hi All,

What I hate about my Prius - How slow the average other cars are when I see green, and how fast they are when I see red.

 

I hate these cheap A%$# floor mats I paid $200 for.

 

Newbie here. Got my red 06 in September, found this board last night.

I don't like the fabric interior. It's kind of like flannel sheets, which I don't like. My all-cotton clothes won't slide over it. I kind of stick to it. And it's kind of ugly. And I've read here that the fabric looks bad quickly & is uncleanable. That makes me glad I got the $500 Simonize treatment inside & out. It gives me a 5-year guarantee against stains inside, & damage by bird poop, etc. outside. I'm incredibly bad about washing my car (I don't), so I figured it was a good investment to protect my investment.

I had read reviews before I bought that talked about rattles & poor visibility. I have one rattle, but I assumed I had a pen or something in one of those 100 cubbyholes/storage spaces. Maybe not. Those bars in front are bad for visibility.

The worst thing is the whole air system, which I've seen discussed a LOT here. Grrr. I haven't really grasped the solutions people mention. Maybe I'll try again later.

I only have about 2660 miles so far.

One of the things I love BEST is the $3150 the U.S. gov't will give me, & the $500 PA is giving me.