whats the things you like and dislike about the gen 3?

Like:

- Comes with projector lights, which makes it super easy to install HID without blinding oncoming traffic.
- Awesome gas mileage.
- Roomy interior.

Dislikes:

- Plastic covers easy to scratch and damage.
- Slow acceleration. Severely under-powered.
- Useless hubcaps.
- Battery replacement could cost thousands of dollars.

 

I drove the Civic Hybrid yesterday and the CMax. Without a doubt of all the cars I have tested so far, the Honda had the nicest interior and best visibility. They have it up to 44mpg now in spite of being a bigger car. Many on Fuelly are reporting that mileage or better. Honda has been quietly refining this vehicle. It may not be the eco king, but it is a great overall car. If only the rear seat could fold down I would have gone for it.

 

Honda is known for more appealing interiors and handling, at least to rags like Motortrend, Car and Driver. But those journalists enjoy cars, so if they like them more, then I will too.

I don't think small sedan should have a hybrid battery in the trunk area. It's barely working with midsize Camry hybrid trunk and Fusion trunk is small.

 

Road grime on the door sills!

 

I've been following the upcoming MB CLA and it brings some challenges to other cars in the $30K-$38K price range. The main one being good looks and class leading aerodynamics in the same package.

 

Actually I stand to be corrected ... Civic hybrid trunk space looks fairly good to me.

 

My husband has a Toyota Rav 4 and it has the slide out sun visor.

 

Have you ever turned your windshield wipers on high at a stop? The whole car waddles like a duck!

 

Yeah! the kids love that.

 

Cycledrum,
I just traded by 2006 Civic hybrid in for a Prius because the check engine light and IMA lights came on. Car had 115k miles - mechanic said it was the hybrid battery going bad. $2,700 to replace. Even though I liked the car otherwise, replacing the battery would still leave me with a 115k car and about 35 mpg. Got the lights temporarily turned off at the dealer and traded it immediately before the lights reappeared. Mixed bag so far on my 2013 Prius 2. Great mileage, huge hatchback. Lots of rattles and squeaks. Wind-noisey on the road. Dashboard is way too busy. HATE the split wing console. Power outlets in poor locations. And the reverse beep - don't get me started. What I would really like is another Honda Civic with the Prius hybrid powerplant. I'm living with it because I was forced into a new car - no time to really shop around carefully. But I feel like there must be better designed hybrids out there. This may be the last hybrid I buy.

 

Its like there is no visor at all! I hate how small it is!

 

We just traded our 2007 Civic Hybrid because of the same thing. The IMA light hadn't come on yet, but the battery would cycle all the way down, the jump back up. For us (DH is 6'2, I'm 5'9), the Civic seats were just awful. Even with buying an extra pad for the seats, they were literally painful on trips. I think they padded the seats with concrete blocks. We didn't even look at Hondas when we bought the Prius because of that (ok, that and the really, really irritating Honda dealership commercials around here).

Our decision was between the Ford C-Max and the Prius. There were aesthetics we liked better on the Ford, but with so many mileage complaints, we went with the Prius. The dealer let us take it on a long test drive (about 40 miles) to make sure we liked the ride.

Granted I've only had my Prius for a couple of weeks, but I really like it. I like the center console. It reminds me of the Enterprise console from Star Trek AND it has a warp speed button. What more could I ask for?! I love the look of the car, and it seems really solid. It's much quieter than the Civic was on the highway, too.

About the only thing that concerns me is that there's no alarm for the headlights (mine aren't the auto headlights), so if I turn them on during the day and get out of the car, there's nothing (other than that little light on the console) to alert me that I've left them on. I just know I'll run the battery down someday .

The back up beeping is slightly annoying, but doesn't really bother me much (at least not enough to do anything about it). The navigation system is ok, but I don't think it's as good as my Garmin. As a test, I set it for my office and it had me going out of the way to get there. That concerns me a bit when it comes to trips.

I'm still getting used to the car and where all the toys are, but so far, I'm having a blast!

 

Likes way outnumber dislikes.
Likes
Back up Camera (only way for me to really see behind the car at night)
Smart Key push button start.
Gadgets, bluetooth, I even like the Nav although it is not nearly as good as the one in my smartphone.
Efficent use of space.
MFD(s)
Fuel usage (obvious)
Hatchback design is very practical and useful.
Stereo able to multi source Bluetooth USB Pandora etc.

Dislikes are pretty standard ones for on here.
The Center console invades my knee space
Reverse Beep. WHY???? Never see this "feature"on any other cars and it stays on Prius for some unexplained reason.
Entune is pretty lame.
Nav is ok could be better
Everyone says rear vision is bad, true but that is true in most small cars and even a lot of bigger ones these days.
Sat radio??? How much longer can they keep this business model of charging ridiculous fees for something most people can get free now?

Corrections of other posts.
You can use the Nav in motion. To change destination, use the voice command :"Destination" and then speak the address. This works in motion. You can't type in the address while in motion, but if you are driving and doing that you are very dangerous. Maybe they could rig it so you could do this if the passenger seat is occupied?

 

Likes:
MPGs
Ability to play MP3 music from a thumb drive
Electronics
Seats are very comfortable for me
Lots of room
Hatchback
Free 2 year or 25,000 mile service
I really love almost everything about this car

Dislikes:
It does have the occasional rattle, but every car I have had with a plastic interior has had this problem and was usually much worse.

Dirt buildup on the lower rear window pane, this is caused by the wedge shape of the car, which gives it that real low coefficient of drag.

The dash is sometimes hard to read when wearing sunglasses.

The reverse beep, but I got the dealer to shut mine off for free at the first service.

 

Likes:
the technology
great mpg
brakes well

Dislikes:
poor audio system
cheap interior feel
lack of sun visor extension
lack of a glove box lock
navi lock
arm rests w/o padding & too low

 

Wow, I'm sort of with you on that one. I've long wished we could put the Prius and Civic hybrid in a blender and take the best from both of them I'm getting along with the Prius interior / seating, but just barely.

It bothers me there is still no direct competition to Prius liftback. Maybe it's because of Toyota's patents, but I heard those expire this year. As for Honda, they are so late to the full hybrid game, it's really frustrating. But, we finally get a full hybrid Accord this year which is a start. Maybe the next Insight will be a full hybrid much like 4th gen Pruis for 2016 model year. We'll see.

 

Center console sucks on 2013. My 2005 center was great.

 

the rattle and cheap interior materials. all hard plastics everywhere...

 

Likes:
* Smart Key
* How the car always starts rolling from MG1 (or is it 2?) so there is no delay before the ICE kicks in
* The fact that you can run on all electric drive
* It doesn't feel like a cheap/lightweight vehicle only designed for MPG
* Has decent pick-up if you floor it

Dislikes/Improvements:
* Steering wheel need about 4" more extension
* Center council & driver's arm rest have no padding
* Wish you could drive up to 62-65 MPH without having the ICE kick in (on electric power). The only time I drive on roads with speed limits <40 MPH is in my subdivision.
* Wish there was a way to drive in EV mode only without having the ICE come on automatically. Mostly just to fill a curiosity of mine as to how fast (quick) the car actually can go in EV mode.
* Would be nice in ECO mode if there was a slight detent in the gas pedal when you reached max Hybrid Eco area and again right before entering Power area (max ECO area)
* Wish the car was about 500-800 lbs lighter
* It would also be nice if the car didn't start right away when cold. Maybe have like a speed threshold you have to cross before the ICE starts. If I just want to back the car out of the garage, the engine starts. It runs less than 5 seconds before I shut off the car because I'm backed out. Haven't thought about pushing the EV button right away. Maybe that will work.

Overall, though I'm very happy with the purchase so far.

 

Yowsa, 4" more telescope. Hear ya though. It is comical when scooting seat all way back. Steering wheel appears to be in the next zip code, need a 'telescope' to see it in Prius

I can't use the last two seat clicks back. Legs will reach, but no way I'm stiff arming for that wheel. Doesn't work. yeah, legs are long, but so are my arms.

A few of us discussed recently that the slotted metal in steering column must be able to recess back into the column (if pulls out far, must go somewhere when pushed in), therefore there must be room to do so. I feel a little room behind a 'stopper bar'. Have a look for the slots in our Prius tilt/telescopic mechanism -



We'll be lucky to get any more wheel telescope on 4th gen Prius. If enough tall people complain, eventually we will. My chest is 17" from the wheel which is well beyond being 'too close' (like 10 or 12") .

Even short people have options when too close to the steering wheel: They can wear thick soled shoes, or put pedal overlays on the gas / brake pedals. Tall people get hosed with a far away wheel - if you want the legroom and wheel is far away, not a darn thing you can do except scoot forward, reach for it or drive with thinnest soled shoes you can find.

Took me hours to sew a center console armrest cover over foam for a pad and used one elastic strap around console lid, but it works quite well.
I finally found some 'poster tape' from 3M that advertises 'holds strong, removes cleanly' to stick a block of foam on door armrest. Whatever it takes. I don't want a permanent install of armrest pad which the few aftermarket options are.

Dislike from me -

Could they have made the plastic steering wheel texture any rougher and unappealing? We'l see how the Wheelskins does when put on tonight or tomorrow.