Package 5 vs. Package 3 - worth it?

[Widdletink]

Hello,

Speaking as a proud owner of a package 3 for just over 2 months now I can say with assurance that the 3 is a great package.

You still have the ability to control the stereo and everything else from the steeringwheel (all the versions of this car have that ability) and you save $1100 to boot!

I find that the stereo is more than "adequate" it is actually very good. Just remember that the numbers that you will see when you are determining the "loudness" have little to no relationship to how loud it actually is. Close your eyes and set the volume, bass and treble by ear alone and you will be quite happy, I think.

The SKS is one of the coolest features ever invented. I originally did not want that and was looking just to get the package 1 but none were available. So, I got the SKS kind of by default. Now, I can't imagine what having this car without it would be like. It is very nice to just have my car open up for me. It makes me feel even more special every time I get in to drive.

Personally, if money is not a major deciding factor here, I would suggest that you either get the 3 or go "whole hog" and get a package 6. The only feature that I wish my car had is the NAV system. I don't want or need the HID's and the upgrade on the stereo would be wasted on me.

These cars come so well equipped, even at the base model level, that no matter what package you choose you will be thrilled with the car. As a word of caution, my sister has a 6-disc changer in her car (a Rodeo Sport - don't even get me started here) and she has had to have it replaced twice so far. The last time the car was out of warranty and the replacement (at her dealer) was over $800. She say's that the next time she buys a car she is only going to get a single disc changer - less hassle.

Also, if you choose the 3 you will be able to use that extra money you saved to 1) Pay for your gas for the upcoming year or 2) Pay for your tinting, seatcovers, mudflaps, door guards, car bra and bumper applique or 3) Stick it in the bank toward the future purchase of the extended warranty (when your initial 3year/36,000 mile one is due to expire).

Congratulations on your decision to purchase the Prius. I am confident that you will be very happy with your car for many years to come.

Take care,

Tisza

[Ray Moore]

The buttons are available on the stock radio, but if you upgrade the stereo aftermarket then you will lose that feature unless you do some fancy engineering.

The nav system isn't great. The bluetooth is something I use everyday but the nav is only for travelling and only so so in it's function. Aftermarket nav is probably better and cheaper. I go weeks without so much as a glance at it. One thing I like is using it at night on twisty roads. Once I know that it knows the road, I can use it to let me know if the upcoming curve is shallow or tight and if it straightens out sooner or later. Even my use of that is limited to one road that I travel infrequently.

[DanP]

The nav system isn't great. The bluetooth is something I use everyday but the nav is only for travelling and only so so in it's function. Aftermarket nav is probably better and cheaper.

I find the Nav system works beautifully. Just type in an address or a place name and it offers three different routes from which you may choose. Granted, the routes will sometimes not be as fast as those that could be plotted given local knowledge about traffic patterns, but the only time you would use the Nav system is when you _don't_ know the area. And if you have some local knowledge, feel free to take the route _you_ want, and the Nav system will automatically adapt to the change of route you are driving.

[gschoen]

I find NAV extremely useful when I'm in places (suburbs) I don't know very well (often). I can find food & places I'm want easily. It saves me a lot of time vs. travelling to places I know better, and the directions save me lots of time vs drivng around and around in unfamiliar places. Saves me gas too!!!

Usually I know how to get to my destination, but the NAV finds everthing around I didn't know about.

[Ray Moore]

I use the nav when I travel but there are better cheaper ones out there that you can plot a trip to in the house and then carry out to the car. Choosing your own roads for a long trip is painfully slow with this system. Within a strange city it can be helpful but driving 1000 miles on other than interstates is hopeless sometimes. From Austin to Colorado Springs, this thing wants me to use interstates at a cost of almost 500 miles and trying to route around it is very difficult. I can't disallow interstates for the trip because I actually use them for a couple of hundred miles so you end up using a map and picking target towns along the way but the number you can use is limited. I spent 30 minutes setting it up and finally just used a map.

[MiamiMurphy]

Hi -
I have a 2005 package 5 - when I purchased in March in was either a 3, 5 or 6. I wanted white and there was only 1 Prius in white and it was a 5. The sound system is not all that great but pretty good and I enjoy it. Also, I like the auto dimming and the built in security plus the SK - therefore I would go for the package 5, imho. Probably would have been tempted to go for #6 but it was so much more money.

Mary Lou
Miami, FL

Getting 46.2 average in only bumper to bumper city traffic. My Prius still has not seen a freeway.

[DanP]

I use the nav when I travel but there are better cheaper ones out there that you can plot a trip to in the house and then carry out to the car. Choosing your own roads for a long trip is painfully slow with this system. Within a strange city it can be helpful but driving 1000 miles on other than interstates is hopeless sometimes. From Austin to Colorado Springs, this thing wants me to use interstates at a cost of almost 500 miles and trying to route around it is very difficult. I can't disallow interstates for the trip because I actually use them for a couple of hundred miles so you end up using a map and picking target towns along the way but the number you can use is limited. I spent 30 minutes setting it up and finally just used a map.

I use the Magellan MapSend DirectRoute software in conjunction with my Meridian when I don't have my Prius, and I have not noticed that DirectRoute's directions are any better than the Priuses on-board system (perhaps the RoadMate 700 is better).

I can see where it would be easier to plan out the route on the computer beforehand, but I would never do that anyway. If I know for a fact that my route is better than the Nav system's proposed route, I just take my route and let the Nav system adjust to what I'm doing.

What we really need to make these Nav systems work for us is to integrate "real time" (or even predicted) information on traffic congestion into the system. Such traffic-watch services already exist for some areas, and if you could log in to the system via your cell phone and have the cell phone feed traffic data to the Nav software, that could lead to better routing in areas like Los Angeles.

[MiamiMurphy]

Real time traffic information is "really" hard to get - I check the Miami DOT "real" time in the Net prior to leaving work and also visually check from the high rise I work in. However, all it takes is one or two minor accidents or broken down cars and you are stuck on US 1 for example with no way to get off to side streets. Having lived in LA and Miami - I too plan my routes from instinct based upon knowlege gained in driving 12 miles to and from work everyday at an average time of 45 minutes to 1 hour each way.

Ray - I love your signature - such a true, accurate statement.

Mary Lou

[Ray Moore]

I'd like the current weather radar to overlay on the map so I could route around thunderstorms. It is doable and should be included in the near futire with bandwidth supplied by cell phones through bluetooth. Listening Toyota?