New Owner In Olympia

[jgerecht]

Ok, I'm about to get delivery of a new 2005, Salsa Red Prius with a #9 package (why not get it now when it's built-in). At least this is the latest ETA from Toyota of Olympia.

I've been very unimpressed with the salespeople at Toyota of Olympia. Among other things, they don't seem to be aware of the Prius. I actually had to talk to the sales manager before they would take my deposit last August. Tney've never heard of an iPod much less how to put it into a Prius. They don't seem aware of the internet at all much less PriusChat.

I certainly hope their service department is better. Any experiences with that end of the dealership?

However, my immediate question is that I've read about the Invisbra here on PriusChat and I'm interested in it. Has anyone any experience with it, or something similar? Espcially around Olympia or the South Sound area?

And what other things should I be aware of locally?

I'm open to any suggestions since I'm just getting the car and don't know much other than what I've found out on PriusChat.

[hdrygas]

Welcome. Here are a few points for you. 8) My experience with Olympia Toyota has been mixed. I ordered in April last year (god almost a year ago!) was told February of this year. My son found a car for me in Helena Montana where he goes to school and I picked up my car in August and have not looked back. Toyota of Olympia did have a car for me to test drive and gave me back my deposit promptly when asked. Service has been less stellar for me. First I called about my 5K and they said "just bring it in any time we will change the oil" I asked about the tire rotation and they said they did not recommend it, so I took my car to Bryan's Automotive on Martin Way. He has been my regular mechanic for many years and is good, quick and prices are fair. He did the 5K just fine. No overfill, tires rotated with pressure to my specks. Bryan is looking into being able to work on the HSD but can not get training yet. I did go in later and talk to the service manager about the 5K and he told me that the G3 Prii did not need tire rotation so in order to save the customers money they did not recommend it, but would do it if I insisted. They recommended a 10k rotation schedule. At 10k I needed the Nav upgrade so I took it in. I brought my own Mobil 1 and gave them a big hint that they could leave the extra oil in one of the bottles and put it in the plastic bag in the back. They got the oil fill right about 350 cc left in the bottle and just below the full by about 1/8 inch. Tires were rotated I am sure of that because the backs had 42 psi and the fronts 40psi. I called the service manager again! The worse part was I was Carrying and reading "New Car Features" the introduction book of the service manual published by Toyota. You have to order this from Toyota and is the technical introduction the the cars systems. They had to know that I was a Prius geek and yet they did not check things out.
Any way welcome from another midwestern boy. Dave who haunts this place as well lives in Oly and is another midwesterner. Nice web site BTW

[goodmart]

I got a clear bra here in Seatle and love it. I got it from a local place called Island Detail http://www.islanddetail.com/. They use Venture Shield which compared to many 3M and other types has a Lifetime Warranty. Check out the thread for clear bras on www.priuschat.com at http://www.priuschat.com/forums/invisible-...html?highlight=

and also,
http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/archive/ind...dex.php/t-35139

Tell Pat McQuaid I sent yout!
Hope that helps -

Alice
05 Tideland Pearl AM Package with brand new Mud Flaps! (and a clear bra)

[AWDios]

Also register at www.pstoc.com and come to some of our meets and cruises.

[jgerecht]

happiness with my new red Prius!</span>

[engunneer]

I just got mine last weekend, and have been playing with ALL of the features (I am an engineer after all).

The fastest wat to get it to be quiet about a route is to hit menu (top right button next to screen) and then the leftmost button it presents you with "Suspend guidance"

Next time you enter a destination (with "Dest" or voice commands) it will ask you if you want to add or replace. Choose replace.

The file library on PriusChat has a good list of voice commands, which are very fun to play with, but don't work very well at highway speeds.

My most useful command: "POI off"

[jgerecht]

I went to Seattle yesterday and now have 230 miles on my new Prius. Between freeway and city, I'm at about 44mpg. Not bad since I just got it and it's not at all broken in yet.

I actually used my nav system yesterday, and without looking at the manual at all. I was disoriented in Auburn and wanted to find my buddy's house, so I just used the nav system and found his street. It was easy. And I did kill the poor, sexy woman when I got there.

On the way home, I almost had an accident. There was a pretty bad multicar pileup on the freeway at Ft. Lewis and I almost plowed into the car ahead of me. Thank heavens for new tires and excellent brakes. I stopped just in time and was thankful the car following me had left enough distance as well. I must have been just minutes behind the accident since there were no police and there was no backup yet. Scary!

I finally cleaned out my old car and now the Prius isn't quite as pristine! Lots of crap in the trunk and back seat, just like my old car, just not as much yet.

[BobA]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jgerecht\";p=\"75699)</div>

It's been raining and I haven't really had much of a chance to play with all the goodies yet. [/b]

CONGRATS, jgerecht.. but you're in Washington.. and it's called the GREEN STATE, because it rains ALL the time...

Bob Andersen

[DaveinOlyWA]

congrats on your car. sorry to hear your experience with Toyota Oly wasnt the greatest.

i ordered my car there from Fred Hamilton but my family has purchased several cars through him. he did spend a short time in Tacoma but returned to Olympia because he couldnt deal with the way things were done there.

i have basic service done there and they havent overfilled my oil yet. as far as anything else, i have not had any problems so hard to say how their maintenance shop is... guess i gotta wait till something breaks

[nwprius]

I also bought at Toyota Olympia Nov '03, Fred was my salesman, excellent experience. Paid MSRP but had a goody thrown in. The maintenance department has been superb, knowledgable, prompt, and has never tried to sell me anything. Hope others will have the same experience. I do not live in Olympia so it is a bit out of my way to go there but I feel it is worth it.

I'm a bit older than most of you and have owned 27 cars, 25 were new purchases, so I have a bit of experience. Actually when I retired in 1967 I worked for a Chevrolet dealer in San Jose, CA for a while, just for fun, and to kill some time. We had a meeting every morning which I called "lie, cheat, and steal' meetings. Sell the customer 'payments' and add everything you could to the auto. From the comments on this site many dealers are still doing that, all those protective coatings and high priced maintenance warranties.

I encountered none of this at Toyota of Olympia or I would have bought elsewhere.

Hopefully I will meet some of you at the Lacey Alternative Energy Event which I intend to attend.

Bob