Prius 3 without MFD

i've never seen one, but there must be a small screen with all the info you need?

 

I keep the MFD turned off, I haven't found anything useful there yet.

 

Same here, we keep the MFD display off when driving. 99% of the time we know where we're going, so the GPS display is a distraction. Also, steering wheel controls are used for changing radio stations and volume changes.

 

99% of the time, mine is showing my usb music. i do like the hsi screen which shows you where your throttle/braking is. that's the upper screen though, does it have that? looking at mar rats pic, i don't see it.

 

I think we might be confusing the MFD with the Nav display and they are completely separate items. In this image, the MFD is on top, the middle display is what you get if you don't have Navigation and the bottom display is the AC/heating data. The top display is for all the data, such as mpg, energy flow, etc. Are you saying you don't have the top display on the dash?

 

everyone gets that, don't they? the nav is really pretty useless in my opinion. maybe if you like having a cheesy built in nav and entune that barely works. or you want to see the power display vs above.

 

Here's my thoughts:

The Nav screen has some car info, but nothing to do with operation of the car itself, like mpg, energy flow, etc. It's mostly for setup of the various nav, audio, phone and app options.

Even though the Nav is outdated, even after being updated, it still has some usefulness, but IMHO is not worth 1,000 euros by itself. If you travel a lot, it is nice to have the turn-by-turn instructions integrated with the audio system. It was included with the options package I wanted, so there wasn't much choice. And if Toyota didn't lock out and limit so many functions to voice command while moving, it'd be more useful, but still not worth the cost by itself. I use a Garmin Nuvi to find things while moving or things the Prius doesn't have. I then enter them into the Prius and let it guide me. I do a lot of pre-planning too and enter those destinations, my routine works well for me. I have driven on new roads that weren't in the Prius and it's pretty funny how it tries to get you to a road you know.

As for why they don't include stuff, I assume it's because there's always a market for the budget-minded and every option is an opportunity to make a larger profit. And in the case of the Prius, wanting something like cruise control forces you to upgrade to a model with even more "standard" options at an even greater cost. And with all the electronics today, they've got you even more because it's that much harder to add things DIY.

 

Correction, if I may. The "middle" screen is what you have as an alternative to Bluetooth and/or Navigation. I have Bluetooth, not Nav and I have the large, inset screen. Just FYI.

 

agreed. a lot of discussion here regarding those things, but no conclusion.

 

i like your reasoning. the nav screen is more infotainment than anything else. all the good info is on the dash.i would go with the one you like best on a test drive. to me, gen II/III are really a personal choice, not that different.

 

MFD is acronym for Multi Function Display, right?

Searching the 3rd gen owners manual pdf, I don't see "mfd" or "multi function display". I think it's mainly referred to as "navigation system".

I do see Multi-information Display. That's the cutesy car picture with arrows going this way and that, get's old in about 5 minutes. Very distracting too.



There's also Hybrid System Indicator. This one's quite useful.



Both of the above show in the upper dash display, here:



Our Canadian Touring model doesn't have the big navigation screen. I really don't miss it. We have the back-up camera, it shows as a small image in corner of rear-view mirror. It's so extremely wide-angle I have little trust in what it's showing me, lol.

 

The Euro versions of the gen3 all come with a HUD which can display the Hybrid System Indicator (and current speed) on the screen in front of you as well as on the dash. The US versions didn't get that until the mid life update - I think.

I find it really really useful.

Best thing is to go test drive a Prius and see if it works for you.

 

How do you turn it off? Although I should not be asking now as mine just went out yesterday on my 2006. As someone else said everything that is still essential i.e. air, defrost, and even the radio can be taken care of with the steering wheels controls. BUT my clock is still working. That surprises me, isn't it part of the unit info? But then the radio controls on the dash still work also. I am tempted to just forget about getting it fixed. My hybrid battery went out last Sept. and Toyota was kind enough to cover that, even the labor. But I doubt they would take care of this as well. This is a great forum.

 

So your car has no back-up camera?

 

You can turn it off.( MFD.) I do at night often. H