My Wife Broke a 2010!

We were in a local dealer today to buy a dashmat for my '09. We saw a perl white 2010 on the display floor.. so we naturally migrated to, er, flew to, the car. A beautiful sight! As we were going over everything and admiring it all, I told my wife to get in and sit behind the wheel. Shortly afterward she said, "I think I broke it." I was shocked to hear this so I left my position in the cargo area and walked around to see her flipping the center console cover open and closed. When she closed it, it no longer covered the 2nd cupholder. I asked what she did and she says she was checking out the cupholders. The we both realized at the same time the console cover is designed to slide back to expose the cupholder. How funny!

She also made one point: the door pockets are nonexistant. My '09 has has a pocket that runs nearly the entire length of the door. The '10 had none - it had just a bottleholder pocket. I wonder why? Perhaps the Prius Team could make a note of this.

It took a bit to figure out the armrest locks into both open and closed positions. The benefit of the former, I suppose, is that it won't be pushed into anything that may be residing in the cupholder inside the center console unit.

I observed this as soon as I sat down in the first 2010 I saw. I had the opportunity to ask Toyota's Chief Engineer this exact same question. His answer was that they used the space to increase the sound insulation so that road noise could be diminished. I see no particular reason to discount his word on the subject. In the brief experience I've had (driving less than 700 miles in my 2010), I think he succeeded in lowering the noise.

The lost space on the door panel has been regained by me when using the area underneath the console "bridge".

I keep my dusting brush in the door of my Prius which I use at traffic lights to dust the dash. If and when I update to the new model I'll miss the door pockets.

my door pockets on both the old and the new only store extra napkins...

which is simply a sad commentary on my dietary habits i think

Door pockets?? I have had them in cars most of my life and have always used them to hold maps. Even now in my 5-year old Prius both door pockets are stuffed with maps that have not been used in 4 1/2 years since I am totally reliant on the GPS. Who needs maps - who needs door pockets!!

The rule in marine and aviation navigation is never rely on GPS navigation only, always have a back-up.
I learnt this the hard way when my GPS (not my current one) froze when I was over 700km from home, in a city I was totally unfamiliar with.
At least keep the maps in a bag in the boot (trunk).

I keep a "Swiffer" sheet in one of the unused cuphilders or in a cubby hole. They really pick up the dust and take up less room than a brush. Easy to clean just wipe and that's it.

A bottle pocket? Could it be used like a cupholder? The one inside the console looks very inconvenient to me.

The driver's door pocket on my car contains a compact umbrella. Never know when it's going to rain around here! My maps are all A5 size and go in the lower glovebox.

I thought I recalled reading that the fabric-trimmed cars (i.e. II and III) do have storage pockets in the doors. Here's Toyota.com:

Prius II & III:

Fabric-trimmed seats and door panels with storage pockets and bottle holders in front doors (my emphasis)

Prius IV & V:

Leather-trimmed seats and steering wheel with driver seat power lumbar support and heated front seats with bottle holders in front doors.

I can't find a photo, though.

I use the word "brush" pretty loosely, what I use is a folding duster like a swiffer. Like the bottom one in the picture. I can reach the whole dash from the drivers seat while wearing my seatbelt.

It looks like you might be using something like this from the pic you posted. Which looks pretty trick.

Swiffer Dusters Product Information and Offers

This is what I'm using.
Swiffer Sweeper Product Information and Offers

I just use the cloth and not the huge handle.
Yours look like it has some reach to it, mine is easy to squirrel in where the gauges are on our Honda Fit.
I might look at the swiffer dusters when I'm at the store again.
Pick up one for the long reach areas, near the windscreen.

I do this also. I have A Dog and The Hair Gets On The Dash.
Since our new 2010 will be a second Prius, I will still have the 2007 for the dog.

The 2007 door pocket is perfect for a two-cell Maglite (laying on a piece of foam to stop the rattles). Leaves just enough room for a water bottle.

I hope they haven't done away with it on the 2010.

LOL, you're not alone. After trips to McD's, BK and Wendy's you get quite a collection of napkins in a very short time. I'd rather have the extra insulation from the road noise.

Ditto here as to napkins, I squirrel them away too. Drivers door - also some maps, a granola bar or 2-emergency nutrition, facecloth rolled up to wipe inside windows in case of condensation, spillage, or at times dust during stops, and --- pepper spray. Will need to minimize for smaller '10 pockets - pepper spray will stay.

I would miss it, the door pocket is where I keep my windshield sunshade when not in use.

If you're getting the solar moonroof, you may not need the sunshade anymore.

I do the same thing with mine. Often I'm multitasking while driving and use the door pocket to temporarily store things that I'll need to access while rolling down the road - like maps, instructions, whatever. Much easier to reach something there than reaching for the back seat.

Too bad the pocket is gone on the 2010. Seems kinda backward to me. Sure, you have the additional storage under the center console on the floor but I don't see myself reaching for something there while driving. The pocket will be sorely missed. Perhaps Toyota will reinstate it in 2011? (HINT!!)

LOL when you start keeping tons of napkins in the door, that means you are getting old LOL

In Texas, you definitely need the shade even with the solar.