My Extended Test Drive... Need help!

FWIW, regarding telescoping steering wheel, we never even had that on the 2nd gens. It was a new feature to Gen 3.

 

I drove to the East coast this summer, 1800mi round trip and was surprised how comfortable the entire ride was.
I'm assuming you had a package Two or Three. Since the Four comes with adjustable lumbar I had no problems. My reach is long and my arms are bony and found the whole arm rest, steering wheel configuration not bothersome at all. :noidea:

Sorry you had such an unpleasant experience.
I bet the mileage was exciting though!

 

You could buy a 2 or 3 and have the seats covered in leather with gel padding (about $1500) and somewhere on this site people are selling pads for the armrests and center console. That being said, you should look for a car that is more comfortable for you, if you want good mileage, a Camry or Fusion hybrid might be the ticket.

 

1) Katzkin leather for 1k installed
2) No idea
3) JDM steering wheel conversion:
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...064-jdm-prius-steering-wheel.html#post1329665

Good luck!

 

That's not going to help with the OP's issues. Changing out the steering wheel isn't going to magically give it a telescoping feature.

 

Oops, for some reason i thought he didn't like how the steering wheel felt. I must have read a different post on a different forum and mixed up the two.

 

It's smart to rent a car before you buy, to many things you can't discover in a test drive.

The three things you mentioned are fairly common complaints. Having a car that's uncomfortable doesn't work for me no matter how well I like the rest of it.

Why not give up a few MPG and check out the 2012 Camry Hybrid? I haven't driven one yet but I understand the Ford Fusion Hybrid is pretty good also.

Good luck.

 

Let's face it, the ergonomics in the Prius is not perfect, but many cars fail on this. I just live with it and make minor mods. A pillow for my right elbow and a raised shelf for my left elbow.

 

Agreed. It seems to me the OP should consider other cars, rather than "settle" for a car he's not happy with, and perhaps have nagging regrets down the road.

 

You will never be happy with a Prius. You need a $90,000 Lexus to make you happy. Walk away.

 

Agreed. Even cycledrum, who is extremely critical about seating, says you'd need to step up to something like a BMW 5-series for better seating.

 

Individual preferences vary. Likely this is not the car for you. I traded our BMW in for the Prius. Both my wife and I find the Prius very comfortable. The only thing we have missed is the heated seats.

 

You probably know that 2012 Four and Five will get, for the first time in Prius! ... power adjustable driver's seat. That should eliminate many complaints as you can adjust it in ways you cannot with a mechanical seat. 'Course, the basic Four will show about $29k on the sticker. Lot of off the shelf seat cushions which would amount to trial and error.

I've seen a company that makes nice looking padded door armrests.

Prius has 1.5" of steering wheel telescope range which I've measured in several Toyotas and Hondas. But I have found in Corolla and Camry, the wheel can pull correspondingly closer than in the Prius. Accords and Civics adjust up pretty well too. VW Jetta had extended scope of something over 2".

Our dear little Prius could still use some ironing out. In perspective, the Camrys, Accord, and all are in their 8th generation where this Prius is still in its 3rd, so, 'dialing it in' takes a long time.

Keep in mind they placed it to also push closer to the dash. I guess a number of shorter drivers maybe in Japan needed the wheel farther away from them. With my ghetto measurement, we seemed to only pick up about 1/2" closer wheel pulled to us over the non-scope 2nd gen. That's not much. I'd like another inch, but it works well enough. I drive with slim soled shoes, something like 'driver's shoes' if there is such a thing

 

Agreed with others - if you can't get happy with a simple bottom or lumbar cushion, likely best to walk away. If you got fabric and planned to switch to leather to experiment, there's no guarantees that will make you happy either. Seats mods are no fun. Better to get a car you are comfortable in. But, do try the 2012 Four with power seat in a couple weeks, or Prius v, Camry hybrid, Fusion hybrid.

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We've heard it before, but car seating is so personal. One person's lounge-chair-in-car is another person's chair of thorns.

My 8.5 rating for 3rd gen driver's seating was little generous. I give it 8.0 to leave more room for those BMWs which are 9.5+

I haven't been on a 200 mile trip yet, so perhaps I should shut it.

 

I have a 2005 and a 2010. I am never really comfortable in the 2005 seats, but I am comfortable in my 2010 Prius 4 leather seats. I drove NY to Florida and back and was never uncomfortable. I'm glad to hear that future Priuses will have power seats - in my opinion almost a necessity in a modern car.

 

We have a 4 and went on a 2500 mile round trip. The leather seats are comfortable and varying the seat position and lumbar support allows me to experience slightly different positions. I do agree that the telescoping could be greater....with the seat slid all the way back and reclined a bit...it feels a bit out of reach. (I'm 6'2"). My 4 Runner had the leather/power seat package...maybe more seat padding, but I felt better in the Prius after long distances.

 

1) You can purchase seat cushions from places and be able to return them if not happy. Perhaps purchase 2 or 3.

2) Sounds like you may need to rent the car again, not for one long trip, but for a few days or so in your area. Spend $100 or so renting for multiple days. Believe me, that $120 will be MUCH cheaper to find out your truth now, than to buy a car you are not happy with in 3 months*

2a) A half hour test drive will never match severals days of renting.

3) Careful with the shoes you wear to drive. I suggest skip the shoes with bulky soles (i.e. running shoes). Skechers still makes some athletic looking shoes with slim soles which I find comfortable while driving. Don't let shoes make your driving less comfortable.

4) If the steering wheel feels a tad too far away, scoot up a notch. Sounds obvious, but it works. I grab it on the lower rungs for most driving.

5) If you don't like it, let it go. There are other good cars to buy and new ones coming all the time, like Prius c.

 

This is the first time I've ever heard the 5-series referred to as the 500 series. People always say 1-series, 3-series, 5-series, etc.