I'm new here. I used Facebook for years, but now I'm here. I had a 2013 Gen 3 Prius, but recently hit a cow with it. As you can imagine, that wasn't exactly good for the Prius. I just bought a 2024 Prius to replace it and brought it home today. Yay! I already have a couple of minor annoyances. The seat belt chime is one of them. I need to find a way to stop it from going off when my backpack is on the passenger seat, since it weighs enough to trigger the warning. I also somewhat live out of my Prius. The new one is an LE, and I'll have to figure out how to make the cargo area flat enough to sleep in. It should be simple enough to build a small platform. I spend so much time in my car because I'm a traveling IT tech and drive about 6,000 miles a month. I'm often out for days at a time. I've been living the Prius lifestyle for the last two years, and I've loved it! Anyway, it's good to be here, and I look forward to learning more. I also want to get rid of the 2013. It no longer drives, but the engine still runs, and I have an extra set of tires for it. I don't know what the policy is here on selling vehicles. Good to be here!
Wow.... Most interesting "I had a Gen 3 Prius" introduction that I've heard! Welcome aboard! There's a sub-forum for that. After you've been here for a bit you will be able to start threads, post pics, etc..... @Tideland Prius might be able to give deets on this. Good Luck!
Thank you very much! I’ve had my 2024 for less than 48 hours, and I’ve already modified the trunk area. I’m a traveling IT technician and spend a lot of time on the road—typically 5,000–6,000 miles a month going from job site to job site. My work is a little bit of everything: servicing cash registers and ATMs, installing and troubleshooting network equipment, running cabling, working on digital signage, and whatever other IT work needs to be done on site. Because of that, my car serves as both transportation and a mobile workspace, and I often sleep in it as well. One of the first things I noticed about the 2024 Prius was that the cargo area wasn’t flat with the rear seats folded down. So, I removed the factory foam inserts underneath the cargo floor and built a simple platform to level everything out. As a bonus, removing the foam gave me a good amount of additional storage underneath for things like Ethernet cable, patch panels, and other equipment that I carry for work. I made the top in two removable panels with finger holes so I can easily lift either side to get to the storage underneath. I also added a center support where the two panels meet and installed pegs to keep the panels from sliding around while I’m driving. It’s definitely not finished yet. I plan to carpet the panels and clean everything up when I have some more time. But I need to get back on the road today, so for now the goal was simply to make it functional, reasonably flat, and strong enough to use. So far, I think it should do exactly what I need. What do you think?
Was the cow OK after you hit it? That is the important question, also how badly was the car damaged. That is a wild story for sure. On second thought, how did you hit a cow without seeing it? They don't exactly move fast like a deer for example lol.
I was driving on a lonely highway in the Midwest at 4 a.m., heading to a job site. There was no light anywhere. I saw cars pulled over on the right-hand shoulder with their hazards on and people milling about with flashlights. Naturally, that got my attention, and I was watching the people on the shoulder while also trying to give them plenty of room. So, I shifted to the left-hand lane. That's where the cow was. But it wasn't just a cow. It was an already-dead cow lying in the highway. And it was black. After I shifted over, I saw a blob on the road, and it took my brain a second to process that it wasn't just an asphalt patch on the highway. I swerved just a bit too late and clipped it with the driver's-side corner. It lifted my car up what felt like three feet in the air as I clipped it, then snapped something where the driver's-side front wheel attaches. Once I hit the pavement again, that wheel was locked up. I was able to get over to the shoulder and stop. I put my hazards on, got out with a flashlight, and started walking back toward the blob in the road to figure out what the hell I'd just hit. Before I got there, a semi came down the highway and hit the same cow. It dragged the cow at least a quarter of a mile down the road. That was when I got a pretty definitive answer about what I'd hit. The car hasn't moved under its own power since. It can go backwards, though—with a horrible sound! I had to do that to get it off the flatbed that towed me home. The engine still runs, but the frame is tweaked. On the passenger side, you can see where everything is out of alignment. I have no idea how bad the actual damage is beyond, "Yeah, I need to just buy a new car." My goal at this point is to find someone who wants to buy it for the otherwise-good parts and wash my hands of it. It's been a good car, and I've put about 80,000 miles on it since I bought it a year and a half ago. Until I hit the already-dead cow, it worked perfectly. And it wasn't just me. About a dozen cows had gotten loose that night, all of them black, and a number of people hit them. The people I saw pulled over with their hazards and flashlights were part of what distracted me from what was lying in the roadway in front of me. I ended up putting traffic cones in front of the cows I could find that were still lying in the highway so hopefully nobody else would hit them. Once the police showed up, we dragged the cows off the highway. That was a night.
