'The Truth About Cars' Rips 2010 Prius a New One

wy is there a need to accomplish anything
if its so that this website is not to be taking serieusly.

and like that guy loves his Beemer so do i love my prius.
and then thats the same like talking about crooked teeth and big nose

 

The tone of this review would turn potential buyers away. Just see the user comments below.

The author can make points but the tone he presented with does not reflect the great car Prius is.

 

"The tone of this review would turn potential buyers away"

Anyone who would take this article seriously does not have enough intelligence to make an informed decision anyway.

 

So you can't appreciate the writing style and take offense to his comments on car you do not own? That's not my problem. I tried to remove all that stuff and get to the writer's actual opinions. As for the owner comments, they are spread all over the place, so even if I figured out how to use the search feature more efficiently, it would probably not be worth my time because some of you would claim they are not real owners to deflect the criticism.

Read my posts. The think the only "negative" that I have posted is that I wish the car had power seats with memory. I"M SORRY if that offends you but it was in response to input on what features we would like to have on the Prius (http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-main-forum/63054-dream-car.html). So blame the OP for asking, not me for responding.

I have some good stories about my experience with one dealer, but I ordered my Prius V at the end of May from Wellesly Toyota outside of Boston. So far, they seem honest and straightforward. I don't expect my car until September-October so I'm looking for information and opinions (good, bad or indifferent). I'M SORRY for not knowing that the purpose of this form is to say only good things about the Prius. Others should be warned.

I did not become interested in the Prius until recently after Toyota addressed my concerns with the Gen2. After renting a Gen2 for one week over a year ago, I wound not have bought one because:

• I was concerned that the seat might not be comfortable for long trips. Toyota has now improved the seats.
• I thought the shifter was weird, both in its operation and position on the dash. After a week, I never got used to it. At least it is a more usual position and maybe I'll get used to the shift pattern. I certainly don't understand why the shifter does not have a P-R-N-D-B pattern with stops. (I guess that's my second negative--how many more do I get until I'm kicked off and all my posts get deleted?) If they had done that, there would be no need for the park button and the backup beep (actually, in the rental I thought the beep was for those outside) to let the driver know the car is in reverse.
• I thought the view out the rear window was bad. I understand that it is better now. At least I'm getting the backup camera.
• I also didn't like the big information screen in my face all the time. The novelty wore off real quick. It's now smaller and repositioned.

I later learned that the old Prius used drum brakes in the rear. Something I haven't had on a car in a long time. The new Prius has disc brakes all around, which is hopefully an improvement.

Oh, I'M SORRY if I have somehow insulted the car you do drive. It's just my opinion.

 

Think this guy just mad that the Prius didnt put out on the first date Only had a prius for 3 weeks and love it and would gladly let anyone know that nothing is perfect but this car does what it needs to do better then anything I have ever driven. And the Mpg keeps giving me more loving 1st week 47 2nd week 49 and now 53 last week oh ya !!!!!!

 

Hey, Thanks for the mention, DeanFL. It is greatly appreciated.

-Steve with MotorMouths.com

 

<Off Topic>A house is not an investment and you should not view it as such. A house is shelter. If you are fortunate enough that your house increases in value while you own it then that is a bonus.</Off Topic>

 

I agree, if you bought a house three years ago, it only worth 60% today.

However it may be a long term investment just like they say for the stock market. I lost 30% of my money.

 

Alright - I'm about to preach to the choir here...

What a bogus review! Shoemaker basically rates the new Prius lower than every other car on the road, completely contradicting the valid reviews by dozens of other newspaper and magazine writers.

There are numerous untruths and misleading statements in his review. Examples:

1. "The new interior is swathed in low rent plastics which emit nauseating vapors" - OK, this describes every single new car I've every sat in for the past 20 years.

2. "Of course I could always tell how slowly I was driving from the desperate looks on the faces of the drivers eager to get past me."
It's not the Prius' fault that he was driving slowly. He must have been intentionally driving slowly. This is a common misconception about the slowness of the Prius. It's Prius drivers who choose to drive more conservatively. The Prius holds its own in everyday driving conditions. I own a 2006 Prius and have never lacked for power in passing, steep mountain climbs, or highway on-ramps.

3. "impossible to make it up my driveway or escape the neighbor’s kids on their bikes". Utter lies. I've driven my Prius up the
steepest climbs in San Francisco without a problem.

4. "The car doesn’t really accelerate—I think it uses sound waves to attempt forward progress." Ok, I get it now. This is supposed to be an attempt at humor. Truth: Prius 0-60 time of 9.8 seconds. Not break-neck speed, but much better than the 10.8 seconds for the new Honda Insight, and almost hanging with the new Ford Fusion. Again, it's more than fast enough for everyday driving, unless your "everyday driving" happens to be a racetrack.

Shoemaker's bit is not a reputable review. If you need to get from A to B, it is every bit a car as much as its neighbor, and it saves mightily at the gas pump and in emissions. It has an incredible
array of technological conveniences found only on very high-priced cars. A year from now, the car's sales figures will prove Shoemaker to be the real "faery".

 

Remember: The 9.8 is with the Prius in its "Regular" mode, not ECO mode, not EV, and definitely not PWR or Power mode. I would like to get a measure of 0-60 in Power mode. Of course the two more important measures likely would be 0-30 (or 40) and 30-60. I have a feeling the numbers in Power mode would more than hang with most cars out there.

 

Good idea to give more "mass appeal". However, there are limitation in that pattern. When you are in drive and you want to park. Why do you have to put it in N and R before getting to P?

In traditional transmission, it is necessary because it is how gears get shifted. eCVT is an electric transmission so buttons can be anywhere hence enabling shortcuts.

BTW, the "R" position does not shake the car. This would make people think the car is not in reverse gear. They would have to check to make sure it is really in reverse. A simple beep or continuous beep eliminates the need to check.

 

It seem that others eventually get used to the shifter, but I still don't see why there should be a need to do so. I'm sure Toyota has a good reason other than it seemed like a fun idea....

I don't put the shifter in N and R before P; I go directly into P by going through those settings. Plus I always look at the shifter when first shifting so I know what gear I'm in. I can also tell just from the feel of the shifter whether I am in R or D. N is also easy to find. I can't do that with the Prius shifter.

And I seem to be getting that "mass appeal" is a dirty word around here. I think I used the word conventional. When my daughter starts to learn to drive in my Prius, I want her to be confortable knowing what gear she's in before stepping on the accelerator. Not to mention the barely competent drivers who have hearing problems and who already have a fair chance of hitting the accelerator instead of the brake. But then again, I still type on a QWERTY keyboard because it's what I leaned to use.

Exactly, so why does it have to be different? The Prius isn't the first shift-by-wire car so that technology doesn't require the split between park and the others or require a shifter with no detents. Why not have P-R-N-D-B buttons instead of a quasi-shifter for 4 of them? Just put the 5 buttons in a column or row or circle and let the drive select one AND have immediate visual confirmation. Hey, maybe the shifter is actually an anti-theft measure.

What's so wrong about checking? It just seems easier to me to look at the shifter and see that it's in the R position. I just hope the beepers never fail because I bet there are lots of drivers that rely on it instead of the graphical display.


You know what? Now that you've got me thinking (thanks!), I'm now wondering if there are patent issues that forced Toyota to use the P button to avoid paying royalties on some shift-by-wire patent. I'm going to have to do some research, but I wouldn't be surprised and that would make perfect sense (at least from Toyota's perspective). Does anyone know?

 

Well, I'll reply to myself. It turns out that the Edsel had a push button shift-by-wire transmission. It's placement sucked:

After decades of ridicule, Edsel takes its victory lap - Los Angeles Times

So maybe my suggestion would be doomed to fail. Anyway, I had no idea it had been around for so long. Cool, I learned something new already today.

 

After owning only manual transmissions for nearly a quarter century, I adapted to the shift pattern of a rental Prius almost immediately. After noting the displayed shift pattern, there seemed to be no need to ever look down again, except when parking. Just like any normal stick, except simpler, the shift could be done by feel alone.

Rental cars with that 'weird' P-R-N-D-3-2-1 pattern do require me to look down.

 

I think the shifter is awesome for real world use. First off I like going directly into D. Why bother to clunk through all the others? I mean they technically could eliminate the shifter altogether.
I've gone down some long grades and used the D and B and it's pretty trick and you can also pop it into nuetral very easily to get some more distance out of it.
You can easily see what gear it's in.
I think the shifter is there for tradition and so that car buyers won't be even more confused.
My sister is a lead programmer for IBM and she had to read the manual to figure out how to start her 2009 Prius rental!
Her comments to my father who is up from FL with her was "Well this IS the key!" ound: (you HAD to be there)
Wait until he rides in mine tomorrow night.
It's very likely that the Gen IV Prius won't have a shifter at all. It will probably read your mind and shift accordingly. :rockon:
Anyway I like the setup. The arch with the storage area underneath gets positive comments from many people but the women LOVE it! They put their purse right there and it's so easy.
I could live with the shifter on the dash since I don't use it too much yet. But either way is ok, you get used to left, down, release pretty easily.

 

It took me at least 15-20 minutes to do trial & error and finally find the manual and figure out how to start my rental Prius and then how to make it go. It was also late at night which didn't help. So I've been there. I'm sure I will get used to it.

I also commented on another thread that my wife has questioned why car makers haven't came up with a purse holder and thought the Prius solution would be popular.

 

It's a car, not an identity. A lot of people seem to have what they drive all too entangled with their self-image. That said, A brief skim gives me the feeling that the author was trying really hard to pull a Jeremy Clarkson

and kind of failed miserably.


Also, FYI: There is a followup.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/four-hybrid-myths-exploded/

 

me too, I currently drive a 330i with a manual transmission. wonderful car, but I am suffering back issues, and need to get into something that is easier to ... well get into and drive. I've gone from having an excellent driving experience to where I can no longer enjoy it, so I want to get from a to b, and do it comfortably. Due to the new seats that is manageable in the prius, and I got the AT package so I can be lazy on the freeways/interstates.

 

My preferred shiftting design:

• touching the go pedal w. seat belt buckled and 2 hands on the wheel should mean Drive.
• unbuckling the seat belt should mean Park.
• touching the third, left-foot pedal should mean Reverse.
• touching the brake and go pedals together should mean B.

A P button would still be needed, though.

As for the Truth about cars, it must be that any new car that reduces fossil fuel consumption must be the car to better. And reduce means relative to the reference, i.e. now the Prius 3. Any new car that does not is just plain history. Failing to acknowledge that is just plain stupid.

 

I was talking about this with the salesman when we were test driving the 2010 Prius yesterday. What I like about the new interior vs the old one, is that there were several design steps taken in the old one that were unique for the sake of being unique, not unique for the sake of being more functional. The placement of the shifter for instance, the weird golf-cart like layout of the dash, the strange and ill angled and ovular steering wheel. What I like about the steps they've taken in the 2010 is they are still unique, but they are unique in a way that enhances functionality as opposed to being unique for the sake of being unique.

The layout of the shifter I have no problem with, this is not just a Prius thing by the way, BMW has a similar shifter in all their cars now, eventually this will be the setup because there is no more mechanical linkage and this shifter takes up less space.