2010 Center console design: no-lie-made me decide not to buy a new one

Yep, change is hard for some.
Every person has to evaluate whether change is hard is all areas of their lives or whether its just the Prius.

Many things are not the Prius's fault.. I for one would be complaining if it wasn't different.

I don't want to buy a new car and end up with my old one.
I expect improvements and changes.

I get aggravated that I can't slide my console back if something is in the back seat blocking it.... but the benefits far outweigh the hassles.

This has been discussed.. but we would need 30 different packages to do better and I'm sure that too would not be enough..... at some point, the customer has to be the one to change rather than expecting the car to be custom made to suit.

I also miss my eyeglass holder up top, but now I have much more storage below.

Sometimes no matter how good the soup is, someone will complain about that little green speck in it thats a piece of herb .....as some don't like spice but want it plain, all burgers plain "with no pickles, always vanilla ice cream "forget the 30 other flavors", and only cheese and pepperoni with no extras on anything.

Are these reasons not to buy the whole car????
Yes, some will not eat their soup if anything funny looking is in it!

Sorry to sound so condescending, but some of these complaints have gotten ridiculous...... buy the car and love it for its plus's or don't.

Toyota is fixed on this model... it ain't changing.

Why not start a thread of "wish lists" for the next model?

 

Well some of us don't need to make out in the front seat of a car anymore.

 

I guess its a matter of whether you have a room or not!

 

Or a back seat. :eyebrows:

 

I agree, this screams of justifying why he couldn't buy one.

 

well i can justify why i probably shouldna bought one.

30% reduction in pay. (but still a TON of opportunity to work OT!. ya hmmm, funny how that works)

two cars less than 3 years old already plus a spare vehicle just in case...

but, then again, i wouldn't have the shiniest car on the block, so those reasons above DONT MEAN NOTHING!!

 

I was almost in your same boat.. both of mine were 2006.. but I promised I would get my son something nice when he got out of college "but not brand new nice"... so I upgraded and he gets one of the 06 prius's that only have 91K on it.

I also thought about selling it and getting him something else but after TT & L there was too much loss and hassle to do that so I just kept it.

I was ready for a change.. now we both will have new cars!

I expect the next couple of years will still be the GenIII.

When the Lithium plugin comes out, I doubt they will call it a GenIV because all the technology is already in place to go plugin now with the GenIII.

 

...and that's a GOOD thing!

The new design is one of the reasons why I bought the car. Not crazy in love with the external styling (it's OK), but do love the new console. Very forward/innovative thinking.

 

My niece's boyfriend hates the floating bridge center console. Says he sometimes needs to easily shift over to passenger seat to exit a car.

 

OK then, your "niece's boyfriend" doesn't like it. Yep, reason enough for me to want to sell mine.

"Says he needs to easily shift over to the passenger seat to exit the car"> LOL. What, is he jacking cars, and needs to escape from the passenger side to evade the PO-leese? Is he "exiting" while driving? Too funny.

 

well, now that this has been "well" discussed. some observations.

when i got my 2004 (purchased without even a test drive...waited 6½ months for it) first impression was that wow!! wide open. kind of a stretch to the dash, at least for me being short with short arms but at the same time, not willing to be that close to the airbag, etc.

but i got used to stretching to reach the shifter (used park and neutral a lot) and so on. it did give the illusion of a very spacious front seat.

then i got my 2010. first thing i thought... bit cluttered. more controls and after all this time, convenient in some ways, not in others. but it was nice that i did not have to stretch a lot to do the various operations i do while cruising around.

i do miss my extra cubby hole that was located below the center console. (was perfect for registration, ins, etc. other things that i did not want easily available (have bad habit of carrying check book around...not sure why since i write about 1½ checks a month on average) plus the glove boxes i think dont work as well.

the top one, is small, easy for stuff to fall out. not as useful. the center one is not as nice, sits too far back for me. but all that is really secondary.

with driving both the 2006 and the 2010, the way they drive is almost night and day. at first, i was not happy with the extra turns on the 2010 steering wheel, but now realize that it does make normal maneuvering seem smoother for some reason... and that reason puzzles me because it is so counter-intuitive making me wonder that maybe all the other improvements in the 2010 have clouded my judgment on that.

the 2010 handles better, feels heavier and more stable. so is it all worth $30,000? who knows? i guess it all depends

 

I like the center console- just wish there was a way to lock it!

The OP might enjoy the song "Sticks and Safetybelts" by Cake!

Stickshifts and safetybelts,
Bucket seats have all got to go.
When we're driving in the car,
It makes my baby seem so far.
I need you here with me,
Not way over in a bucket seat.
I need you to be here with me,
Not way over in a bucket seat.
But when we're driving in my Malibu,
It's easy to get right next to you.
I say, "Baby, scoot over, please."
And then she's right there next to me.
I need you here with me,
Not way over in a bucket seat.
I need you to be here with me,
Not way over in a bucket seat.

 

yea, I guess it makes it harder to park.

And if he just flat out asks her to go to the backseat, he may get slapped.

Consoles are not condusive to foreplay.

Can't think of what else he needs to get over in the seat for.. door lockes, windows etc... everything is electronic except the glove box.

 

Just joined the forum, and I'd planned to begin with a post about how much I hate the hideous, pointless, centre "flying buttress" console in the latest Prius. Then I did a quick search and found this thread! Prior to getting my 2007 Prius I had a 2008 Auris, which also had a "flying" centre console. I started off neutral towards it (the console, not the car!), and as time went on grew to hate it more and more. Some Toyota designer's bad dream. Then I switched to the Prius, and it's a great car, and console-free. But discovering that when I buy my next one it'll probably have a centre console quite ruined my day. Really, what is the point of it? It takes up space, adds to weight, and looks awful. My ideal would be to lose the little kitsch gearstick too, and replace its function with four tiny buttons on the dash.

 

Fredsie,

See, I had exactly the opposite reaction/impression about both the interior and exterior designs. In fact, I found the flying bridge layout so refreshing, and non-traditional econo-box style, that it made me like the car even more.

If you look at the evolution in exterior design of cars, it's very clear that we've come a very long way. But if you look at the interior design evolution, it's become rather stagnant and predictable over the last 10 years, or so. The only thing new is, car makers have replaced much of the wood on the inside, with brushed aluminum. Moved and re-sized the air vents, etc. Added cup holders as per North American car buying demand. Big deal. All very cosmetic.

No, the flying bridge design is revolutionary, and I find it exciting.

 

Hi Michael ...,

The flying bridge may be new, but the top/operational aspects of the console are as old as the 1960's. Its hardly new or revolutionary. Its a discarded design aspect from James Bond cars, due to basic impracticality.

Look at this link: http://sotbirdclub.org/gallery_1964_to_1966

I am not saying it should not be available. If people want to Scionize/Cubeify their cars, let em. Just do not force feed us this stuff, when it wont work for all. The Prius is deliberatly narrow for less air drage, so what do they do on the interior? They put in width wise spacing robing stuff - the console, and lowering the arm rest. Totally dumb...

 

Really? The flying bridge not new? Baloney.

What mass production car now, or then used this design? The fact that you didn't say Aston Martin, but called the car the "James Bond cars" tells me all I need to know about your knowledge of cars. Maybe the George Jetson cars had the FB?

Discarded due to impracticality? Please elaborate? How is it impractical? How does it not work?

Sorry, I have over 18K on my G3, and find nothing impractical about it. It's OK with me that it doesn't work for YOU, but don't make such an uninformed, and general statement that it was discarded because it is "impractical". Impractical for whom? The average Aston Martin buyer? LOL. Sorry, but there's nothing practical about an Aston Martin. People don't buy those cars for their practicality.

 

maybe i'm looking at this from a different standpoint. I've seen the consoles. i also find it refreshing, yet frustrating. i think the end goal for toyota is to see how people adjust to that sort of driving space. it makes people more comfortable to smaller cars because that console adapts you to it.

my gen2 doesn't have a console. so i tend to put my foot there. if i was broken of that habbit by driving a 3rd generation... then maybe if toyota ever comes out with a pm vehicle.. i won't feel too frustrated by not being able to move my legs as much.... it's the little things here and there that adapt you for the future of toyota cars... (just my $0.02)

 

Hi MVD123,

I said the gap in the console was new.

What I am saying as well, is that the idea of a wrap-around space robbing console is not - the link I added shows it in a 1960's Ford Tbird (a much wider car I might add).

My body shape has nothing to do with my state of ignorance. Its just a dumb impractical design for me. And allot of other people on this website are saying the same thing, all over the web site. Not just in this thread...

Its impractical, because my knee is bouncing up against it while I am trying to drive, and hold the accellerator at a proper position. Its impractical, because anything put on that under-shelf is in danger of falling into the driver's under dash space, and jamming the pedals. Its impractical because it results in a ratily build, due to cost limitation on the plastic moldings. Its impractical because the it puts the screen and controls so low, that one has to take their eyes off the road to check them. Its impractical because the buttons are all flat as the arm has to slide over them to reach the shifter - and thus their is no tactile feedback as to where which button is.