Stuff I don't like about the Prius

Yes, lack of useful information when it could so easily be displayed in another "Info" page on the MFD. All the information is available to the system as shown by Canview and all it needs is just a bit of software code to display it.

This is going a bit backwards in what is normally considered a luxury car feature we have with the Prius auto climate control , a manual heater control setting. I don't necessarily want a computer manipulating a heater flow valve all the time to give me exactly the temperature setting. Sounds like something will fail eventually.

I thought I would be disturbed by the rear view window but have quicly gotten over it. It still makes me enjoy my panoramic view in my pickup truck though.

I dislike tremendously the foot operated parking brake.

Gas gauge/fuel tank idiosyncracies that are well documented in PC.

Why have a mast antenna? Could it have been a rear window grid instead?

Would also like a rear hatch release by the fuel door release which would be incorporated with the gas lift struts to raise the hatch by a few inches when opened.

 

The lack of a manual transmission is probably the single biggest "fun" issue between me and QuickSilver. A manual transmission lets me connect my body as part of the driving experience. The MFD only lets me connect my mind, and at the risk of distracting me from driving. I enjoy driving when it's more of a visceral experience and less of a cerebral one. That is unless the car completely drives itself, which the Prius hasn't quite accomplished yet. Though I'm sure they're working on it. B)

 

my DH feels the same way, which is why i am the primary prius driver in the house.

well, that and he always knocks my mpg way down! :lol:

 

I've had a 2005 package 5 for a little over a year and 20,000 miles.

Things I don't like:

1. I would like more lumbar support in the seat - my lower back is sore after my 20-mile, 45-minute commute. I know it's not just me; when I rented a Cadillac CTS recently on a business trip and drove it 70 miles for a little over an hour I experienced no such problem.

2. I find the divider bar in the rear window sometimes interferes with the auto-dimming feature of the rear mirror - it keeps the sensor from dimming the mirror if the lights of the car behind are in just the wrong spot.

3. It would be convenient to have the outside rear view mirrors controlled by the center rear-view mirror - our 2004 Avalon has that feature and it is great!

4. Sound suppression could be much better, and the suspension lets every bump and rough section in the road interfere with pleasurable driving.

All that said in the context of this thread, I enjoy this car tremendously - no other mid-size car at this price offers smart-key technology, a good navigation system, voice activated commands, Blue-tooth phone convenience, and seamless integration of power management. And the tremencous improvement in gas mileage that may help the US wean itself from a dependence on a finite resource obtained at great risk from unstable parts of the world.

 

its not like you NEED it yeah? I think this car is SO sophisticated that there is NO need to keep track of temp

 

In a climate like mine where it can dip to -40, the temp gage would be useful to know when I should be using my winter front. As it is, I guess and just leave it on most of the time.

I suppose if the Triangle Of Doom turns on, that means I have a problem.

Last time I visited my Toyota/Lexus dealer here, they had a very pretty silver Lexus LS430 in the showroom. With the optional airbag suspension, it listed $124,000 Cdn. It had a temp gage too.

 

As a seasoned manual transmission driver, that was one of my first thoughts as well. Though the CVT is key to the efficiency and is a different animal from a conventional automatic transmission, therefore no "manual" option exists.

I agree that driving a (decent) manual transmission enhances the driving experience, but I also appreciate the technology/efficiency of the Prius more than the desire to get another manual. On a personal note, my wife will likely need to start driving within the next couple years (she has no desire otherwise), therefore the automatic/CVT would be a more sensible choice for my next car.

Kevin

 

I agree with Jayman. They have a fantastic way to display a bunch a stuff, all for the one time programing cost. All this stuff is available on the CAN network apparently, as various people have posted programs and hardware based mods to the MFD to allow one to display a bunch of parameters.

Check out http://www.vassfamily.net/ToyotaPrius/CAN/cindex.html and http://www.hybridinterfaces.ca/ . These guys have done this, why couldn't Toyota have put it in the car up front?

 

Doesn't the smart key automatically unlock the hatch when closeby? That is my understanding...

Kevin

 

But it sure would be nice if temp and MPG were displayed next to the MPH, straight in front of the driver. I don't like having to constantly take my eyes off the road when trying to improve my mpg.

 

So I have had my Prius for a month now and I absolutely love it. Of course I have my complaints though. From what I can remember off the top of my head here they are in no particular order:

1. I wish I can see the hood/front of car better so when I drive in a parking spot, I know how far I can go without hitting what's in front of me. Sometimes I am very far away and I thought I for sure was very close. You know what I mean.

2. On my commute home from work I unfortunately have to drive in bumper to bumper traffic. Yes very bad for my MPG but also very bad for the way the car drives. I literally feel like my car is shutting off and turning on every second and it shudders very jerky and loudly. Is this normal!? It only does it when I am in very heavy traffic and the car has been sitting outside all day while I am working. It's very uncomfortable =(

3. Driver seat needs an up and down motion. I sometimes feel I am sitting too low to the ground.

4. Steering wheel button lights and door button lights are waaaay too dim.

5. Dash board lights are also on the dimmer side and well for lack of a better word, plain boring! One of my favorite goodies in a car is the dash and the radio and all of that fun stuff. At night they should light up and be colorful like in the cockpit of an airplane! Unfortunately the Prius lacks in this department. The green lights suck. No brightness ect. Also may I ask why the volume and tuning words above the buttons don't light up and are just painted white to see in the day? At night, even though I know which is which by now, they don't light up for me to see. Weeeiiiiiird!!!

6. The door has a small area under the window making it hard to rest my elbow up. It keeps slipping down.

7. The reading lights in the car aren't very bright either.

8. I wish the screen had more color choices. Green and orange just aren't enough! Why couldn't they have every color of the rainbow?? It would sure be cool to have the screen light up in pink for example :lol:

9. The car seems to get very cold inside. After I get in my car after it sits outside all day when I am at my office working, It's absolutely freezing. It seems like the car is not shut tight enough from the outside to keep cold air away. Then even when I have the heat on for like 10 minutes at it's highest, the minute I shut it off, the inside gets very cold again. It bothers me.

That's all I can think of now. The car drives great, except for those monsterous shudders during traffic jams, but other than that, the car drives wonderfully. I am so far very happy. I have yet learned how to use the navigation system because I have been too busy. But I plan to soon!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(StarBrite310 @ Feb 19 2006, 05:23 PM) [snapback]212607[/snapback]</div>

I found driving in bumper-to-bumper traffic to be good for my MPG.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sarge @ Feb 19 2006, 12:22 PM) [snapback]212424[/snapback]</div>

"Hatch release" would mean that the hatch door is spring loaded and automatically opens when unlocked.