Is the Prius too complicated?

Just like anything there is a learning curve. Any new car has it's own new features.

 

Complicated is setting the valve clearances with a feeler gauge, changing the points in the distributor, rotating the distributor till it sounds right (called setting the timing) , syncing the carburetors and torquing the head bolts and all of it about every 6 months. Oops, I forgot tightening the spokes, installing the inner tube, etc. Change the engine at least every 100k miles or maybe 30k if you are old enough to be driving a pre-war car.

No seat belts, no airbags and no crash tests. And boy did those things crumble when hit.

 

I still do valve clearance adjustment on every Honda within reach. They have screw adjustment with lock nut, pretty straightforward. Well except for steeply raked windshield and tight quarters make it a bit of a pain on our (still in the family) Civic Hybrid.

 

i used to do valve adjustments weekly on my '72 fiat 123 sedan. maybe it was me.

 

I remember working on an old Ford Anglia (UK) 100E side valve engine. Alan can probably remember more details of that model than I can tho.

 

Hey, I'm 49. But its good that you haven't seen me. I prefer to slink in the shadows and not be noticed at all.

 

The flying car?

 

how'd it go then?

 

Valve adjustments is how I always justified buying the Shop Manual for our slew of Hondas. Nice books, pretty well organized. More recently they are getting increasingly acronym ridden, to the point of complete unintelligibility, but hey. The section on valve adjustment was invaluable though: the sequence of rotating the engine, the cam shaft marks, intake and exhaust clearance specs, you needed it.

Getting to the valves on older models was trivial: disconnect a hose or two, back out the valve cover bolts, you're there. The last time though, with a Civic Hybrid, comparable to (slightly easier tho) spark plug access on third gen Prius: you need to remove the bottom of windshield plastic and metal cowl. And there's a wiring harness running across top of valve cover, with no connectors. I got there but whew.

 

you got that right. after a few times, i was able to adjust the valves on the fiat in about 20 minutes. there were a lot less of them too.

 

Sort of. Same line but earlier generation, squared 3 box design. Harry Potter's model had a 105E engine and 4 gear transmission. The 100E drove the rear wheels through a 3 speed transmission. It also has those internal vacuum driven windscreen wipers that went flat out when coasting, but almost completely stopped when you put your foot down.

Ah! Weren't those just the best times?

Nice spot tho. Well done

 

I had a 1990 Ford Taurus Wagon a long long time ago. That car was a piece of crap! The car was only two years old and the ECU fried and melted. The transmission had to be rebuilt TWICE! The engine mounts were a constant problem. The alternator stopped powering the car and the column shifter always got stuck. The car would chug up the hill and sometimes died.

I bring the car into the dealer too often and they decide NOT to honor the warranty (they probably thought I was trying to kill the car). This is why I'm against Ford and all other American automakers. They didn't stand behind their crappy cars. This was all in the first 3 years of owning the car!! I quickly sold it and got a 1994 Miata.

I see what you mean by the Prius being too complicated, but I love the complexity and technology the Prius offers. For someone who has a long commute everyday, the Prius is filled with features to entertain. A whole decade will pass until someone becomes bored of using DRCC and wants something more advanced. I think the Prius appeals to a wide range of people. Old people love it because it's not too fast and it's easy to live with. I'm not a DIY guy who tries to fix everything himself on his Prius. That's when I get confused. The nice thing is that the Prius can be driven without attention needed to all the gauges and lights. I just prefer to drive a car with that stuff on because I'm a "techie". The only gauge I look at is the HUD. And to be honest, if you take out the MPG gauges, the Prius pretty much has the same complexity of every other car on the market.

So why did you sell it? Low MPG?

That was the big thing when the gen 2 was new. Except people had never seen OR heard! At least now Prii are more common and they have the pedestrian alert noise.

 

I just turn on radar cruise control and lane departure steering assist and basically let it drive itself. That keeps things simple.

 

If you read PriusChat, everything in Prius seems super-complicated because this board is full of techies who obsess over every detail.

But as far as just driving the car.... every car in 2016 has features like Bluetooth and stuff. I think once you just drive a Prius, you get used to it and it's complicated; I find it very comfortable and easy to drive.