Prius Workshop in Sunnyvale, CA dealership tonight

This is information from priusonline:

Prius-Hybrid workshop
When:
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
6:30 PM-9:00 PM
Where:
Toyota Sunnyvale
898 West El Camino Real
Sunnyvale CA 94078
RSVP:
[email protected]

This is information from an email I received from Adam Simms:

We will look forward to hosting you. We start with some overview information. Next we will open the floor for open dialogue, and Q&A which will be facilitated by an expert in hybrid technology from Toyota. We will have sandwiches and snacks for the event. About halfway through the event we will break into smaller groups with vehicles and address more vehicle specific information. We will also have vehicles from Honda. Being on time for the 6:30 start will be helpful.

 

Attendance for this event was great. I've never seen so many Prius cars all at once driving to one place and trying to find parking! LOL

I took some notes. Here's what I wrote down so don't shoot the messenger if the info is not accurate or if you don't agree with it. ;-) Many of the attendees were brand new owners so some questions might be considered "newbie" here.

The dealership owner did the introductions. He mentioned that at his dealership, Prius sales are outselling Camrys. Currently, there is a 90 day waiting list there and they take $150, $250, and $350 off MSRP for BI, AM, and BC. respectively.

He mentioned that the hybrid Highlander will be coming to his dealership in April and production for the cars will start next month. There will be 15,000 total production for the HH in the US and only 90-100 allocated for the 60 Northern California dealerships.

After his intro and slight sales pitch, he introduced Mario Jaime, TMS Technical Supervisor from Toyota to facilitate the Q&A from the audience. He mentioned that Toyota plans to have a Camry hybrid for 2007, followed by Sienna, then Tundra Truck.

A few of the questions that were asked:
Q: Can I keep FOB in the car while I sit in it for 1-2 hours?
A: That amount of time will not drain the 12 V battery, but do not leave the FOB in there for a week.
Q: Do you recommend doing the first oil change at 1,000 miles?
A: No, follow what the owner's manual says and use 5W-30 oil.
Q: Will using B-mode help regenerate energy for the battery?
A: Yes, for driving downhill, using B-mode will help improve regenerated energy. If you are coasting downhill in D (drive) mode, it will regenerate energy at a slower rate.
Q: My 2005 Prius shudders at a stop when going from gas engine to electric power. Is this normal.
A: Yes. (some technical explanation followed but I couldn't write fast enough).
Q: When listening to the radio and the car switches to electric mode, why didn't Toyota make the radio volume automatically lower its volume?
A: Car already has lots of high tech features and this feature may be added some day.
Q: Just purchased 2005 Prius and have 300 miles on it--getting only low 40s MPG. When will we see it in the 50s?
A: Engine break in period is usually 2,000-2,500 miles even for conventional cars. Some Prius owners get the advertised mileage, some more, and many that don't get near it. It depends on driver habits.
Q:How long will the battery last in the Prius.
A: It's suppose to be the lifetime of the car. <Some chuckles from audience> One gentleman said he had 100,000 miles on his Prius and the brakes were like brand new. Never changed.
Q: Why does the low gas gauge blink prematurely?
A: Climate conditions and flow rates of gas pumps vary and so will amount of fuel in tank. He talks about the bladder size then recommends that you don't go below 1/4 tank of gas in the car.
Q: Why does A/C turn on when I'm trying to heat the car?
A: A/C does not necessary mean cold air. It's conditioned air so you need to have it on to adjust the temperature.

There were many more questions that I couldn't keep up with. And the technical questions were over my head. There were still many people with questions but they had to stop the Q&A.

After the Q&A, people went to look at cars that were on display. The cars included previous gen and current gen Prius, a Civic hybrid, and regular Highlander. Also on display were two 2005 Prius with leather seats installed. The leather seats did have the SRS tag on them. Console and door handles also covered in leather. Nice. Anyone else who attended the event, feel free to add to what I already wrote.