Aussies especially - is the i-tech upgrade worth it?

i guess we are spoiled. ( nothing too new there)

I think the safety is worth it. vsc is a nice feature to have on ice.. snow.. rainy.. mud. at least when traveling at decent speeds.

you're not missing much by losing the voice commands.

 

You have my sympathies! I wouldn't have gotten a Prius if I lived in Australia given that the backup camera is only available on the i-tech model. That's just plain unfair. I wonder why it is that the US gets so many model choices and Oz and Canada get so few?

 

But they make up for it by having height adjustable drivers seat and 4 wheel disc brakes even on the base model.

Moxiequz, I have a 2007 base model, only have had it now for 7 months. I have had an after market reversing camera fitted - not a great success, but for around $800 fully fitted, there are a number options, and a lot cheaper than the $9000 price differential. There are lots of arguments over the nav. I also test drove the i-Tech, but found the Australian Toyota nav to be pretty poor in display when compared to Tom-Tom or Garvin displays, and as I have a friend in the GPS business I always thought that I would buy a nav system from him.

Bluetooth would be useful if you are in the car a lot and need access to a phone, but my phone has a loudspeaker and hands free capability, and I find that if I sit the phone in the front cup holder, I have no problems in using it hands free for the occassional usage that I have.

The pluses for the i-Tech are the VSC. I have not had any situation, so far, where I would have needed VSC, but can see the value of it. Also the full side airbags are worth it. I really would love to have the SKS system (keyless entry), but just for the geek factor, nothing else.

So, in summary, an aftermarket reversing camera and a nav system would cost you approx $1500, so then the question is whether the extra safety given with VSC and side air bags is worth $7500 to you?

 

I bought the 2007 I-Tech package as a lease over 4 years (Salary sacrifice) and due to the extremely low fuel consumption, the unbelievably low maintenance costs and the Australian Tax Department, the fourtnightly payments are less than my previous 2000 Ford Fairmont by about $200 / fn.

So yes I do think it is worth the extra cost for the features that I would have almost got in the new Fairmont.

The NAV system is fantastic, once you get used to it. Unfortunately we do not have voice commands for anything other than phone in Australia, but I don't thi nk it is too hard to do without (everything you need is o n the steering wheel).

Most on this thread forgot to mention the JBL 6-stacker and the IPOD interface that are great too.