Bad decision.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cwerdna @ Jul 31 2007, 03:42 AM) [snapback]487900[/snapback]</div>

I love the brakes; they are the best I've ever used. We do a lot of "auto deer hunting" up here, dodging wildlife on the road, and I can tell you the Prius stops right now, with no fuss or bother, while tracking straight down the road. I nearly roll through the stop signs now when I drive our other vehicle - it feels like the brakes aren't there in comparison to the excellent ones on the Prius.

Tom

 

In the US car makers are required to post the EPA's fuel economy figures and no others. The EPA method overestimates the fuel economy of almost every car. What MPGs are you getting?
There are no temp and RPM gauges because they do nothing except satisfy curiosity. What does one do with that info? I wonder that you did not notice the absence of gauges when you test drove one.
Yes, the steering wheel lighting is annoying and should be adjustable.

 

Have you had a dealer examine the brakes? There may be some simple problem with them. Otherwise, the technical phrase for almost running into someone because of a bump in the road is "driving too fast for conditions". The car certainly did not lunge forward. What happened is that the combination of pothole/bump and car's stiff suspension lifted some or all of the wheels off the road, and momentarily interrupted the decelleration of braking. That interruption can feel like an acceleration; it's a kinesthetic illusion.

 

I've had one scary moment, and that was in heavy rain, I left the cruise control on too long, and I hit the brakes, hard, whilst crossing a wide painted patch on the road (stop marker)... the car slid, the wheel locked, then unlocked (traction control), and I didn't think the car would stop for the red light!
This, however, I put down to driving skill (or, lack thereof), and the fact that every car drives a bit differently, and I'll just have to plan farther ahead, and not forget that I'm using cruise control.
Oh, and I also think that the OEM tires are somewhat to blame.

Am I completely, mindlessly in love with my Prius? No.
It is not the most comfortable car I've ever driven (I'm 5'3"), but it is definitely not the worst, either (that was the Malibu).
The sound system is pretty mediocre (I had a Dodge Spirit, once, that completely ROCKED), and the climate control is a bit too automated.

Every car I've ever driven/owned has had its good and its bad points.

I do feel that, for me, the Prius has more good than bad.
I do love getting the great MPG, since this is my daily driver, and the steering is very responsive (important in my commute, since I sometimes have to dodge being flattened by logging trucks). I'm sure that, with new tires, it will handle better in the rain.

 

I did notice that the center console wiggles a bit.

Brakes work great for me.

One thing for those not satisfied: Doesn't the Prius have pretty good resale value? Just sell it and buy what you want.

 

actually, there have been a lot of negative posts here that were well received. they were generally descriptive with a well worded and understandable reason for the negativity. we are all adults here and most here act accordingly.

if you start out your post like a spoiled 7 year old, you will be treated as such. as far as what you had to say, i have had others make the same complaint. some simply got used to it after a period of time (although you have had ample time and it looks like that will not be the case for you) others including one i originally talked into getting one, sold his (lost $2500 on it but most of that was because of sales tax on original purchase) with nearly 10,000 miles on it and it was gone in less than a week. his major complaint was that he didnt like the feel of the ride (ya, i know, tried to pin him down on it, but couldnt get much more out of him) and like me he has a new baby and decided that with a car seat, it didnt have the room he wanted.

so i can understand that you are not happy with the Prius. that is just the way it goes, the best in the world will not make everyone happy. but before you think you are going to take a bath on the resale, try selling it yourself before trading, i think you will find you can get most of your money back.

*edit*

one afterthought, he admitted that if he could have afforded it, he would have kept the Prius and just got another larger car. but didnt mention it at first because if we were all rich, we would have a half dozen vehicles perfectly suited for a variety of needs.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bendial @ Jul 31 2007, 10:47 AM) [snapback]488059[/snapback]</div>

I hadn't heard this before. Why not?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bendial @ Jul 31 2007, 09:04 AM) [snapback]488085[/snapback]</div>

ya the tax thing is what is a burn. my friend was really happy when he told me he sold his for only $500 less than what he "paid" for it. i then gently reminded him about WA state sales tax added on to his bill. he had not considered that... but he did get 6 months use out of it. (now he sold his last winter before gas shot up and has really been whining about his mileage.) he ended up getting a Scion and actually was able to refinance for a slightly better deal and lower payments.

let us know what vehicle you decide to go to. if this is your only car, i know first hand how tough it is to get one that fills all the needs along with the cost of gas consideration. the Prius fits nearly all our needs but we are in the market for a new car and at first we were set on another Prius, but haven't made any decisions and the SO is not sure she wants to pay that much (not sure why since we split all our expenses anyway...)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Danny Hamilton @ Jul 31 2007, 09:01 AM) [snapback]488079[/snapback]</div>

Oh, I know it is bad to use CC in wet weather!

Okay, the deal is, with cruise control on, when you hit a patch of really wet or puddle, and the wheel loses contact with the road, the CC will keep the acceleration going, and then when you come out of the puddle or slick spot, and hit traction again, it can throw you out of control. If you are driving without CC, hopefully, you would ease up on the gas when you hit a puddle, and not have the full-power jolt when you hit pavement again.

The same is true for driving in snow and ice. You don't use cruise control.

In my defense, I actually had forgotten that I had the CC on, and drove into a heavy dumping of rain, and then just hit my brakes instead of turning off the CC first. It's a good example of why CC is not good in rain!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rae Vynn @ Jul 31 2007, 11:58 AM) [snapback]488120[/snapback]</div>

So does this mean that traction control, VSC, and anti-lock brakes don't work while CC is turned on?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Danny Hamilton @ Jul 31 2007, 10:02 AM) [snapback]488126[/snapback]</div>

No, it doesn't. But, generally speaking, if you are driving without CC, and you come to a slick/rough/bad spot, your brain/foot connection will automatically ease up. The CC doesn't know what the conditions are, and will attempt to just keep the speed the same. You MIGHT have the CC doing active acceleration when you hit a deep puddle, which CAN have disasterous results.

 

I thought the cruise control stops when you hit the brakes and you have to engage it again.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jul 31 2007, 10:22 AM) [snapback]488140[/snapback]</div>

It does.
If you are asking about my little misadventure, I hit the brakes hard while the CC was in full acceleration mode, coming up a small slope, to a stop light, on a very wet road, and hit the painted stripe (they are very slippery in the rain... I would often spin my tires on them, in the Malibu).
If I'd have been paying better attention, I would have turned off CC before the stop, and would have been slowing already when I hit the brakes (not as hard), and probably would not have had the slide/stop/start/slide/shudder action that I did.
As I said, I think the tires are also to blame, as the OEMs are the first ones that I've ever hydroplaned on.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rae Vynn @ Jul 31 2007, 01:27 PM) [snapback]488143[/snapback]</div>

Cruise control is designed to maintain a cruising speed in optimum conditions once you are already at a similar speed; I don't think Toyota ever advised anyone to use it in wet or snowy conditions or even to use to accelerate up that speed. This is probably the reason why the CC 'forgets' it's speed when you drop below a certain threshold (25MPH?).

Also, I am pretty certain the traction control, ABS and VSC are always in operation, cruise control or not. Rae Vynn, your profile says 2007 base model - I don't believe that includes VSC, does it?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rest @ Jul 31 2007, 02:26 AM) [snapback]487914[/snapback]</div>

What type of mileage were you expecting and why? If you were expecting EPA numbers, do you know the test procedure and that most vehicles fall short of EPA numbers, esp. in city driving? See my post at http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=3...mp;#entry476026 and http://autos.msn.com/advice/CRArt.aspx?contentid=4023460. There are no car or trucks in the US sold today that get higher mileage at the moment. See http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/bu...s-206/index.htm. Also, hopefully you realize the the only fuel economy numbers that manufacturers can claim and advertise in the US are those from the EPA test procedure.

The interior plastics quality to me is fine, esp. for a car where Toyota was losing $ on at the beginning of this generation. What's wrong w/the dash lighting? It's fine to me. The steering wheel lighting I'll agree is dim, but my steering wheel controls on my Z and my former Maxima aren't lit at all.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cwerdna @ Jul 31 2007, 01:44 PM) [snapback]488160[/snapback]</div>

I find it interesting that new owners often complain about this - however, after a month or two, this really becomes a non-issue since you quickly memorize where the steering wheel buttons are and couldn't really care less if they are lit or not.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sarge @ Jul 31 2007, 10:43 AM) [snapback]488158[/snapback]</div>

No, it doesn't. But, the traction control works.

Oh, and normally, I'm a much better driver than that. It had been a really long, long day, and a very long, long drive.