Best Prius Color?

hiya Tracy, and welcome!

big fan of the black prius myself i love mine but others are partial to other colors. the ivory interior is a bit of a pain to take care of so charcoal is definitely a good idea IMO. just know you're going to spend a lot of time washing the car in the coming years...

there are plenty of folks here with some serious in-depth technical knowledge and a few Prius techs around too. the community as a whole is really into problem-solving and we all try to look out for one another. so if you do run into trouble, you have an army of people at your back

plus, edmunds overall is kinda biased from what i've seen.

sure there are reports of a few problems like any car, but on the whole it's probably better than any other car out there. many, many people have had tend of thousands of miles of trouble-free driving with only oil changes and tire rotations. others will disagree and tell you their stories as well, i am sure.

where are you located? i'm sure if there's a local club in your area they can point out the best places for service, there are good places and bad places to go.

for now, two pieces of advice. 1. read the manual carefully and 2. YMMV- your mileage may vary. (and we're helpful with tips on that too, do a search on 'mileage' and see what i mean) B)

 

well, there was a recall on 04 and early 05s (although our 05 was built in feb and wasn't part of the recall.) this caused the "christmas tree" of lights and the gas engine would cut out. however, the 06s have the new programming that has overcome that bug. there have been a small smattering of other minor problems, but as i said many people have driven tens of thousands of trouble free miles. each light has its own meaning, get yourself familiar with them so you know what to do if one comes on. likely you won't see any of them except the 'maintenance required' light, which is an oil change reminder. oh yeah, and up in the frozen tundra you'll see the snowflake icon which indicates that it's COLD out!

i know that there's a madison hybrid group- www.madisonhybridgroup.com

he'd better understand. you're well within your rights to deny a warranty from them.

the fabric is nice, however i put on some seat covers to protect them. i like the seat cover fabric better, it's velour. though expensive.

i think this depends on how quickly you'll rack up the miles. however, i think by the time the average driver hits 100k many others will have already proven that the prius is reliable beyond 100k and others won't be too hesitant to buy. we're thinking of buying the 100k warranty and selling at 90k to give the buyer some assurance. that's a long ways off though!

there are plenty of people who have the basic packages and have been perfectly happy. it's all a personal decision. if you're happy with the options package 1 offers, then by all means go for it!

 

Hi.. and welcome!.. try not to let all the monitoring systems scare you because they are not something to hassle you.
Think of it more like all the other cars you had in the past just didnt' have all this cool stuff to let you know when issues were arising!
The prius is among the most reliable cars, so the extra instrumentation will not be a bad thing, but only for good.

just like the human body, the closer you monitor it, the easier it will be to locate a problem and fix it before it becomes a problem!

As you learn the manual a little bit, some of these things that seem scary will become your friend.

In time, the prius should become an extension of your own self as you are able to monitor it so closely.. .. in time, those instruments will actually make you feel more safe and secure, verses not having them!

 

I've always been a fan of silver cars -- they're pretty classy and aren't really subject to trends... Point in order, my friend who picked up a Royal Purple car back when that was the hip thing to do.

White's hard to keep clean, black can be hard to keep shiny -- for me, silver is juuust right.

 

service should be fine with the ext warranty provided it's through toyota. otherwise you could tell them you got an offer for a toyota ext warranty for (name the price here) and ask if they'd beat it by a few bucks.

i got my seat covers at toyotapartsstore.com- click on prius and then click on seat covers. they are high quality and fit like a wonder, but a pain to install.

the smart key system is about the coolest thing i've seen on a car. basically, you never have to take your keys out of your pocket to drive the car. personally, i also prefer the side and curtain airbags but again that's a personal choice. other people swear by the navigation system but i've been okay without it. if you have an ipod, the aux in would be nice. the 05s and older don't have those

 

1. Look in the very last forum for WI Prius clubs. If there's none in Green Bay or nearby, you can always try to START one, using PriusChat as a beginning!

2. Do you know that you can buy an extended warranty ANY TIME before 36,000 mi./3 years? Dealers try to get you to buy one NOW, but there's no advantage. Why would you want to pay finance charges on that, anyway? Save up some money and buy it later. There's $1,000 less to finance. Just tell the "finance person (when you pay), "I think I'll wait".

3. The former (until '05) ivory interior isn't offered now. In place of it (besides gray) is "bisque", a darker "tan". I like it and will get it with my blue Prius. Go look at one!

4. Less than 1% of Prius owners see the warning lights. As galaxee says, read the manual so you'll know about each light. Do you have AAA, or towing coverage on your car insurance, just in case? If not, the premium for towing with your insurance isn't expensive.

5. Having to replace the "big battery" IS an issue. Already (since '01) the cost of them through a dealer has come down from about $5K to a little over $3K. But the Prius is so new, no one really knows when most batteries can be expected to "naturally" wear out. Here in CA and some other states, they're guaranteed 150K mi. Many of us guess they'll last much longer, perhaps 200,000 mi. But yes, some potential buyers who know a lot about the Prius would be afraid of that. Still, hundreds of Priuses with more than 100K mi. have already been sold.

6. The Prius comes with so many amenities, you don't need a lot more, IMO. I'm getting a new pkg. #3 (because #2 isn't sold here), mainly because I like the keyless entry (I have an '04). But I could live without it and be happy. I don't even want the new rear camera, because it won't be useful in most of my driving situations. I don't need navigation because I'm good with directions and maps. Better sound system, including an mp3 jack? Don't need them. Bluetooth? I don't have a cell phone, and if I did I'd use it the usual way. HID lights? Nope. Traction control? The one thing I won't have that would make me feel a tiny bit safer. You like gadgets. Will you feel envious of others a lot if you don't have them?

 

I'd like to see a chocolate brown, wondering
mostly what it might look like. The new silver
for 06 is nice. A deep blue of some sort would
be nice.

 

Tracy,

I have a an 06 #3. I thought many months about this choice.
Where I am, I cannot get the #1, but even if I could, I would
not recommend it, nor buy one. It simply gives you nothing
but the car itself, which is great, but I think it is worth a little
extra The #3 package gives you just enough to make you
feel like your prius is a prius. The backup camera, aux input,
and SKS are nice features, to me worth it, especially since all
my music is on an ipod. With the backup camera, even though
i do not rely on it soley, it is great to know exactly when I am
going to back into that curb block behind me, or to readjust
my position in a large parking lot with white lined spaces (I can pull
up, put it into reverse, and see exactly where the line is for the
space opposite me, and back up a bit if needed). The SKS is
really nice, and rounds out the whole package, and make me
feel that not only did I get a great car, looks great, gets great
MPG, it also can do some pretty cool stuff.

This is coming from someone who considered buying out of state
a #1. Just something to think about. It may be that after all
that, those extra things really are not important to you after all.
You will still love the car whether a #1 or higher

 

I think you do, if you mean that you can open it by pressing
a button on the fob that unlocks your doors, but SKS is more
than keyless, it allows you to simply walk up to your car (doors
locked) and grab the door handle, and the car unlocks the door
for you. Then you get in, close the door, press start, and drive
away, never using your fob once in the whole process to either
unlock or start the car.

 

The financial officer may want proof, but that does not mean one has to provide proof. And, definitely do not mention the offer for members herein as Troy and Danny have requested.