Danny needs help from our members for site content!

I'd like to help out with this one - I have some ideas on how to show the different colors really well.

I'd love to photograph cars just for PriusChat, so you'll have photos no one else has.

But I only have one car to experiment on - so I'll need some help from PriusChat members in LA. (Unless I can just stalk the ones that I see around the neighborhood!)

I'm looking for Driftwood, Black, White, Silver, Salsa and Seaside.

 

Yeah, Tideland's been pretty well displayed elsewhere. (Also, I think there was a thread on Seaside Pearl pictures as well.) I'm pretty sure RobertO's posted pictures of his Driftwood '04 on PriusChat somewhere.

However, I agree -- it would be nice to have several pictures of the car from several angles. (The same angles for each color? Oh, ignore me... I'm an engineer.)

 

No, wait... Not in the face! NOT IN THE FACE!!!

Oh, wait... something nice?

Here's what I've got so far for topics updated 5/12/04:

• How long is the wait for a new Prius?
• Can I order a Prius to my specifications?
• How can I reduce the wait time for a new Prius?
• Can I buy a Prius for less than MSRP?
• What is the MPG for a Prius, really?
• Increased air pressure in tires: does it increase MPG?
• How long do the Prius' battery last? And what will it cost to replace them?
• Does running the air conditioning or heater affect MPG?
• Can I play an MP3 Player/iPod via the Prius sound system?
• Will there be new options or colors for the 2005 Prius models?
• What's "stealth mode" / the EV button?
• Synthetic motor oil: Worth using in a Prius?
• What's the "B" gear? And does using it affect gas mileage?
• SE/SS: How does it work? And how secure is it?
• Is there a problem with the Prius gas gauge? (Possibly combine with filling the tank / the gas tank bladder).
  • 
    Etc., etc. I plan to look at the VFAQ site and John's site, and borrow some of the FAQ questions they've used. Don't want to make the list too long, or it becomes a chore for newbies to search through it (this can be alleviated a bit through the way they're organized).
    
    Please add your suggestions for topics!! As Danny said, I'm aiming to make the answers brief, and then point the reader to threads, documents in the File Library, or external links that will discuss the topic in more detail. Also, we'll try to encourage them to post in existing threads, rather than creating new, duplicate threads on a subject.
    
    I'm tied up this week, but next week will get into this more fully. I've got an outline for each FAQ's format; we'll put some out there, get some feedback, and hopefully improve the contents and format over time.

 

Danny, i think those are great ideas. i've been involved with another site and after a while the design and organization of the site itself bubbles to the surface as a real usability value.

i think the basic sections you've listed are great.
for process, i'd suggest a thread devoted to this, as you've started already, with a link to a "prototype outline" page, where you could take our inputs and mock them up in a sandbox practice area to look at.

after a bunch of suggestions come in, they will probably fall into one of the 4-5 major categories, (plus "misc/other") and the site will sort of "redesign itself" for us.

great idea!

oh, and rather than copy John's pix, if he's agreeable, links to his pix take up less server space than replicating them on PC.Com, unless you deliberately decide to not risk the chance of broken external links....

cool!
now where's my camera....

 

Danny,
How about a section for accessories and Parts? I get several emails a week asking for sources on iitems that I have mentioned here. I would be glad to collect sources if there was a place to list them.

Mark

 

I have really enjoyed this site since I found it via John701a.com. I has been very helpful in many ways - even in deciding if we wanted to order one!Although we are still waiting for our Prius, we feel we know what to expect. I have been accused of becoming PriusChat obsessed however - maybe it is just Priusessed.

Anyway, one of the things I have done to keep up on what is happening with the Prius is use the Google ability to send me all news articles pretaining to the Prius. It is very interesting to follow. I imagine anyone could do it themselves, but it might be nice to add forum with links to the more interesting and pertinent articles.

 

A definte question for the FAQ: How long do the batteries last / how much does it cost to replace them? 95% of the people I've talked about the car to have asked this.

Answer:
The batteries are warrantied for 8 years / 100,000 miles* Right now it is estmated that the whole battery pack is $3000, but by the time they need replacing they should be mass produced and should be cheaper. Besides, most likely you won't have to replace the whole thing, but just a few of the modules (of which there are 28 (???))

Brian
*I'm not in CA and didn't want to get in to the AT-PZEV thing

 

How about a section on the gas tank (bladder??) and how to fill it to the max?

 

Fine, but include a warning that overfilling can flood the carbon vapor canister thingee, and can cause gas spillage. It is better to leave a tiny bit of space in the tank I think.

PriusChat has a nice interface, and some other sites have great content, but poor interfaces. Let's put great content on PriusChat for a site everyone will like.

 

I have tons of my tideland if you guys want them and all sorts of angles. We are detailers here, so the way the light reflects is very important.

 

I had a terrible time taking photos of the colors (did a few captures in the parking lot at Fudruckers). So, I'm begging off of that.

But after seeing all those cars in a row, I'm pretty confident now that we can get great photos of all the colors from the members.