Excellent Service today and some news.

I took my car in to get the oil changed today. Kearny Mesa Toyota in San Diego. Excellent job. They followed instructions exactly down to the only 3 qts. And the car was done 30min. early too.

I had a chance to talk to my salesman, Howard Sheehy while I was waiting. We talked about the terrible market adjustments in other areas of the country, etc.

During the conversation he mentioned two things of note.

One is that Lexus isn't planning to have any more hybrids beyond the SUV 400H they have now.

And that he thinks Toyota will have the redesign of the Prius in about three years.

I happened to mention all of the seat stuff (lumbar, heat, electric adjustments etc.) and he said well that would be for a luxury car. I said the Prius almost is a luxury car. It has a lot of things you'd find in a luxury car except the seat stuff. It's the high end of whatever niche it's in. Adding the seat stuff wouldn't cost that much, probably under $1,000 to do, but it would widen the market. Not like they need that.

He said he's worried about the quality of the Prius staying high if they decide to open a factory in the U.S. to make the Prius. I said I wasn't worried as long as Toyota continues to monitor quality control and follows through.

At any rate I'd thought I'd share my tidbits.

BTW it was a great day all round. Not only was my car done early and to my specs, but my Mom ended up with $20 worth of filet mignon in her shopping bag she didn't buy and when she called the store they didn't want it back. Plus I bought them a pie and it was on sale. What a day!

The steak was tender and delicious.

 

What is a Lexus GS 450? Is it a sedan? I have no idea what any of the Lexus models are. I can't keep straight any of the cars that just have numbers and letters instead of names.

Maybe the Toyota people aren't as informed with what's going on with Lexus as the Lexus people are?

My Dad picked me up and took me to their house while I was waiting for my oil change. (In a big, red F-150 longbed no less) and on the way back he said that when they decide to get a new car it won't be a Cadillac, he'll be buying a Lexus. This from a lifelong, as soon as he could afford one, Cadillac man. He said he was very disappointed in the quality of the last few Cadillacs he's owned; that they should be able to last more than 50,000 miles without falling apart. (His words.) I said that GM has been working on quality lately and they're probably better than his car. He said too bad, too late and he doesn't care. He said Lexus makes a good product. I told him to wait a few years and he could get a hybrid. He said, "I don't need to save gas; If I can afford a Lexus I can afford gas."

We'll see.

I think my Mother would be content with a Camry Hybrid if it had all of the seat stuff the Cadillac has: leather, heat, lumbar and the electric adjustments that are programmable for different drivers. Does it? Will it? That's the stuff I mentioned to Howard that they should have to expand the Prius market. He says its luxury stuff. But didn't things such as automatic door locks, electric windows and CD players used to be only in luxury cars too? She likes everything about my Prius except the seats. I think if either the Camry or the Prius had the "Cadillac seats" in leather she'd be happy. And even though my Dad isn't impressed with hybrids now, give it a few years and gas goes up a few more dollars he might change his mind.

 

I just sold my 1996 Saturn and that's what I'm comparing my 2005 Prius to.

That Saturn was noisier. And because of that I think the Prius sound system is better. Plus I have a CD player instead of tapedeck. (I have a #1). The Prius is built more solid, and the drive is much smoother. The only thing I miss is the leather steering wheel. I've decided against leather seats as all I can remember in the Saturn is how cold they were in the winter and how hot they were (and burned me) in the summer. As for the lumbar in the Saturn...it sucked. And the seats were so low that they gave me back problems. Compared to the Saturn the Prius *is* a luxury car to me. Even the current seats don't bother me. But my parents are used to a higher standard so for them either the Camry or the Prius would have to have better seats.

Again I say....how long will it be before some of the seat stuff is considered standard and not luxury. Look at the standards stuff now that 10-20-30 years ago was considered luxury.

My sister is also thinking about a Prius. She makes wedding cakes and thinks it's perfect for transporting them. I agree. The hatchback and cargo area are the best I've ever owned. The Nissan was the worst...I had to lift things UP and over the tail to get them inside. And anything that was too long stuck up in the air and the hatchback was really high because of it. Just a stupid design.

I don't really care how they redesign the Prius when they do it as long as it still has the hatchback just the way it is.