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My first REAL driving experence.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by AlphaTeam, Aug 23, 2004.

  1. AlphaTeam

    AlphaTeam Member

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    I live in lower Michigan and took a trip to the Upper Peninsula this weekend. I rented a Prius to try it out. I still haven't gotten mine and wanted to be 100% sure its what I wanted. I put about 1100 miles on the car.

    Here are some observations good and bad.

    Bad:
    1. The LCD display needs some work. It needs a glare screen over it. When it was real sunny and I couldn't' read it at all it was all washed out. They make those glare screens for computer monitors and those seem like the would work nice. Also the screen needs to be brighter. I need to drive with sunglasses on. They are not even super dark and I had a hard time with the display. I cranked up the brightness and it was still dark.

    2. I don't like that I can't lock the car with the remote while the door is open. I know it supposed to stop me from locking it in the car, but I've got it in my hand and I'm getting out of the car how am I going to forget it? Its like the old Honda, I think it was them, where you had to lift the handle to lock the door. What a pain. I know this is just a habit thing, but I would like the option to do it if I want. Don't tell me what I'm going to forget or not forget. If you are the kind of person who would somehow loose the keyfob from time you shut the car off till you close the door either you shouldn't be driving because you can't remember very well or just wait until you get outside to lock it.

    3. The wiper delay doesn't have a very big range of delay. I find a very slow delay helpful. I do like the just hit it up once for a one wipe.

    4. There isn't a lot of trunk space. There is tons of person room, but not a lot of cargo space.

    5. At night you get a glare from the speedometer right in the prime windshield viewing area. There is a big green line there.


    The Good:

    1. Gas milage. I got about 50 MPG mostly highway. My brother in-law came over tonight and showed us his new vehicle he got today. Its some big old SUV. It seats like 20 people with room to spare and he was all laughing because it gets about 15-20 MPG. Its got a DVD player with remote headphones. Great like we really need the family not talking in the car as well as the home. And we wonder why our kids don't listen to their parents. His jaw dropped when I told him how much I got this weekend.

    We figured with the gas we saved it cost us about $20 for the 4 days we had it. Compared to the same milage with our current car.

    2. It is soooooo fun to drive. It is so comfortable. I'm a short guy so head and leg room are never a problem, but it was still comfortable.

    3. It looks cool.

    4. I LOVED the spay jet on the windshield fluid thing.....My current car, a Buick Regal, just drops some fluid in the middle of the wiper. So in the winter when you have to wash the salt off you get one little band of clear and a smear of salt on the top and bottom of the window. The Paris covered the whole winder and used tons of it. RIght on. Washer fluid is cheap so dump it on I don't care just clean the window.

    The Weird:

    1. Ok the biggest thing that warded me and my wife out was when the ICE shuts off at a traffic light or smoother stop. We are used to owning cars that are a piece of crap. WHen you hear the sound of the engine stopping when your driving it. it's usually a bad sign. Now when I took the dealers car for a test drive, it had about 2000 miles on it, I had a hard time noticing it shutting off. This car had about 12,000 on it and it was noticable. SHould it be that way? Or do people just trash rentals and it was just abused?

    Alpha
     
    #1 AlphaTeam, Aug 23, 2004
  2. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    It isn't that bad most of the time, but it can, indeed, wash out...I'd like to see it better recessed or a glare blocker of some sort too.

    This is not even something I had thought about and it certainly isn't a problem for me. I would bet that either you'll have SE/SS and not ever have to worry about it, or you'll change your habits slightly and adapt.

    I like a slower intermittent rate too...but I've been using Rain-X and never use the wipers anyway!

    It's all relative...compared to what? It has more than many cars in it's class b/c of the hatch, if you fold down the rear seat and utilize the 'hidden' cargo space beneath there's a lot of room for a heck of a lot of stuff compared to almost any other car in it's class.

    All you have to do is turn down the intensity of the dash display a little and that line disappears.


    I'll tell you what...you get your Prius, drive it for a month without driving another car and what you'll think is "weird" is that other cars DON'T shut off when you stop. What a simply brilliant advance in car technology this feature is. I suspect that the first car you drove was in cooler weather or much hotter weather or just wasn't as warmed up and thus you didn't notice it shut down as much. It's normal and it's beautiful and you'll one day wonder when every car will do this and be pissed off when they don't!!!
     
    #2 efusco, Aug 23, 2004
  3. bruceha_2000

    bruceha_2000 Senior Member

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    Do you happen to have polarized lenses? I found that I had to tilt my head about 30 degrees right to see the screen in the one I rented. I have the same problem with the LCD speed/depth screen on my boat.
    OK, I know you exaggerated a LITTLE on the # of people, but if he has one of the big ones that carries 8, I bet he only sees 15-20 coming down out of the mountains. Ask him to track it for a few months :)
    Was the dealer with you for the test drive? Part of their "hook them" sales tactics is to run their mouths so much you don't have time to think much :)
     
    #3 bruceha_2000, Aug 23, 2004
  4. AlphaTeam

    AlphaTeam Member

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    Yes I did have polerized lenses. That could be the problem. I didn't try that. I do sometimes have trouble with gas pump displays because of the same problem.

    And you are right. When I was driving it the sales person would not shut up. I did specifly ask her to be quiet so I could hear it stop, but....again I think I was more focuesed on her shutting up that listening to the car. The car was warmed up too when it had the harder shut off. It was colder outside, but the car had been on for hours. Maybe it will be better when I get it but it was still just weird. I really think its my problem because too often I've had that happen in a traditional car and it wasn't a good thing. :oops:

    Alpha
     
    #4 AlphaTeam, Aug 24, 2004
  5. rflagg

    rflagg Member

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    Whenever a friend first experiences my prius, my partner and I make the joke of "Oh my god, it stalled!" - but like Evan pointed out, in a month's time, you'll look your nose up in disgust at vehicles idling at red lights and wonder just how many nasty emissions you're breathing in because of their inefficent car or truck. ;)

    -m.
     
    #5 rflagg, Aug 24, 2004
  6. finman

    finman Senior Member

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    The "harder" auto-shut-offs are fairly normal. The hybrid system is rotating the engine to a 'good' resting stop, so the restart is smoother/easier. I've also read that the 'shuddering' is the engine firing off that last cylinder to clear any fuel out. It's all part of the totally ingenius HSD (Hybrid Synergy Drive). When I drive a normal car or see one while in my Prius, I think "that's so yesterday, we evolved from that?" Drive fun, drive clean, drive Prius!
     
    #6 finman, Aug 24, 2004
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