Options
Toyota Prius (First Generation)
This discussion has been closed.
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
http://www.osa.go.jp/anzen/html2001e/as105.htm
http://www.osa.go.jp/anzen/html2001e/as133.htm
While I was in the shop they buffed a side door scratch and I had them add a one inch side strip all along the most protruding side of the vehicle. I'd recommend that anyone else does the same. 3M sells side stripping in most auto supply stores and it doesn't look hard. (I might have saved some money doing it myself, but I was ignorant of the ease of it until afterwards. )
My Camry comes with a side strip; why not Prius?
Am I the only one who didn't know this? Maybe.
But in general my family and I love the car, although my mom always turns the a/c on and ruins the gas mileage, and we wish that there was a bigger car that had similar gas mileage and emissions as the Prius.
I'm glad the repairs came out OK for you.
I have also seen a number of drivers that get into the gas pedal pretty hard. From a stop, the gas engine kicks in almost immediately. Others play a game to see how far they can go under pure electric power without impeding traffic. Obviously, the second group gets the best mileage. This car is very sensitive to how it is driven. AC makes things worse, as does cold weather and "oxygenated" fuel that is required in many metropolitan area in the winter.
1. Run on electric for a short time and then accelerate fairly quickly but not full throttle to speed, let off the gas pedal and then cruise in a seady state at the desired speed. Best in city traffic at 39-41 mph.
2. Cruise on the interstate at 62-63 mph if possible.
3. As with any vehicle, anticipate traffic and stops to take the maximum advantage of not stopping or coasting.
I can usually do these things at or near the speed limit. And I try not to worry about every hotshot gas-waster esp. in an SUV while not being dangerously slow. Last indicated mpg in lots of rolling hills in rural and city traffic-65 mpg.
Have been able to do 60-63 mpg indicated consistently. Average 55-57 mpg on freeway trips 200 mi. or more.
Thanks,
Don
Nashville, TN
The CC retro, though long in coming, was totally painless cause the ECU was already could do it, just needed the switches aded.
We are all hoping that a NAV retro will exist and its just a matter of putting the NAV/DVD unit under the seat and pluging it all in.
By the way, you'll be happy to know that I use you as an example when selling these cars. Your detailed reviews of summer and winter driving has been a godsend. I take people right to this sight to let them read your first hand accounts. Thanks.
Honda will be offering the Civic in 6 months in our market with a CVT and hybrid drivetrain; unlike the Insight, which is too specialized to be of general interest, the hybrid Civic should be a real test of the general size of the market. While Honda's costs for the Civic will be slightly lower, they too will be bleeding cash with every sale they make. When that stops being true, then we know the technology will truly be ready for prime time...
www.husco.com- over on the Insight board and even suggested to them
to make one for the Prius. They replied that they haven't gotten a
lot of inquiries so far as opposed to the fast sales for the Insight.
Reminded them there are a lot of Prius owners and at least as good a
market as with the Insight. If you you like their products after
visiting the website, e-mail their customer support and tell them to
make one for the Prius, please.
Don
Nashville, TN
Could this be a caster set up situation? The car handles like a dream in town, quick and easy steering, tight radius. Could this mean caster is 180 degrees to produce light steering at the expense of tracking ability on the road?
Consumer Reports says handlling is "vague"
Any comments?
My dealer service dep't checked tire pressure. No other fix or recommendation.
I repeat, I love my Prius!
With that one exception, I am quite pleased with the dealership and very pleased with my Prius. After the Prius experience, I can't understand why anyone would settle for a car that runs its engine while the car is at rest. I find much satisfaction in the knowledge that I am not contributing to pollution when in a traffic jam.
As to miles per gallon. I am a very conservative driver and get between 42 and 45 miles per gallon. City or highway driving does not appear to make much difference in gasolene consumption. However, I bought this car for the green, the high tech, and the pure fun of it. I have not been disappointed. Just remember, it is a small car and if you get behind a tractor trailer doing over 60 mph, expect the shakes.
It does not say how much would be the tax credit for Prius. Any ideas? Also it is very important for me to know if I buy the car before the bill is passed to the law (currently it is headed to the Senate) will I still get my credit? Several thousand dollars is a significant amount to take into consideration when buying a car.
Any information is appreciated. My Prius is coming in November.
Mike DZ
I placed the order on the 25th of May and found out that the 2002 models started on the 28th of May. My sales person only knew of any info on the Prius when I showed him what I had down loaded to my Palm unit. I called him about 4 weeks ago and asked him to verify what year I would be getting since the order was so close to the change date. I received a phone call that says that the consensus of the dealership was that I would be getting a 2002 but he did not know what accessories I would be getting. I originally order a cd player and cruise control which I was told had to be installed by the dealer for about $550.00. To date, I still don't know when the car is coming or anything else, I do know that we had to change the color of our car. This was 4 days after the order was placed.
Has anyone run into this lack of knowleged by your sales people.
Thanks
Texasowl
I would like to know from the Prius owners if their sales person had any more knowledge of this car then mine did.
For others thinking about an order, I will repeat advice I have given before. Shop for the right salesman and dealer. This makes all the difference in the world. There are numerous horror stories of ill-informed salesmen making this much more difficult than it needs to be. If you lack confidence in your salesman's ability to process the order correctly, find another one. Don't put your money down until you find one that knows his stuff.
I got my PR number from him and called Toyota's customer service department. Here's what they said.
They car was built in July, remember I ordered it at the end of May. The delivery is something like 3 to 4 months AFTER it is built. This places the time some where between Oct and Nov. They couldn't tell me what year as there has been no VIN number assigned the my car yet. The port is LA Beach and the vehicle will be sent either by rail or truck(?). They still don't know what is going on.
Unfortuently, I had check with several dealers nearby and this was the only one that was dealing with the Prius.
I will look at the car when it gets here and I will probably turn it down and reorder a 2002 with all I want. I just rechecked on the options and the one's I want will cost me less then the $550.00 for just a cruise control being put in. The vehicle I have now has no problems other then the gas, so if I keep it for a few more months, I will still be ok.
Cliff, thanks for the feed back
To cancel and re-order in your state (TX?) is a 4-5 more month wait. This might be what a lot of salespeople unschooled and unskilled with Prius are not telling you, unless you have yet to ask them if a cancel and re-order makes a large impact on your obtaining a car. Shame that every single dealership can't just assign =one= person who knows their stuff, internet and otherwise, to handle Prius.
Anyway, have a nice day, or weekend.
Don
Nashville, TN
Does anyone know of this or was I being BS'd to?
Thanks for the feed back.
If you don't have success with the Director, take it to another dealership if you can before proceeding further. Without progress, your next call is to Toyota to ask for their intervention. Call 800-GO-TOYOTA.
Thanks for your help........Engin2
thanks!
I just called Firestone. They say that only applies if I bought the tires directly from Firestone. They also say the tires died because the car is really heavy with the weight of the battery. Does this mean I should buy the next set of tires from them so they'll be covered under the warranty, rather than from a discounter like Costco, on the grounds that I should expect them to die fast? Meantime, this may be part of why you had your flat tires. Good luck...
You'd think Firestone had had enough P.R. problems lately to learn not to go around dissing their customers like this.
Thanks for any information anyone can provide. These are answers we need before deciding to make this important purchase.
Hybrids are not exempt from the personal property tax. If current budget plans remain in effect, all cars will escape this tax on the first $20K of assessed value by next year. The current elections could impact this pretty heavily. Early seems fairly committed to keeping the current schedule but Warner may have other ideas.