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Comments
This poster takes it upon himself to deflate every other poster here.
He is happy with his 4c XLE that he ably negotiated down to $200-300 over invoice. Every other new owner pleased with their new vehicle needs to be skewered in some manner however.
Take it for what it's worth.
However, indicated mileage is in "reality" better than the 12 mpg I got from my previous vehicle (and again, please understand, I knew the Passat had poor mileage when I bought it).
Well, yes, since our country uses total gallons, not mpg.
Well, yes, since our country uses total gallons, not mpg.
Hey, Texases, I agreed with your theory but thought your numbers (35 to 40) exaggerated a tad bit.
However, I can't follow the problem others have with total gallons vrs GPC consumption. It's like the Metric vrs English argument. It does me little good for someone to tell me I have a 2.75GPC. It's way too much math for daily driving. Granted knowing I'm getting 36mpg does not tell me how much consumption I have partaken, but it is a relative term for me to know if I'm good or bad. Maybe it's like a digital watch. GPC is like the digital watch, you look at the number and have to mentally absorb it to make any sence of it. However an analog watch is visual. I don't have to think to know when both hands are up it's time to eat (lunch) or go to bed (midnight). I inherently know that 36 is better than 32, or 15 is better than 13 in FE terms. Not everyone is an engineer (I am, just an old one) and wants to be so technical.
Besides kids now days can't do fractions. If I tell them I am getting 2.75GPC what are they going to do on a 62 mile trip? It's a meaningless number to them. Sorry, kdhspyder, I'm just toooo old to buy into this measurement.
not aware of the aqaurium restriction.
"Do not load a large amount of water
such as an aquarium into the
vehicle. If water spills over the hybrid
battery, the battery may be damaged."
How will I ever transport my aquariums now? :P
You're truly blessed.
Lawyers think of everything. Just think of the disappointed Rappers that planned on streching these and putting hot tubs in the back.
This question is probably way ahead of the learning curve, so if nobody knows, I can wait to find out for myself soon.
Ah, don't you love dealers who gouge buyers! I know what MSRP implicitly means, but come on . . . What Toyota needs is a downturn in sales (this will most likely, of course, never happen) to teach humility to its dealers and sales staff. What goes around, eventually comes around (to bite you).
You're truly blessed."
Ah, but are the answers correct?
I might add. . . I live in a very warm, southwest climate, with tempatures topping 95 today. In light of this, I am highly impressed with the AC in TCH. I leave it in the "eco" mode, and it still cools great. Obviously, the electric motor on the compressor is working well. This was a pleasant suprise, as I had thought the car would take longer to cool without have a big V8 under the hood driving the compressor.
One other note. . . There is a lot of talk on this forum about people paying over MSRP. I did not pay over, and it appeared to me, from some comments my dealer made, that Toyota has put a a little pressure on the little guys to not put a mark-up on the TCH. Now, I doubt this is true, but I nevertheless I only paid sticker.
However paying $30,500 for the loaded TCH vs $31500 for the loaded XLE V6 seems reasonable. Wouldn't you say?
Both have V6 power and one is about 30% more efficient than the other in fuel economy.
That being said. The smoothness on the highway is much better than I expected. I tried accelerating into a double S entry ramp onto the Interstate only to run up on an SUV carefully negotiating it. It seemed actually that the vehicle 'sat down' into the turn as I accelerated until having to slow. It was very impressive actually. Tomorrow or later tonight I try with no traffic. :P
It's dead quiet in cruising, as I expected from the Prius, and it has little of the Prius acceleration 'roar' if stongly accelerated from a stop.
The PSD and the 'infinite' gear selection is even better with all this power at hand. Accelerating from 60 mph in heavy rush hour Interstate traffic is smooth and instantaneous. There is no downshift hesitation and sudden lurch as with a traditional transmission. Press forward and you are there!!! It's the same as with the Prius but much quicker and more powerful.
Nit.
The top trim is just as nice as would be expected of the XLE but there seemed to be a gap between the botton console door where the power point/AUX is. It seemed out of place.
Nit #2
I would not choose the Jasper Pearl. Others loved it.
I would find this hard to resist if I hadn't already taken the Prius due to the need for greater FE.
There aren't many (any?) cars that you can drive sportily (is that a word?) and get 25 or so, and then drive carefully and get 35/40/45.
and have 4 seats
and have some luxury
too bad they don't make it in a coupe!!
I long for a gs350H, but I won't spend that kind of money on a car. Plus, I haven't heard whether you can baby it on the freeway and get 40mpg. All I've heard about is the folks driving it like mad and getting 22 mpg or so (compared to the 10 mpg any other car like that would get when driven like that)
Having said that, I am still strongly considering the car. We don't take so many long trips by car, so maybe it won't be a big deal. I'm still a bit concerned about my camping gear, though.
From a distance though it is close to the Avalon/Prius shade.
Still a good deal though, especially if you're not hit with the AMT.
The key word was Naive, not how you measure fuel consumption.
The is some incorrect misconception by some (not Kdhspyder whom I fully agree with) that there is is difference in mesurement when you look at miles per gallon versus total gallons used (example gallons per 100 miles, liters per kilometer).
An actual example to take to the bank so to speak
Drive : 15,000 miles in one year.
Consumption: 525 gallons
Miles per gallon 15000/525 = 28.571428571
Gallons per 100 miles = 525/15000*100 = 3.5
Now crosscheck the relationships
if you get 28.571428571 mpg then you get 1 mile per 1/28.571428571 gallons so you would use 100/28.571428571 gallons to go 100 miles multiplying you get 3.50000000007875 WOW the same!
If you take 3.5 gallons per 100 miles, becuse of unity postulate, that is the same as 100 miles/ 3.5 gallons per mile dividing= 28.571428571 WOW the same again!
They are directly mathmetically related and each can be as accurate as you care to calculate. Ijust showed you by example
The point I was trying to make, maybe to subtlely or too satirical was that, a behemoth beast using a huge amonut of total gallons at 12 mpg will still use a huge amonut of gallons at 13 mpg even though the gallon savings are significant. There is still excessive waste.
Did anyone see the WallStreet Journal headlines for May 09, 2106 , about the nuclear powered cars that in effect get an equivalent of 337 miles per gallon base on the current gasoline price of $8.85 per gallon. And with the road guidance system option you can merely enter the destination and sit back and let the car drive; not that is what I call a truly logic graded automatic!
Cheers,
MidCow
Just keep in mind that some people are VERY picky about their audio. I was much pickier in my early 20s, but now in my late 30s, I am finding the supposed "premium" systems are now acceptable to me. I never even got around to replacing anything in my stock 1999 VW Passat audio system.
I would be more picky, not less. But then the, bar for excellence has been raised. What used to be premium is now standard. Just for fun go listen at a Lexus Mark Levinson stereo in the LS430.
I am older than you and I like good sounding stereo and good sounding exhaust. Why compromise ?
Chees, MidCow
P.S.- Have seen several new Camrys. They really look nice
Besides the JBL has 50 sound power levels. I listen around "35" but my wife thinks it sounds good at "2"
I was on the fence in my Passat about trying to upgrade. Everyone who heard it said it was very good. Then I heard some horror stories about electrical problems in Passats and other issues involved in changing the head unit. The clincher was when I discovered the dealer had given me a car with a CD changer in the trunk. The costs and risks of upgrading were not worth the expected benefit.
I don't expect I'll do anything to upgrade the audio in the Camry. I hope the Panasonic head unit is good enough for me.
My N. California dealer called me this morning to inform me that my new, fully-loaded, Titanium TCH had arrived. I went in after lunch armed with several CDs and a suitcase (for testing the sound system and trunk capacity, respectively). We agreed to take a test drive before finalizing the deal (my idea, not theirs
Bottom line is I purchased the car, and will be taking delivery on Tuesday (for various reasons). I got out the door for $33.7K (MSRP + tax/lic/etc). Herewith my impressions:
As stated by others, the car is quiet! In fact, the noise I was most aware of was the A/C. The engine does roar a bit when pushed hard, but that's a short duration thing, and of little consequence.
Maybe because the car is new and the battery wasn't fully charged, the engine routinely came on as I accelerated (gently) from a stop, contrary to what I expected based on other comments in this forum. That might have had something to do with the A/C being on or the setting of the ECO button. I was already dealing with enough newness that I didn't try too much to see if I could find a combo that didn't use the engine in stop and go driving.
The large central touchscreen for navi/stereo/monitoring was very responsive and reasonably intuitive, although the sales guy provided much guidance. I didn't really fool with the navi, although I did make sure the sound system was set to its tonal and balance defaults.
Ah yes, the sound system, which in a word, sucks. Given JBL's reputation for overripe midbass, I guess I wasn't too surprised, but somehow with 440 W on tap, I expected more authority. Project #1 will be upgrading the sound on this beast! (Keep in mind that I'm a hi-fi/music afficianado; it may be fine for others)
Before we embarked on the test drive, I put the suitcase I had brought (27" x 20" x 12") into the trunk to see what kind of a dent it made in the volume. Initially it seemed like I wouldn't be able to get a second suitcase of the same size into the trunk! That freaked me out a little. However, by removing the floor mats (which happened to be in the trunk) and centering the suitcase (to avoid the rear seat release cables), I convinced myself that two such suitcases would stack flat in the trunk with a fair bit of room on either side (enough for large duffel bags, camping gear, etc.). This is not a car for serious hauling, to say the least, but if you don't mind using the back seat every so often, it seems workable to me.
Another one of my issues was whether the driver's seat would be comfortable on long drives. Based on my test drive, I think it will be. It's quite firm, and the lumbar support is electically adjustable in and out. Up and down might have been nice as well, but still a nice feature. The passenger seat also has electric controls (though I didn't check on adjustable lumbar), as a passing note.
The visibility was quite good, exceeding my expectations based on comments I'd read. You can't see the front of the car, but that's been true of most cars I've owned, and you get used to its length pretty quickly.
Finally, I found it interesting to compare the ride to my old 1998 Audi A4 Avant V6, which also sported 190 hp (but only got about 17/25 mpg!). Generally the power delivery of the TCH was quite smooth (although I wouldn't say "seamless", as others have), but it really wasn't like driving the Audi, which felt both smoother and more powerful. However, I always thought the Audi had more oomph than I really needed (I'm not really into performance driving), so I'll take the FE tradeoff in a heartbeat.
Well, that's about it for the moment. Will update late next week after I drive the car a bit. By the way, after the sound system, upgrade #2 will probably be 17" rims, as the stock ones don't have much pizzazz, IMO. Other than that, I think the car looks quite striking in person for a 4 door sedan.
I tested the car yesterday - a Grey with the Package B. Its super quiet especially in the city. Minor complaint was the very small trunk size. I will double check it again, because I was a bit under the weather now that my seasonal allergies have flared up. Congratulations.
I will pick up the obusforme massage seat cover. I ordered the Titanium Silver colour. What other options did you order?
The salesman offered a test drive which I was not expecting. As others have posted, very spirited and quiet.
I have a 2002 A6 Audi and am considering the TCH. I am not surprised that even your older A4 had more pizzazz and probably a better ride than the TCH. The new A6's cost at least about $45K, and the fully loaded TCH goes for about $30K. Given those prices, there has to be some sacrifice. I, for one, will miss (if I sell the A6 and get the TCH) the great ride, and some of the luxury options that are not avail on the TCH, such as rear parktronic, collapsible side view mirrors, and, of course, the excellent premium bose stereo. I was hoping the premium JBL 440 watt system would be great, but evidently not. If you still do not like it when you post another message, I might consider getting the factory system and then upgrading after-market. Please be sure to update us.
Thanks.
My dealer is Toyota of Berkeley. AFAIK, they don't have any other TCHs in stock at the moment. You might try Dublin Toyota if all else fails. I spoke to them about getting Jasper Pearl, and even though that didn't happen, it sounded like they had a few others available, or soon to be so. Good luck!
I have been trying to catch up on this thread, and I keep seeing Option Package B being mentioned. What does this include? I haven't made a purchase, but I have tried to do the Build and Price on the Toyota website, but it only shows Option Package A ($0).
I want the Hybrid with Navi, leather, heated seats, moonroof (maybe), and VSC. Is any of this part of Option Package B? What is the upcharge for it? Where you you get info on this package?
Thanks in advance,
Jeff
Package A is listed at $26709,= it has HM and CF only.
The Package B is listed as $30,589 MSRP. It has the following features:
CQ Convenience Package
LA - Leather Package
VS - Vechicle Stabiltiy
JBL Sound
NV-Nav.
SR-Sunroof
CF- Carpet Mats
HM - Heated Mirrors
HS - Heated Seats
Is this info published on Toyota's web site?
EDIT: I think I found the place on the site, but now I think it may be possible that Package B isn't available in Michigan? The e-brochure asks for a zip code, and when I enter mine, it only shows Package A.