Looks like we're getting a new family member. My wife's concerned about her beaten up '93 Prelude and wants a new car. I tried to sell her on a 4Matic C class, but my wallet breathed a sigh of relief when she chose a Prius because of the mileage and (gasp!) the looks.
All snide remarks aside, anyone know of any websites even close to this one for the Prius? After a quick look I think that PriusOnline may be one of the better ones.
I don't suppose I can find some BiXenon headlights for it. Maybe Jerry will start up ForMyPrius.com.
First of all, it's actually fairly peppy all things considered. The torquey elecric motor makes it handle comparably to a traditional car. The back seat is fairly roomy and it's really neat when the gas engine cuts out and it silently glides into the garage.
One thing I really like is the Nav interface. You can add intermediate destinations, it has touch screen text entry, nifty split-screen views, better POI displays, and an easier method of searching for POIs. Of course, the one thing it MUST do well (navigate) it seems to fail miserably. Taking a straight shot down the turnpike it had my wife getting off at every exist. Maybe there's a hidden "avoid toll roads" that I can't find.
It's not the right car for me, but all-in-all for $21k w/Nav it's a decent small sedan without any real noticable comprimises for the hybrid. Of course, I would have liked to be parking next to a 4Matic C-class much better...
First of all, it's actually fairly peppy all things considered. The torquey elecric motor makes it handle comparably to a traditional car. The back seat is fairly roomy and it's really neat when the gas engine cuts out and it silently glides into the garage.
If the A/C is active, I assume that the engine will remain running to power the compressor?
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One thing I really like is the Nav interface. You can add intermediate destinations, it has touch screen text entry, nifty split-screen views, better POI displays, and an easier method of searching for POIs. Of course, the one thing it MUST do well (navigate) it seems to fail miserably.
Sounds like it is the typical Toyota Denso Nav system? A touchscreen would be nice in the ML, however apparently MB doesn't like them for reliability reasons.
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It's not the right car for me, but all-in-all for $21k w/Nav it's a decent small sedan without any real noticable comprimises for the hybrid. Of course, I would have liked to be parking next to a 4Matic C-class much better...
Was there any particular reason that your wife decided on the Prius rather than something like the Honda Civic Hybrid (since she already had a Honda prior to the Toyota). As for the C-class, I'm sure you can get one just for the hell of it [;)]
According to some heresay on www.priusonline.com (where I take every opportunity to advertize BenzWorld!) if the climate control is set to defrost the engine stays on. I'd assume that the same is true for the AC, but I'll have to check on it.
I've never seen a Toyota with a Nav system before, but I may have to stop by a dealer to try one out. It doesn't look Prius-proprietary so I assume it's the same one they put in the other Toyotas (and the Toyotas with the big L on the front!).
My wife likes the look of the Prius better than the Civic. She inherited the Honda from her mother and never cared much about cars. The people who installed the wood trim from *** will love this part:
She didn't want the Lexus or the Benz because it had wood trim! She doesn't like leather seats but can live with them. Wood trim is apparently a big faux pas for some reason. It's not the fact that it's killing trees, she just thinks that cars are made out of metal and wood doesn't belong in them. I even offered to paint the trim for her and it made no difference. Oh well, she's happy and the car seems fairly nice.
As for a C of my own, I think I'd rather save up for an SL or a Porsche 911 as a second car[:D]. My ML is almost broken in and I think I'll be able to ride past 150k miles in her so I've got time before I'll start looking again...
I've begun to wonder if the longevity of the touchscreen is really an issue anymore. It wouldn't surprise me if MB just spent so long in the engineering phase that the touchscreens available when they commissioned the MCS weren't very good. The upside of the long engineering cycle is relatively more reliable parts (not to start an argument about the reliability of the ML, mine's actually been running like a Swiss clock recently). The downside is that the parts get may get EOL'd before the vehicle is done with its lifecycle. Have to see what 2005 brings us, I guess!
The Prius freaks me out. I walked behind one in a parkade in Van and it didn't make a sou...
The Prius freaks me out. I walked behind one in a parkade in Van and it didn't make a sound. Not one.
Creepy car to follow. I can see the pedestian lawsuits coming. They will have to create a 'noise maker' like the sound of exhaust/engine so that pedestrians will be able to hear them coming.
According to some heresay on www.priusonline.com (where I take every opportunity to advertize BenzWorld!) if the climate control is set to defrost the engine stays on. I'd assume that the same is true for the AC, but I'll have to check on it.
Defrost turns on the A/C, IIRC, so that would make sense that the engine is running to power the compressor.
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I've never seen a Toyota with a Nav system before, but I may have to stop by a dealer to try one out. It doesn't look Prius-proprietary so I assume it's the same one they put in the other Toyotas (and the Toyotas with the big L on the front!).
Heh, that's right. The cars with the <i>L</i> on the front should have something similar. Quite a few RX300 owners do not seem to like the map routing.
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She didn't want the Lexus or the Benz because it had wood trim! She doesn't like leather seats but can live with them. Wood trim is apparently a big faux pas for some reason. It's not the fact that it's killing trees, she just thinks that cars are made out of metal and wood doesn't belong in them. I even offered to paint the trim for her and it made no difference. Oh well, she's happy and the car seems fairly nice.
Aww, you could've ordered the Sport package, which would've deleted the wood trim, LOL. It comes with the brushed aluminum instead. But, the Prius is a nice car in its own class [:)]
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