Comments on: 10 Things I’d Change About The 2010 Prius

By: Maryland

Maryland — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:03:02 +0000

Oh, one more thing! Have any of you tried to buy a replacement key? I think it’s around $300 if I recall correctly, but get this – if you lose both keys it’s over $1000 to reprogram the engine and then $600 for two new keys! That put the fear of god in me, so I actually have filed away the spare key. I don’t want to risk the possibility of being without one of the keys and paying that exhorbitant price. Toyota – get your engineers working on a better solution to this one!

By: Maryland

Maryland — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:56:16 +0000

Really happy still with my 2010 Prius, but do have some complaints:

1) the beeping noise while backing up (just read the comment here about adjusting it to beep just once so I’ll definitely be looking into that)
2) the nav system screen goes to night time vision when you turn on the headlights. Problem is, it’s not always dark when when you turn on your day lights or headlights. Here in Maryland, state law requires us to turn on headlights when wipers are on – so if it’s raining during the daytime, I can’t read the nav screen.
3) CHEAP HUBCAPS! Why in heaven’s name would Toyota put on a headcap that comes off with just a bump. Now I’ve got two that won’t stay on. If they’re going to do a hubcap for aerodynamic reasons then have them be bolted on!! It’s 2011 for goodness sakes – we’ve come a long way since hubcaps came off this easily and they present a safety hazard on the road when they do.
4) the bolts holding the cargo net in the hatch area won’t stay on – shoddy design issue I think.
5) I agree with others that the split rear window takes some getting used to but I understand the aerodynamic benefits. What I don’t understand is why the rear windshielf wiper clears a tiny area that doesn’t even correspond with the area that I actually look through!
There, I think I’ve gotten everything off my chest. Like I said, other than these issues, I do still like my Prius!

By: Ruben

Ruben — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:11:10 +0000

Reply to Ivan on the corner visbility in the corners. I have always felt that blindspot mirrors should be standard on all vehicles. I placed them on both sides of the side mirrors and visibilty is not an issue. I recommend the medium sized 2 inch round mirrors in the farthest corner of each side mirror. I hope that helps.

By: Ivan

Ivan — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:45:46 +0000

Just bought the 2011 Prius IV to replace my 2007 Camry Hybrid. I agree with Seth that the rear corner visibility in the Prius is limited to the point of being frightening. Even turning to look over my shoulder, I feel that I can’t accurately verify the absence of cars in the adjacent lanes. Any tips to compensate for this? One caution to Seth: in the Camry I had the same problem, but with the front corners. Unless you are very tall, you may find that you can’t see curbs or obstacles when you make a left-hand turn.

By: Steve Kelsey

Steve Kelsey — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 13:28:48 +0000

We are on our third Prius. The only problem we have had is with the tires. We were unable to keep tires on our 2006 and now we have a 2010. The dealership replaced two tires at approximately 12,000 miles and now at 26,000 we have replaced two more tires. We were tired of thumping and bumping down the road. They try to tell us we waited too long to rotate the tires! At $335 for two tires and alignment we’re hoping our problem has been solved.

By: Seth

Seth — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 23:16:01 +0000

I testdrove one over the weekend and found that, beyond the split rear window, there was a huge blind spot in the rear corners. On the third-generation model, Toyota shrunk the rear side windows (perhaps it’s more aerodynamic?) and widened the metal panel between the side windows and the rear window. As a result, I felt like I had no idea where the other cars on the road were. Any time I changed lanes, I felt like I was guessing and hoping that I wouldn’t get in a wreck. I opted for the Camry Hybrid, which doesn’t get as good mileage, but which I actually feel much safer driving.

By: Carleen Thum

Carleen Thum — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 15:12:46 +0000

I am a one month owner of a 2010 Prius III with a solar package. While I was waiting for a friend I put the car in power accessory mode and started playing around with some of the electronic features.. Apparently I did not shut down properly and left the car in that mode all during lunch so the battery was draining away during lunch. Long story short the battery was dead and I made a few phone calls to Team Toyota who advised me to have the battery charged (battery in the rear cargo area) or have the car towed to them 30 miles away. Since I wanted no part of the ridiculous towing option I walked to the local gas station thankfully only a block away and asked them take me to my car and charge it. Sounds easy, right? We could not open the hatchback to get to the battery because the remote key fob wouldn’t work with the dead battery and there was no keyhole in the hatchback door. The crusty, wizened mechanic (sweetly grousing about the merits of Fords and Chevys) finally figured out how to do an emergency start from under the hood (hidden under a black box behind the driver side head lamp) after pushing hard with Toyota service on the phone to tell him where under the hood to make those contacts. Due to my astonishment about such a design oversight I plan to bother Toyota big time. . . . Someone may have to commit Hari Kari over this issue.
Any suggestions about whom to contact?
Also have I damaged the battery by draining it?
Has anyone else been disappointed with Toyota service deparment’s lack of expertise on the Prius? The Toyota mechanic actually told me that he only knew the 2008’s and 2009’s. This incident happened on 2/19/2011 with a 2010 vehicle. Something very wrong there.

By: BLIND GUY

BLIND GUY — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:22:38 +0000

01-17-11 We just traded in our 07 Prius with 120K miles for a 2010 Prius V. We’re not crazy about the low-profile tires and are wondering if we have flat spots on the tires from sitting for some time at the Dealer. I am also hopeing that the nickel metal hydride battery wasn’t compromised by sitting for months also. EV mode has not been available yet and that is why I thought we might have a battery problem. I am somewhat relieved to hear that others have similar experience with the EV mode. We had a 6″ crack in our 07 Prius front bumper from scraping, so now we are trying backing in our driveway instead and so far it’s working to prevent scraping the front bumper.

By: Unhappy Prius owner

Unhappy Prius owner — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 22:56:40 +0000

I agree with the lumbar support. My new 2010 Prius is causing me major back pain. My dealer has suggested putting in an added power lumbar support. Has anyone had good luck with this?

By: Bill B

Bill B — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 18:21:47 +0000

Two recommendations:

1.) Keep the ICE off for a longer period when backing-up. It comes on almost immediately even with a near fully charged battery.

2.) Automatically turn the headlights off when stopped. I lived in Japan for 7 years and it was customary to turn the lights off when you are were the lead car stopped at an intersection. No need to unnecessarily load the battery and it could become a “Prius Thing” in the states.