Prius owners constructively talk to Toyota

[budput]

I think Prius owner's have a lot of ideas about how Toyota should change the Prius to make it better. I am sure that if we contruct a list of these ideas Toyota will discover it pretty quickly, and may even find some of them useful.
I'd suggest we stick to things which are or appear to be doable without a major engineering development program. Let's have each suggestion start with the model year you know it applies to. I'll get the ball rolling with a few ideas of my own. (I am not an employee or consultant or anything like that for Toyota.)

1. 2006 model- Describe in the owner's manual potential problems which may arise because of Prius features which are not found in conventional cars.
(Examples: 12 volt battery discharge in cars unused for 10 or more days, fuel tank capacity that varies with temperature and delivery hose pressure)

2. 2006 model (maybe all Toyotas)- Avoid as much as possible controls that toggle, i. e., controls for which on and off require identical driver input. The parking brake is the worst offender; if you are driving and suspect it is on you must (or should) stop before giving it another push.
Suggest all push button switches become rockers, where pushing the top corresponds to on.

3. 2006 model- Put a switch under the hood to disconnect the 12V battery when car is parked for a long time.

4. 2006 model- The hybrid battery stores much more energy than the 12V battery, and the 12V is charged electronically (dc-dc converter). Modify the electrics so recharge can occur if needed when car is parked. This may be merely a software fix? This will save installing the switch just mentioned.

5. 2006 model- Reverse the backup camera display right for left so it mimics the rear view mirror.

6. 2006 model- Make the gear shifting more instinctive. Have a knob you push to go forward, pull to reverse, push down to go to neutral.

[vincent]

7. Eliminate the Bluetooth and Navigation "lock out" while the car is moving. Duhh; that's when you use this stuff!

[TundraSoul]

Toyota product, marketing, and executive personnel visit TundraSolutions.com several times a week. So it's very likely any list you compile will be seen by them. In addition service, management, and individual dealer employees from all over login everyday. A nice product improvement list is a great idea so keep the suggestions coming.

[jeeva]

I am using Japanese model of the Prius (nov 2005) which is very latest with HDD navigation, 6 CD/DVD changer and VGA display etc etc. Intelligent Parking Assist, works very fine especially when needed.... Still the confusing point is with all those stuff loaded how can one use all the features... not in the vehicle life time.... Freezing the MFD while the vehicle is in motion is really really immature thing to do....

Similarly all those blue tooth connectivity does not work with all the phones that claim the Bluetooth ... Result u buy new devices..... what is the point??

Now a days, a cell phone without any memory and all those hifi features IS most common. After all, u want to receive a call and dial a number .... they why have so many features.... go and buy a digital camera if you want to one ... why that camera with less resolution be built in the mobile phone.....
All those guys out there wanted to make money some way or other....and keep changing the models .....now the BluRay HD-DVD ... will outlaw the existing players and recorders...

anyway... may be someone will have a different opinion....

You r left out in the desert with all those hifi stuff...

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[budput]

2006 model and others- I turned off my AC while driving my Sienna, and the thought hit me: All I had to do was push a button. In the Prius I would have to bring up the climate screen, look at it and touch the right spot, then go back to the screen I like to watch (which usually shows over 50 mpg). Lots of time with eyes off the road. I recommend getting rid of touch screen controls, and estimate I have the chance of a snowball in hell to get Toyota to go for that one.

[budput]

In my posting which started this thread I was in error about the backup camera. In fact it is connected to have the same left-right convention as the rear view mirror. Sorry, Mr. Toyota. I found that backing up using it as a guide was difficult with the fisheye lens and that confused me. I'm not opposed to the fisheye, since it is needed to provide the wide field of view. So scratch No. 5 off my list.

[MattInMD]

Originally Posted by budput

5. 2006 model- Reverse the backup camera display right for left so it mimics the rear view mirror.

Erm, your camera isn't reversed? The factory one in my 2006 Prius is. As far as I know, they're all wired to produce a mirror image.

For example, an object on the passenger-side rear of the vehicle (such as my neighbor's trashcan) appears in the right side of my mirror, and also the right side of the MFD screen from the camera.

If the camera wasn't mirrored, it would appear on the left of the MFD screen, which is how the object would appear if you turned around and looked out the back window. Facing that way, you'd see it to your left.

[stwspoon]

Originally Posted by budput

2006 model and others- I turned off my AC while driving my Sienna, and the thought hit me: All I had to do was push a button. In the Prius I would have to bring up the climate screen, look at it and touch the right spot, then go back to the screen I like to watch (which usually shows over 50 mpg). Lots of time with eyes off the road. I recommend getting rid of touch screen controls, and estimate I have the chance of a snowball in hell to get Toyota to go for that one.

My 2006 has an 'Auto AC' button on the steering wheel to turn off the AC, but it turns off everything. I still have to use the touch screen if I want to leave the fan on and turn off just the AC.

Stan

[FotoCEO]

2004 model -

Eliminate the beeping when in reverse inside the car. I could see having it beep outside the car since pedestrians nearby may not realize that the car is on, but the driver and passengers don't need the alert.

Tie the nav. lockout to the passenger sensor for the seatbelt - thus allowing the nav. to be used when a passenger is in the front passenger seat.

[baumbr]

Please revise the Owner's Manual.

A. Have the manual reviewed and edited by a person who speaks English as their primary language. Sometimes the nuances in phrasing get awkward.

B. Gather all the information regarding a particular system or function into a single section for that function. For example, I found information on the various different ways to start the car scattered throughout the manual, some of which were not in the "how to start this thing" section (2006 Prius). (As the local Dodge dealer said, "It takes a PhD to run this car.")

[remonical]

Originally Posted by FotoCEO

2004 model -

Eliminate the beeping when in reverse inside the car. I could see having it beep outside the car since pedestrians nearby may not realize that the car is on, but the driver and passengers don't need the alert.

To FotoCEO, et al:

Thanks to a fellow Prius owner, you can easily fix the beeping problem. This worked on my 2004:

Reverse Beep

To turn off the "beep" when putting the car in reverse, follow the
instructions inserted below. Enjoy the silence .

1. Power on the car to IG-ON or READY. IG-ON will do for this purpose.

2. Using the Trip/ODO button, set the Trip/ODO display to ODO (not Trip
A or Trip B)

3. Power off the car.

4. Now power the car to READY (brake on). This is required so that step
6 works correctly.

5. Within 6 seconds of powering on, press and hold the Trip/ODO button
for 10 seconds or more.

6. WHILE STILL HOLDING ODO *after* the 10 seconds, shift the "gear"
selector from P to R, then back to P. Now release the Trip/ODO button.

7. If the last step was successful, "b on" or "b off" should be
displayed in the location where the Trip Odometer or Odometer is
normally displayed. "b on" is beep on, and "b off" is beep off.

8. Press Trip/ODO to toggle the mode.

9. Now power the car off to exit the toggle mode.

10. Power the car on to READY and confirm the reverse beep status by
shifting to R. The beep should not be audible if "b off" was selected,
and should be audible if "b on" was selected


Tie the nav. lockout to the passenger sensor for the seatbelt - thus allowing the nav. to be used when a passenger is in the front passenger seat.

There is a procedure for disabling this on my 2004 Prius in a previous post. It should be available with a search. I understand that it does not work on the 2006. But some variation of the procedure may, so experiment some.

[remonical]

My last post about the procedure for turning off the disable feature while in motion was not supposed to have the last line about the passenger seat belt hook-up. That is a good idea, but would require breaking into the wiring.

Also, the last paragraph was supposed to be under the FotoCEO's post about the nav system lockout, but it didn't show for some reason. Sorry if there was any confusion.

[zenMachine]

I wish Toyota US would explain why even the touted Touring Edition (ya, right) only has 4-way adjustable driver seat. This is 2007, not 1987, for crying out loud!

The Prius is way overdesigned in many aspects, and yet the simplest and most basic feature is missing. Way to go, Toyota!

[zenMachine]

BTW, I've just found out that in Europe the standard Prius is equipped with
height-adjustable driver seats, as can be seen in the specs here:

Toyota - Prius

Why not in the US, I wonder.

[Swanny1172]

How about integrating the owner's manual into the multi-information display?

To me, this seems like a no brainer. You already have a touch screen system in the dash, so why not load in the owner's manual information, index it and make it searchable. Then, you could tie it to any malfunction warnings so that if one is displayed, you could click it and go to the corresponding section in the manual.

The technology is already there, but Toyota just needs to take the next step.