The Death of a Thousand Paper Cuts

"Leftie" wrote in message news:ywezq.1884$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe09.iad...

Nasty, cheap, out-gassing plastics, a rainwater leak that ruined the carpet, design flaws from excessive engine cooling in cold weather to controls too small to operate with gloved hands and a vent that makes an amazing, almost constant rattling noise when the car is moving, our 2010 Prius II has exactly one thing to recommend it: high fuel economy. They could have done so much better. I'm being reminded of one of Toyota's more crass "features" this week: the oil change reminder. We have the two year free maintenance package with our lease, and they will only change the oil every 10k miles, because that is the factory recommended interval with full synthetic oil. The oil change reminder light, however, comes on every *5k* miles. At first it goes out after a few seconds, but once the 5k milestone has passed, it can only be blanked by pressing the "Display" button - or by taking the car to a Toyota dealer for a customer-financed oil change, or telling the dealer to reset the #@!@@ reminder. There is no excuse for this, as this dash is used in the Prius only, and the Prius uses only synthetic oil. They just want to wring a few more dollars from their vict, er, customers...

The instructions for resetting the oil change reminder are in the manual. Takes about 10 seconds.

Also, the 5,000-mile required service does not call for an oil change, just a check of the oil level.

That reminds me of another complaint: the manual is too bloody long, with no condensed section of essential instructions. I'm familiar with "RTFM" and I did try, but I may have to wait for the movie. Scratch that: we did watch the "movie" that comes with the car, and it wasn't much help. Still, I'll find out how to reset it. And really, a reminder for "check of the oil level"???

So how much longer is the lease?

I've never consider leasing and haven't looked that the costs. So what are the terms and conditions?

At the end of the lease, you turn the car in and hopefully find something more to your liking. But I'm curious about the lease cost per mile. At the end, what do you expect the final miles to come in and total lease cost?

I had always assumed leasing was an option more for those who can expense the lease for business purposes. Since I'm not self-employed, this has never been an option.

Thanks, Bob Wilson

Three year lease, $179 a month. It would have been $3k down, but Toyota paid $1k of it - after boosting the retail price with things like chrome panels, of course. Selling our old Camry wagon covered almost all the up-front cost. 13k miles per year limit, buy after lease option of $15k and some change. We thought the latter was a good deal, back when we thought we'd be keeping the car. We've never leased before, and only did it this time because it was the easiest way for us to afford what we though was a great car. Live and learn.

Thanks!

Due to Alabama's "papers please" law, I had to payoff my wife's car, $13k, with 23,000 miles on it after 15 months. If I remember, we were paying ~$230/mo. Regardless, it is ours free and clear so we've dropped collision.

It is one reason I suggest folks rent the car for a couple of days. This 'takes the new off' and if the car doesn't work out, you're free to find one that does work. Sorry it didn't work out but I learned a long time ago that requirements vary and folks have to make choices that work for them.

Good luck on your next car, Bob Wilson

We didn't mind the car for almost a year, so that wouldn't have worked. The controls were always too small for me, but not for her, and we thought the interior plastics' outgassing would stop in a reasonably short time (the plastic still smells bad after more than a year). It did badly enough on ice that we were having second thoughts, but that was several months after we bought it. The cruise control was improperly set up, and the car would indeed unintentionally accelerate under certain conditions, but that was fixed at the first service stop. Part of why I'm posting this is to help people who want a "Greener" car but aren't necessarily fixated on the Prius. To them I'd say "look at the Civic hybrid", although I've had two older Civics develop rainwater leaks under the windshield, so may there are *no* good cars out there...

On Nov 24, 11:31 pm, Leftie wrote: . . .

Understood but in my case, the first Prius was a 2003 Prius bought in

I did try snow and ice testing during a 2-3 day period when there was snow and ice on some of the back roads. I was trying to replicate the braking 'pause' problem but had no luck. I even did an emergency stop on a road where thanks to the pine tree shade, half was snow and ice and the other half dry . . . no problem. Also, some maximum acceleration up a snow covered, steep hill, no problem. The traction control/ABS worked perfectly and I had full control. It took another

We never had a problem but I remember reading about Steve Wozniak being surprised by a 'resume' function in the adaptive cruise control. Surprised but easily dealt with.

Actually, I'm more of a 'greenback dollar' fan given I live in a state with no safety, emissions testing or checking. However, every now and then I'm stuck behind a pickup that has been 'fixed' by some 'anti- liberal, shade-tree mechanic' and reminded of the stench. We also have motorcycle clubs that do a good job of being noisy, smelly and inefficient. Still, it is easy enough to close the cabin air intake and crack the windows.

Those 'retro' modified vehicles don't last long as fuel injection, modern emissions control engines. They combine the inefficiency of the old crappy carburetor based and unreliability of the plumber's nightmares of the 1970 and 80s. Dummies, I have no sympathy for the what reality will teaches them.

We found the Civic and Insight to be too small for us. My wife has bad knees and squatting down to get in the Hondas would be too painful. Then when I tried to get in the Insight, I hit my head hard enough to see a 'flash.' I had a similar experience with a Jetta TDI. There are some cars that are just too small for us.

Regardless, it sounds like you've got a better idea of what to look for in your next car.

GOOD LUCK! Bob Wilson

what does THAT mean?