[03Jill]

I got on 3 dealer lists 2 weeks ago (2 in VA and 1 in Cheyenne, WY) but now after reading some of the posts here I'm getting a little scared about the potential problems. Maybe I will get a 2005 and they will have some of these things fixed? :shock: We have a 2003 Prius and have had no problems in the 18 months and over 30,000 miles we've had it. It has run great and we have never even seen a warning light. We are keeping it and the new car will be mine. I wanted a Crysler 300, but my husband will not even hear of it (just another piece of Detroit iron).

I have asked for any color but white and Pkg #9 (a must). I hope I get Tidewater Pearl or Driftwood Pearl or Black. If I get Black then I will have to get the windows tinted because it looks so sharp in the pictures. I keep looking for Prius' in the area and have only seen Salsa Red and a Silver in the 2004 model. Would sure like to see some of the other colors in person. Oh well.

I promise I will not use the little faces any more. :!: It's just that I have never done this before and it looked kind of fun.

I sure have had fun reading all the posts at this site.

 

[john1701a]

> I'm getting a little scared about the potential problems

I've never had a problem. The 2004 has worked flawlessly.

In fact, I haven't even witnessed any gauge weirdness.

What would you be concerned about?

 

[zonakicker]

2004 - 19k miles with no problem

03Jill,

Have had mine since November, other than a couple screws in one of the tires there has been no problem with mine. We did get a recall notice recently about a programming thing and the warning light - but I have not experienced any problem. Will be taking it in next week for that and a routine oil change.

Sounds like one of my friends that is putting off buying a PC because he wants to wait for the latest and greatest and one that had all of the software glitches fixed. He'll be waiting forever...

 

[Michael Maddox]

What problems, specifically, are you speaking of? I don't think the model has had too many problems associated with it...except AVAILABILITY. I can't think of any at all that would make me reconsider the car....just isolated instances of things you're likely to hear from ANY group of car owners. Anything on your mind?

I love my 04.

 

[03Jill]

getting scared

I read about the warning light problem that some have experianced and also about the cost of repairs. I am excited to get my car and will get the toyota extended warrenty. Like I said we love our 03.

 

[DAVID]

I've had my 04 since the beginning of February. I've put on more than 10,000 miles and I've never seen a warning light or had any other problems. And I don't expect to, either.

 

[windsurfdog]

Perfect over 3500 miles....and 49 mpg as well.

 

[Daniel]

03Jill: There has never been a car model in history with a 100% perfect record. Some percentage of cars will develop problems. And nowadays, when they do, many owners will find web groups like this, and others, to post their problems, either to vent their frustration, or to get advice and solutions from other owners.

Toyota has one of the best records of carmakers today. Yes, some people have had problems with the Prius. But if you are going to buy a car at all, the Prius is an excellent value for a fantastic car, and there is no other make/model of car less likely to break down. And most cars sold today are far more likely to break down.

Plus, the hybrid system (basically, as I understand it, everything that would not be in a conventional car) is covered by the 8-year/100,000-mile warranty.

I am approaching 3,000 miles with mine, and I have had no problems. I seem to have a usable gas-tank capacity of only about 7.5 gallons (filling as soon as the last bar starts blinking, and stopping at the first click), but those 7.5 gallons last me about 3 weeks and there's still a gallon or so in reserve, so it's not a problem, and at 75 mph in a strong cross-wind I have to concentrate to keep the car going straight, but you get much better mileage at 65 anyway.

My advice is, don't worry. This is a great car.

 

[Prz]

03Jill,

If the 05 Prius model did not change from the 04, then you have nothing to worry about. If there is a problem with the design or programming, Toyota will fix it as soon as possible, regardless of model changes. Now if some component was already going through a change for the next model year, they might decide not to redesign it.

From the posts on this forum, it appears that nothing will change for 05. You need not worry.

 

[mrv]

There are a lot of happy owners out there.
It's kinda boring to come onto a usergroup and say "everything is fine."

quite often, people will only join/post if they have a problem.

just so you're aware, you'll usually see a higher percentage of "trouble" posts than there really is for a particular model...

 

[03Jill]

Not scared anymore

Folks,

Thanks for all the posts addressing my concerns about the potential problems with my soon (I HOPE!) new car. It is true that most people will not tell of great experiences with their cars. Although I think that this site may be the exception to the rule.

I can hardly wait to get my car. I know that it has only been about 3 weeks. How in the world did you people get thruogh the waiting? This site has helped because I can live vicariously through all of you.

My husband did see a seaside pearl yesterday in DC and said he thought it looked kind of olive drab. It sure does not look like this in the pictures. Those of you that have that color, how would you describe it?

As for the NAV system, we have that in our 03 Prius and I can think of only a few instances where she was not right on. We call her Bell and because she has not been updated, in some cases she will be able only to take you to the block where the address is. We have taken her from VA to WY and a bunch of places around VA and use Bell all the time. I did find when we first got her that if I kept missing turns and she would re-route me that I would tense up waiting for her to yell at me. It's strange but true. It took me awhile to program my brain that she will not change her tone of voice.

I have thought from the time we got 03 that it would be fun to get a giant plug to hang out of the trunk. You've seen the cat ones? Has anyone seen something like that? We moved from Arlington, VA, close to DC, to Woodbridge VA because we have a Hybrid and now VA is talking about not letting Hybrid drivers drive alone in the HOV because there are so many on the road (this is what a Honda general manager told me the other day). I will admit that I am not the "Green Type" and would like the plug to discourage others from looking into getting a Hybrid. HOW SELFISH OF ME! Not to worry all you GREENIES out there. Husband Bill is one of you and keeps me in line.

 

[Daniel]

Mine is blue. I think that's the color they call seaside pearl. At first I did not care for it because it's a darker blue than my old Civic was. That was a great car. I'm not good at descriptions. Maybe my Civic was the blue of the sky and my Prius is the blue of the sea where the water's miles deep and the sky is a bit overcast. Or maybe not. You get used to it. Unless it's a color you really don't like (I'd never want a red car!) then don't worry about the exact color. This car is so great, whatever color you get will become your favorite car color.

I cannot say about the NAV. I have a #7. No Nav. No real use for it in Fargo ND.

 

[AgentElrond]

03Jill, my wife drives our own 2003 with 10,149+ miles; I'm driving the 2004 with 1329+ miles - we haven't experienced any problems with either one.