The Toyota Prius may not have been the first mass-market gas-electric hybrid car (that title goes to the original Honda Insight), but it has become something of an icon for the green movement since being introduced to North America in 2001. That first-generation car only lasted three years here, as it had already been on sale in Japan since 1997. The second-gen car arrived for the 2004 model year and was a vast improvement over the original in many ways. Full Article
Holy Cow, that thing is basically a summary of key threads here at Priuschat!! It links directly to a number of the most significant threads with a little fluff here and there. It's well done, but we were clearly his main source of information.
From article... A number of Lexus models – which apparently use the same navi system as the Prius’ – also get lackluster ratings in CR’s “audio system” category. A poster in our forums tells us he was quoted $5,461 plus labour and taxes(!) to replace the faulty DVD player that was causing the problem in his Prius. This is enough to cause "Car Buyer's Remorse"...even with alll great things about the Prius. Toyota needs to cost down this area if this info is accurate.
Actually that poster was me! Yes indeed it cost that much for a replacement generation 3 navigation system! I went bug eyed! I just shook my head. Anyway, I found a guy parting out a Lexus IS300 and bought his for $100!!! Put it in and it works great!
Oh and I should point out that it was in Canadian Dollars converted from US as they could only get one from a US dealership! Incredible! My Chrysler Navigation system has been in my Neon since 2002 and I have never had a problem with it, and its an infinitely better unit than Toyota's. It actually reads out street names, highway's both in Canada and US. It had bluetooth back in 2002, and I even have Sirius, though I am going to switch to XM now. My prius has none of these things. But I still love it because its miles better than the ridiculous Garmin 760 I had. I mean what the heck is it doing suggesting I make a U turn when safe to do so on a two lane highway!!! or a U-turn on the 401!!! Defnitely not a good idea. Or when it took me on a nice 1/2 hour scenic route that I did not need to go through when I went a week later to Barrie in my Neon and then the following week in my Prius! Portable Nav's suck, I have had 4 different kinds and spent over $2000 on these "toys" and they are of no use. My garmin and TOM TOM failed after 2 years, at least my Toyota nav lasted all these years!
