A review of my 2014 Prius V

It has been almost exactly one month since I started driving my new Prius V. I've driven to and from work, around town, and gone on a lengthy roadtrip - from Alabama to Indiana and back. So, time to put down some detailed thoughts!

So to start with some background, I have a 40-minute mostly-highway commute to my current job. My previous car was a 1998 Saturn wagon. My main reason for buying a new car was to see if I could cut down on the amount of gas needed to get to and from work. Prius is still topping the charts for miles per gallon, and Toyota has a longstanding reputation for making good cars. Therefore, I wanted a Prius. (I don't buy cars to make political statements and I don't care what people think of other Prius drivers. I am not them.)

But I didn't want the standard liftgate Prius. It's pretty obvious from the outside that there is no way I'll be able to see out the back of that from the inside, which is kind of important for things like left turns and lane changing. Style is great and all, but not if the back window is a slit. :p

Then one day I saw the Prius C. Same super high MPG, but with an actual back window! I test drove it and overall liked it, but the engine felt really wimpy, which was disappointing (though perhaps not actually surprising). It also felt much less like I was in a barrel, which was my impression from sitting in the liftgate Prius. I started making mental plans to buy one anyway despite the engine being less powerful than the Saturn.

Then my next-door neighbor argued in favor of the V. He used to work at a Toyota dealership and in his opinion, the price tag on the C is not worth the amount of car you get, and the V was the best option. I looked it up. Lower on the MPG, but lots of features and more space for when I need to do house moves or buy furniture and etc. Better engine than the C. I got one.

Things I like

It has millions of cupholders. Finally, I own a car where I'll never run out of places to put cups.

Technologically, it's a big step up from the Saturn, which has manual rolldown windows and a cassette deck. (Do they even make cars with manual windows anymore?) It has a big entertainment console with many buttons.

I can open the driver door without having to pull out a key. The manual indicates that this should also be possible for the other doors (I'm particularly interested in doing that for the back), but I haven't figured out how yet.

It can make tighter turns than both the Saturn and the 1988 Plymouth Voyager before it (and for that matter, the 1985 Camaro before that). This was something I definitely looked for in the newest car - after 20 years, I am tired of not being able to do u-turns.

The built-in braking safety features has already helped me avoid a head-on collision. Idiot was trying to pass several cars while he had no actual room to maneuver, and I had to come to nearly a full stop on the highway (from 60).

The moonroof that I paid extra for. I open that in the evenings when it's cooler, because I like being able to see the trees overheard as I'm driving along. I foresee some stargazing in my future (not while driving). A note: the actual roof doesn't open to outside air - it's just the shades that slide back and forth.

The back seats are independently adjustable like the front seats, instead of being basically a bench. It's unlikely I'll personally ever enjoy these, but nice to have for my passengers.

The dashboard is low enough for me to not feel like I'm in a car made for much taller people. (I'm not that tall.) It's a nice change from when I last drove a minivan. Getting in and out in general is very carlike rather than vanlike.

For the front two-thirds of the car, it's a lot bigger on the inside than it looks from the outside.

It has a rear outlet for plugging in electric coolers. That will certainly make long-distance food transport more convenient.

Fuel Efficiency Observations

I probably should've expected it, since the V's MPG is rated lower than the C's, but I am still buying more gas than I was aiming for. In the Saturn during a normal workweek and weekend activities, I would have to get more gas every 5-6 days. In the V, I'm refueling about every 10 days.

Interstate travel doesn't really save any more gas than in a standard car. When driving between Alabama and Indiana, I had to stop for gas the same number of times as I did with the Saturn (which is actually no slouch in the fuel efficiency dept). On the other hand, I did drive faster than I normally did in the Saturn. On the other other hand, based on the graphics on the V's console, fuel efficiency is actually the same at 80 mph as it is at 70 mph, which is never the case in normal cars....

I was hoping that the electric-only would really shine during traffic jams. I mean, on paper, you wouldn't need to use any gas at all as you coast along at low speeds, right? Unfortunately, the battery loses its charge quite fast, and then the engine has to come on to recharge it. You conserve the most energy at a full stop, and you have to coast at a speed of 8 mph or higher for the battery to charge. In all the traffic delays I was in on my roadtrip, we spent a lot of time doing 5, which seems to be the worst for battery drain.

The car is at its most fuel efficient when driving around in a city without going faster than 30 mph. At that speed, it spends most of its time running off the electric motor and hardly at all on the gas engine. I sadly don't live in such a city. Most of the time I'm going at least 40.

The V can compete with pickup trucks when the light turns green. It just isn't very fuel efficient when I do that.

Things I'm not as fond of

The back compartment is actually smaller than the Saturn's, with a higher floor. There's a pull-cover device that can be used to keep people from seeing your stuff, but when it's set up, the bar reduces the depth. The higher floor also means that it's harder to get large bulky items in and out (did I mention I'm not very tall). The Saturn also has a wide flat surface on the way in, which is great for sliding things, that the Prius V doesn't have.

It is still really hard to see out the back. The rear right blind spot is gigantic. It makes lane changes a major problem, and I spend a lot of time wishing that there was more window and less wall in that back corner. And here I thought that rear visibility was a step down when I went from the Voyager to the Saturn, but by comparison, the Saturn is much better than the Prius. Maybe ten years from now when I'm ready to buy the next car, someone will have made a hybrid with fuel efficiency like the Prius, but with real back windows.

The car came with three years of free Entune. I tried to use it during my roadtrip. Unfortunately, it requires Internet access via my phone, and my phone is old with a weak antenna. There is no such thing as signal in the hills of southern Tennessee. I don't spend a lot of time needing Internet features in my car on a daily basis, so likely I'll just let that expire when the time comes.

Some thoughts about electric cars

The main thing that keeps me from considering an electric car as my next car: lack of feasibility for long distance road trips. They cannot presently go for up to 15 hours without stopping. I can see three possible ways to fix that:

a) Make a car battery that can last 15 hours without stopping. :p I assume this is unlikely, considering that laptop batteries only last for 2...

b) Make a car battery that can be charged back to full within 10-15 minutes. Most of the blurbs I've seen talk about 2-3 hours. I'm not going to pull into a battery station and sit there for 2-3 hours while it charges, when I can pull into a gas station and be gone again in 5-10 minutes.

c) Make it so that the car batteries are interchangeable and can be easily replaced. I pull into the battery station, remove my depleted battery, trade it for a fully charged battery, and get back on the road. This doesn't have to be free (I'd assume some sort of nominal charge if there's a station attendant that does this), but it also shouldn't mean actually purchasing a new battery at full price each time. It probably would require all the car manufacturers to agree on a standard battery design. Ideally, it should be simple enough that I can change it myself without being professionally certified in the procedure.

How about hybrid cars then? If the gas charges the battery, then the battery can last 15 hours, and then the only difference would be fewer stops for gas. I could do that.

"Saturn car key won't go into ignition" revisited

I have a Saturn wagon. Last summer I talked about a problem where it wouldn't let me put the key into the ignition, and how I solved it at the time. An additional followup to that: after a while I discovered that I could get the key into the ignition if I just banged on the steering column from underneath. That was much less tiring than the wrestling I was doing.

Nowadays I'm not having that problem anymore - it magically vanished after I had a bunch of unrelated problems fixed at a place other than the Saturn dealership. (Incidentally, to follow up what happened there - the epilepsy was due to a jammed door lock switch. They replaced both, everything is working great now.) Did the ignition problem vanish because they found and fixed it too? Or is it just due to a change in the weather from summer super-muggy hot to late fall "reasonable"? I don't know.

Why am I writing this post? Because someone googled on "Saturn car key won't go into ignition" and only found my post about Saturn customer service. I thought I'd be helpful and link in every part of the whole saga. :) For the executive summary: try banging on it from underneath.

Ahhh... Real Life.

On Friday one of my tires was nearly flat due to a nail. I had that patched and also had them all rotated.

On Saturday the car had an epileptic fit in lieu of starting. I met a taxi driver who wants to someday go into the music industry, perhaps as a producer, but starting out as a DJ. Mr. Squirrel paid the fare with food. After work I drove home in his car (and a coworker drove it back to the store).

On Sunday I discovered that it only takes half an hour to walk between the far side of the mall and my apartment. Also, that flowers still bloom in Savannah in November.

On Sunday evening I discovered what it means to gladly be the omega of a good pack rather than the alpha of a bad one. Also, I desperately need to learn more Spanish than "goh-mah-loh" (shrimp fried rice).

On Monday I met a tow truck driver whose mother died three days ago, he can't afford to go to her funeral, his father is messed up on drugs, his little sister ran off with some guy when she was eighteen and hasn't been seen since, his firstborn son died in infancy, and his wife is five months pregnant. Meanwhile, the garage decided my main problem was a dead battery, when in fact the dead battery was caused by the car's epileptic fits.

Tuesday morning the car goes back to the garage. Maybe I'll manage to get some words written in edgewise.

Food in Cars

The absolute best way to have food for a long roadtrip is to have a small fridge that plugs into the cigarette lighter. Unfortunately, this requires both a large, roomy car and a small fridge that can plug into a cigarette lighter. Many people don't have one or both of these, and nowadays there are many more uses for the cigarette lighter than having it occupied the whole time by a fridge, so the next best thing is a good cooler.

Mine has a flat-top hinge lid, which is easier to open and close while driving than the pushbutton swivel kind. I have a water bottle that screws into the lid, which starts the trip frozen. I also have several small gelpacks that thaw slower and can last up to 12 hours, which I place at either end and along the bottom. They make soda-can-shaped freezepacks meant to be placed between cans, but in my opinion those take up too much room that could be better filled with edibles. The cooler itself is large enough to hold up to eight cans of soda (or juice, or other non-alcoholic beverages) and leave a small bit of space at the top. Usually I bring four drinks at most and fill the rest with food.

The best road food comes in bite-sized pieces that can be eaten one-handed, requires no utensils, and is not too messy. Anything with a runny sauce is right out. Good choices are carrot and celery sticks, bananas, dried fruit (raisins, craisins), most nuts (not pistachios still in the shell), some types of chips that aren't too crumbly, pretzel sticks, popcorn, meat jerkies. (I'm not sure candy counts as "food.") Sandwiches work better cut into quarters and with nothing in them that will drip. Pepperoni or salami are better than other meats because those won't spoil instantly if left in the sun on the dashboard or passenger seat instead of properly put back in the cooler while not actively being eaten. I often bring a bag of pizza-sized slices to eat by themselves instead of bothering with a whole sandwich. Some wet fruits will work, such as strawberries or apples if there is a paper towel to catch any drips. Oranges will not; too much peeling. Yogurt will work if there is a good cupholder to put it down during bad traffic.

Hot food can also be bought on the road. Plain (no sauce) chicken nuggets and french fries are good. If it's something that can't be put down on an unstable surface or in a cupholder between bites, park the car somewhere first.

Aside from the food itself, bring a whole roll of paper towels. They're good as napkins and you never know if you might spill something. Have an empty paper bag for trash - paper because those are easier to reach into one-handed without looking, as they stand open all by themselves. If there will be a lot of wet trash, put the paper bag in a plastic bag. Place the cooler, paper towels, and trash bag all within easy reach of the driver seat.

All of the above, of course, is intended for long road trips with only the driver in the car who is trying to cover the maximum possible distance in a minimum amount of time (that is, no stops longer than 10 minutes). A much wider variety of food is possible if there is someone else to open packages and keep things unlittered, or if meal stops are planned in. Also, much of what I do is geared toward not making a mess in the first place rather than having to clean up afterward.


This post is dedicated to bakho, who thinks I post too much about food, and Rebelcat, who thinks I post too much about cars. :)

The Rise and Fall of Saturn Customer Service

Back in the days of yore, when Saturn was much vaunted for its high quality customer service, oil changes came with red carpets. The complimentary car wash came with RainX on the windshield and vacuum of the entire car, not just the front floorboards. There were donuts, coffee, and popcorn free for the taking. Once, someone left a carnation on my dashboard.

Alas those days seem to have gone. My last oil change came with service staff that did their best to ignore my presence and anything I had to say about my car. They were so spectacularly good at this that they even managed to ignore me while talking to me. The woman behind the counter made fun of my name. The mechanic overcharged me with glee ($90 for a diagnostic of why my key won't go into the ignition? $80 for a new sideview mirror?? $45 for windshield wipers???). I had to dig my car out of their packed parking lot instead of having it conveniently pulled up front where I could leave with ease.

In short, all the reasons why I bought a Saturn in the first place seem to have evaporated. Now I have to go back to demanding that they show me every little car innard they claim is broken, calling around for price estimates and second opinions, and convincing big burly blue-collar-looking guys to take it in on my behalf.

At least the donuts and popcorn are still good. Probably a good thing that those are made by someone else. Not that I'll be enjoying them again.

In-car entertainment circles back to the past

First, there was radio. Then there were 8 tracks. Then there were cassette decks. Then there were CDs. Now it's all MP3s. Which means that we're actually back to radio.

I bought an attachment for my iPod yesterday to allow it to play music through my car stereo. It turns out that it can actually play music through any radio - which should've come as no surprise, but I hadn't thought it through that far. It certainly saves me from buying separate iPod speakers.

The Cutting of Corners

Never, ever take shortcuts about anything. Ever.

It will always come back to bite you. If not right away, then later on when you are least inclined to be bitten. If not you, then someone else. You don't want it to bite someone else, anymore than you want someone else's shortcuts to bite you. Do not do unto others what you would not want done unto to you.

fuzzy steering wheel covers

Fuzzy steering wheel covers are great for all seasons. In the winter they keep the steering wheel from being icy cold, and in the summer they keep it from being searing hot. They can be tossed in the washer. They come in all sorts of colors and patterns, they're cheap, and they're sold in fine automotive stores everywhere. Plus they're fuzzy - can't beat that.

Mine broke. Now my hands suffer until I have time to get another one.

*mutter mutter*

My next car shall be able to make "real" U-turns.

-.-

How to get into a hot car

In the heat of summer, the first thing I do when I reach my car is to open all the doors. First the front passenger, then the rear passenger, then the back gate (it's a station wagon), then the rear driver's side, then the driver. Then I roll down the windows in reverse order - driver, rear driver's side, front passenger. (The windows are manual; I fear floods. I skip the rear passenger window because I can't reach it from the driver's seat.) By the time I'm back at the front passenger door, the ovenlike heat wave has wafted its way out, and if I'm lucky there's enough of a breeze to cool the inside of the car to the same temperature as the outside. Then I close the doors in the same order I opened them, and get into the car with the last one.

People tend to stare at me while I'm doing all this. The one time I saw someone else doing this, they were sheepish and apologetic when they noticed me noticing. I guess it just doesn't look very cool. Even though the whole point is to end up cool.

Assorted Followups

1. Food. Seems that much of the time I think about food while I'm driving. Tonight it was "what should I eat?"

In the fridge I have:
a) at least two bowls left of spinach tofu soup (with rice noodles (which, incidentally, seems to be a misname, because it's actually "bean thread" and not rice)). Unfortunately I have no more clean pots left that I can use to heat it up if I want to also add an egg to it. It's possible to do the egg in the microwave, but it's a multistep process that doesn't work terribly well.

b) the rest of some cold buckwheat noodle soup from the Korean restaurant last weekend. I've already eaten everything that came in it other than noodles, so at this point it's just the noodles in a wasabi-flavored broth.

c) a baking potato, plus the sour cream, cheddar, butter, and fresh chives I could put into it. But I'm not in a potato mood.

d) a bowl of leftover egg noodles that I'd cooked yesterday to go with the broiled salmon, that in turn I made to go with the roadside corn (which was very very yummy, by the way). I also have a lot of the salmon sauce left.

Salmon sauce

• one 8oz container of sour cream
  
• juice of one lemon
  
• two tablespoons dijon mustard
  
• four tablespoons maple syrup
  
• fresh dill
  
• lemon zest (tiny shreds from the lemon rind)
  
• salt and black pepper
  
  Mix together and put over cooked salmon.
  

It sounds questionable from the ingredients list, but it's very tasty.

I also thought about ordering some hot wings from the southernish diner across the street from my apartment, Carey Hilliards. They're open late. But in the end, I decided to go with making more salmon to use up more of the sauce and also eat the rest of yesterday's noodles.

2. The car ignition revisited.

I figured out how to get around the problem with putting the key into the ignition. As soon as I turn off the car, I remove the key from the ignition, then put it right back in again. Sometimes getting it back in takes some jiggling, but it goes in. After that, when I pull it out the second time, it's still lined up by the time I get back to the car later. Problem solved ... at least for now.

The car is nearly 10 years old. I guess it's decided it's time to develop some character. I don't want a car with character, though - I just want a car that works. A car that's "invisible" in the same way good writing is. :P

3. Moon. Well, it's a waxing gibbous right now, but there's something more interesting to share from astronomy today. Namely: Earth and Jupiter, as seen from Mars. It was taken in 2003, but I didn't see it until today, so here it is today. :)

Thoughts on the way back home

1. Car.

My car has become increasingly cantankerous lately. It refuses to let me put the key in the ignition. This used to be a once-in-a-blue moon thing, but now it does this every other time I get into it.

The way to solve it, of course, is to turn the steering wheel just right, until it "unlocks." Figuring out how far to turn the wheel and which way, however, can be tricky. Especially if I turn it so far that not only is the key locked out of the ignition, the whole wheel gets locked down so I can no longer turn it at all - which means that when I do finally get the key into the ignition, it still won't crank until I turn the wheel some more. All of this occurs without power to the steering column, so sometimes after wrestling with it for 20 minutes I end up really tired as well as cranky.

2. Food.

Middle of the drive train of thought went something like:
a) What should I eat for dinner tonight?
b) Maybe I could bake a potato.
c) I wonder if my potted chives are recovered enough for another harvest yet.
d) Things that go on baked potatoes - sour cream and chives, cheddar cheese and bacon...
e) Hmm. Bacon. BacOs chips. I used to eat those things straight out of the plastic jar. Sooo unhealthy. Straight partially dehydrogenated veggie oil.
f) I remember when partial dehydrogenation was considered okay. Butter used to be bad. Now it's good.
g) Hmmm. food fads.
h) Clothes fashion trends.
i) Back in the 80's there was a fad about shoulder pads in all the tops - shirts, sweaters, jackets. You couldn't buy a top without having shoulder pads in them. We used to cut them out as soon as we got the clothes home. Later on the fashion dictators up top noticed that nobody liked them, and so then they all came with velcro. Then, a while after that, the whole thing thankfully disappeared.
j) Pants lengths. Bellbottoms back in the 70s, and now we're back to pants all the way down to the floor again.
k) "I could've been a Toreador!" "Not in those shoes, dear." (Jhael, in a WoD game on RPoL, 12 Jun 2007).
l) Good lord, how did I start thinking about all this? *rewind rewind rewind*

3. Moon.

(Actually, I was thinking about this one last night rather than tonight, but it's one of those recurring thoughts that probably won't go away until I do something about it.)

Last night's moon was a waxing crescent, hanging low in the western sky at midnight. It was lovely, sort of a creamy color with faded reds where clouds covered it.

I run a game where the moon comes up a lot. That is, its location in the sky at what time during what phases. I've yet to actually work it all out in my head, and really need to make myself a chart. Basically, though, I've simplified it down to:
a) full moon is directly overhead at midnight.
b) new moon is directly overhead at noon.
c) half moons should therefore be directly overhead at dawn or dusk (or 6pm). Which is at dawn and which is at dusk though?
d) And where does this put the crescents?