Want to say something nice.

Popular Mechanics did comparison test between 2 identical Prii, 200 000 miles apart.

They determined NO noticeable drop down in mpg, acceleration, engine power and any other specs they considered. Differences were negligent.

That being said, good hopes are our TCHs will turn out same way.

 

I would love to have a new Prius, especially for the mpg gain. I'm a big fellow a 6'4" at 300 pounds. I sit in a prius and the console seems in the way. I read a while back the 2012 prius will have wider seats. Even if they do I still like the size and ride of the TCH. I may jump for the new one but only if the mpg takes a big EPA jump. I'm sure toyota will include many small improvements with their new model. I'm hoping they release lots of information other than pictures and advertisements on this Aug 23rd date.

The toyota tech here in town told me their are two prius here in town. One has 240,000 miles on it and the other 245,000. Around 250,000 one had to have the traction battery replaced. I think the battery cost is down to around $1100 for a new pack. The other prius had a couple of defective cells. It had the older replaceable plug in cells the prius used in their early models. Toyota quickly dropped that method and had better luck with the spot welded permanent cells. I would think the battery would have more consistent amps as the battery aged over the years.

 

6'5'' here, very broad shouldered. Prius will definitely not be a ride for me.

To be truthful, I have tried TCH, Hybrid Nissan, and was inside Sonata 2 weeks ago. TCH has the best shoulder, elbow, and knee room. People normally look at head and leg room, I judge differently. I judge by elbow, shoulder, and knee room. When one drives a lot, like I do, legs want to relax and knees float over to the sides. Both competitors have console that cuts into the knee and handles on the left side. Surprisingly, the only mpg good car that had same knee room was 91 Civic that I drove for a year. Door panels were concave where knees fall, and there was no center console.
For some reason, they keep making cars like canoes inside, and with every model it gets tighter and tighter.

 

I went looking for a replacement for my great riding '94 Corolla. I think it was then a new 2003 Honda Civic I sat in on the lot. I sat normally and all I could see was about 3" of the roof-line down in my viewing area. I would actually have to lean over to see straight ahead and be safe. This was when they had lowered the roof and leaned the windshield way back to increase the highway mpg.

I drove across town and tried a low priced 2003 Corolla. I liked the new way it sat up, and the windshield was no problem. We ordered one with the goodies we wanted. I kept that car for like 3 years but sold it due to it's sporty type ride when on trips. I went then with the 2006 Ford Five Hundred with the V6. Bad mistake, the car rode great, very roomy but electrical gremlins started after about 9 months. Lost a lot on that one, but went with the new 2007 TCH that's only been returned once for the accelerator trimming.

You talking about making cars like canoes, you should sit in some the old '38 Fords. Even the doors angled in at the bottoms.

I saw some TV documentary about early cars and how unsafe they were. Were lucky to live in a day and time when the cars, tires and highways are safer than ever. Just be cautions entering any intersection, especially one with a red light.

 

ha-ha. I had 2 Fords, was two too many.

well, those guys here not only had best room whatever but, also, set several records and, so far, no one can beat it's 100 miles driven electrical only record, for production vehicles.
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Ok on the Fords you had. In the old days, we used to say, fix or repair daily, that's a Ford. Ford had made huge quality improvements, especially in their Fusion and Focus line. The 2006 Ford I owned was the one and only for me. I'm sticking with the quality of Toyota. The '94 Corolla and this '07 TCH have saved me more money than any other cars I have ever owned.

One exception would be the '81 VW Rabbit diesel. That one got 50 to 55 city and 65 highway. I put 85,000 miles on it, and I got a nice resale for it to a small delivery company in Dallas.

Pretty good, who would ever thing a 1901 hybrid. Anything is possible, we had automatic transmissions in the 30's along with power steering and brakes. The latter operating by a clutch type method.

 

This is good news, though similar results have been reported previously in other sources. It tells me that the Toyota HSD system is "conservatively" engineered, and hence highly reliable.

A lot of people buy cars for performance, without a care that those cars need to visit their dealers several times a year for unscheduled repairs. I had several German cars, years ago, that each needed several thousand bucks of repair several times a year. They drove well, when they weren't in the shop. They were in the shop entirely too much of the time.

Since then, I have lost interest in "high performance" cars. I prefer "high reliability". Performance can be fun, but reliability is what gets you where you want to go.

 

I'm expecting a little more power from the new TCH engine. No doubt Toyota will have to use higher amp output batteries to up the mpg same as Ford did for their Fusion Hybrid. My guess is the mpg wars will really be interesting when both companies start using the lithium batteries.