The "most experienced tech" (in several employees' words) at my Toyota dealer admitted to having no idea how to adjust anything. "These things have only been out a few months now" was what I was told in July. No offer on this part to find an answer and get back to me. I've managed Help Desks before and I wouldn't tolerate a tech being so unhelpful to a customer. But that's just me, I guess....

 

Had my first iol change today. 0W20..


And they charged me 20$ for the ''default to recirc'' reprogram. While I was giving a Hybrid 101 course to my salesman
Bob

 

H Jreas - great review, especially as a previous Prius owner.

One note about recirculation: The system is, generally, entirely automatic based on your climate control requests at the time. Many people aren't aware, but the drivers side vent system houses an ionizer to filter/clean the air. Recirculating cabin air, in theory, cleans already cleaned/ionized air.

Additionally you can replace your cabin air filter with a stock HEPA filter - increasing the recirculating benefit.

Colorado generally has beautiful crisp clean air (I used to live in Longmont) but there are definitely places where this becomes a benefit.

 

Interesting that we have the same two cars down to the year. Mine are Millennium Silver (Prius) and Magnetic Gray. Aside from the mechanical differences you've noticed, I've got my own list of advantages/disadvantages for each.

I prefer the Prius for headroom and legroom, but the Camry is wider so you can fit three in the back more easily (though I rarely carry that many passengers). People have often expressed surprise over the generous legroom in the Prius. The Prius has a lot more cargo space because of hatchback design (probably also has to do with tank and/or battery size as well).

The Prius has a 6-CD changer while the Camry's only holds 4. But the one in the Camry will play MP3s. Maybe the newer Prius's also have that capability.

The Camry's fuel economy display (bar graph) shows one-minute increments, which I prefer to the five-minute increments on the Prius; also the Camry remembers the graph values between drives. I prefer the Camry's analog instrumentation to the all-digital Prius panel. I do prefer the layout of controls on the steering wheel in the Prius, but that's probably because I've been driving it longer. The MFD button on the Prius steering wheel to switch between displays is very convenient.

The Camry has an optional moonroof, which I have. Also I have the heated seats. (Both cars are loaded with options.)

The Prius has an extra storage compartment in the front of the armrest.

Overall I'd say it's a toss-up between the two cars. I will sell the Prius soon, it being the older car, but when it's time to replace the Camry I may just go back to another Prius.