One and all ...

How can you so easily overlook ...

That most, most useful feature that I am sure most of you live by and swear by ...

No, No - NOT the ECO switch
Nor - the fuel door
And No - not even the controls for lights or climate!

Surely you are in daily disarray without the guidance of the BLUE RINGS OF ECONOMY encircling the speedometer!

I know they are there ... I just never notice them until I stop and shut down.

How about the rest of you?

Will

 

From Smilin' Jack's list of the 25 dumbest things about the TCH:

(Those who saw my rant at the end of my post on No. 24 may have seen this coming.)

Number 23: The car will turn off the lights automatically within a minute of being turned off and having it's driver door locked. But It will not do this if the light switch position is changed (even if changed and then changed back) after the driver's door is opened.

What's so dumb about this? First the car lulls you into a false sense of security because it always seems to turn the lights off for you. Next it seems to wait until you are really going to need it in a hurry the next time you go to turn it on, and then it uses some undocumented exclusion to the rule to kill your battery. Cruel, cruel, cruel !

 

If you watch the step ladder graph of your current trip's fuel economy, the rings get added each time you achieve another milestone (going from one step to the next). It starts with a single blue line and grows at each step to reward you for being a good little camper.

 

I'm annoyed at how easily ECO mode goes off. If you manually cycle through the various modes, ECO turns itself off but does not turn itself back on. I understand that certain modes are designed NOT to use ECO, but how hard is it to remember to return to previous state when you manually re-enter an ECO-capable mode?

 

I earlier posted that the dumbest part for me, is the mandatory reset of the Trip A meter when resetting the "Maintenance Required" reminder.

Just back from a 1000+ mile trip (averaged 39.9MPG at 75-80 mph speeds with A/C on and some city driving) and I have a new "dumbest" thing. There is NO reason for the speedometer to be off by 2-3 mph. Our '05 Highlander is spot on. We rented a Chrysler Sebring (YUK!) last month, and it was spot on. With all the technology available, why, why, why did Toyota decide to not make the TCH's speedo accurate? They certainly have the capability. Is it to fool us into thinking we are getting just a little bit better MPG than actual? DUMB!!

 

I think that's for legal reasons.
If they set it to be exact, but goofed and actually underreported your speed, a lawyer representing a driver caught speeding...while relying on the Toyota's faulty speedometer...would turn around and sue Toyota.
Throw in pain and suffering, loss of consortium and Toyota would be writing checks for millions of dollars.
If they err on the side of caution...and build in a cushion and overreport your speed, the driver drives slower and reduces his chance of getting a speeding ticket.
Blame the lawyers on this one (IMHO)

The mileage display (for me) is consistently 1MPG high, not enough to fool anyone, since they advertise the EPA rating, not Haroldo's inflated stats.

 

As the tire tread wears down from use you'll probably need to experiment with adjusting tire pressure up and down a bit in order to find the correct one for getting/keeping the speedo more exact. But even then the variation in tire pressure due to heating will result in some variation in speedo readings.

 

I don't know about dumb, but these are flaws compared to other vehicles in the class (4 door sedans):

- No breakaway side mirrors
- Window sills are too narrow; a little wider and you could rest your arm there. (See Honda Accord for example for better way)
- Armrest in door is too far back and too narrow. Biggest comfort problem I have with the TCH (Again, see Honda Accord for better way)
- Placement of sideview mirror adjustment is awkward; I know that's how Toyota does it in their other cars, but it's still bad. (Again, see Accord).
- Cannot adjust Navigation while in motion (Again, see Accord)
- Door storage pockets are too narrow (Again, see Accord; it even has bottle holders)

Other issues:
- No 12V power in back seat (a 120AC would have been nice)
- Backup camera would have been nice option

Those are the peeves. Despite this, it is probably the best car I have owned. Price/performance/features, it's great. The pluses outweigh the peeves any day of the week.

I've already saved at least $400 on fuel cost alone (not changing driving habits) since switching to the TCH, and it's only been a few months. (Not to mention feeling a little greener when the engine is in electric mode.)

 

Wow, you should have bought an Accord

 

Had one...great car...sucky mileage. And the new design had it's own issues (like a recessed Navi screen), which made it not a good choice.