First Off, my screenname comes from the fact that I was duped into getting the extended warranty through my dealer, but was able to get most of my money back thanks to help from people on this forum. My screenname does not reflect my feelings for the TCH.

After 1 year, here are my thoughts:
There is a decent amount of "roll" when I make sharp turns, but it's ok because I get to drive around knowing that I get at least 35+ mpg on these warm days without even trying.

Winter wreaks havoc on your fuel efficiency

If you have a short commute (less than 2 miles), this car probably is not for you, but if you also drive to several other places aside from work (as most of us do), then the TCH will have a place in your life.

The highway rating of 37mpg is pretty accurate, as i consistently get that amount on highways (assuming no rain, in which case it will drop by 1-2 mpg)

Smartkey is amazing!

Overall, I love my TCH... especially after watching "An Inconvenient Truth"

 

Is this a fact?, because I don't think sticking to the recommended maintenance schedule is economically cost-effective.

 

I'll be in Yuba City in a couple of days. I have family that lives there...too funny.

 

One year for me. Today actually! I'm just over 16k miles. She's actually in the shop, I'm letting the dealer deal with the crickets.

Good list, Steve. Here are some more things I've learned.

• 5.1 NAV disc owners can override the control panel lockout when moving. Version 6 owners can't unless they hack the disk (Steve touched on this in his #9)
• You can get the annoying seat-belt ding turned off by your dealer for no charge
• You can get the auto-air recirculate turned off by your dealer for no charge
• You can reprogram your car to open ALL locks when you touch the driver-side handle
• It's really hard to tell if your car is on or off. The "ON" indications are not straight forward.
• You can idle using the A/C for about 15 minutes before the engine comes on to recharge the traction battery (assuming it was near full to begin with)
• If you reach the top of a hill in EV mode, you can switch to neutral and coast down and maintain EV mode. I've gone 55mph in EV mode using this method.
• The Prius version of "pulse & glide" does not work with the TCH. There is rarely ever a situation where the engine is NOT recharging the battery or the battery is not powering the engine.
• The instructions for programming the garage door opener are not spot-on. If you have trouble programming the garage door opener, go to the homelink website for better instructions.
• You can drive in EV mode if you run out of gas, but it's not a good idea and won't get you too far.
• Only one person on the forums seems to have a driver-side "auto-up" window.

 

I haven't owned the car a year...actually not even close but everyone has said most of what I would have said.

I will add one thing...

No one ever drives the speed limit...not even other hybrid owners.

I never realized how fast everyone was driving until I started driving more sensibly.

 

If I remember correctly, this one person, when questioned where he bought his car, confirmed my thoughts at the time....he bought his car in Japan.

 

Not sure about the seat-belt ding being no charge, but my dealer wanted to charge $45 for making the other adjustments, like setting recirc mode from auto to manual. Be sure you ASK first about the $$ or you could get a small surprise!

 

Tomorrow is the anniversary of my 1st visit to the dealer asking about the TCH (see, I still even remember that). Their first one (silver) arrived a week later (1st Canadian models arrived about a month behind the 1st US models) and I was the 1st to test drive it, a week later I placed my order for a MagGrey and a week after that I had it. Even after almost a full year, I still feel a bit excited about driving it, it's still about the drive and not the destination.

Greatest Discoveries:

• This CVT is the best automatic transmission experience I've had since driving my parent's 350 powered 76 Monte Carlo when I was a kid. All others in between have been necessary nuisances at best.
• Uniqueness. Around where I am hybrids are still not very common. How often can you buy a car from a major auto mfr and it takes 11 months before you see one that is identical (I saw my first MagGrey TCH matching mine just 2 weeks ago). In all that time I've seen only 3 TCH, 2 RX400h, 1 Insight, and about a half dozen Prius, no Civic or Accord hybrids or HyHi). Maybe thats bad instead of good?
• Cool Sound - I love the HSD whine sound
• Easy driving can be fun too.

Greatest Dissappointments:

• Winter Fuel Economy. It almost became ordinary.
• Climate Control System. This system is unnessarily complex, especially the use of push buttons for fan and vent settings and the partially hidden ECO switch down beside the refuel door button. These require you to look away from the road for too long to make correct settings. A full featured manual system with dials would have been better.

Greatest Over-rated Problems

• Slow initial acceleration. Power is really quite decent, I fully agree with the comments regarding the linear power output from the gas pedal.
• Interior is noisy. Yea, it has some issues with squeaks and stuff and for me they were all easily fixed.
• Handling isn't the best. It's not the worst either. Feels heavy around the corners and over rougher roads but makes up for it with silky smooth cruising on most roads.
• Poor trunk space. For everyday stuff you can pack a lot of stuff in there. You will have to find another way to get that new HDTV or lawn mower home though.

 

I live in the Chicago Suburbs and my dealership told me they couldn't turn the seatbelt ding off because of some law in IL. What gives? Does anyone know any way around this?

First post BTW - love my TCH!!

 

Keep in mind your TCH speedometer is about 3 MPH slower than actual speed, per factory calibration and it's done on purpose. So when you see 75 MPH on your speedometer you're actually doing about 72 MPH. Some cars, especially older ones would show actual speed correctly and they would seem to drive above speed limit even if they don't. Also on most US highways, cops won't stop you unless you drive more than 10-15 MPH so most people drive at least that much faster than posted speed limit, since fear of getting speeding ticket is the only reason for many to drive slower. That the speed limits on some highways are way too slow and you could safely drive more than 100 MPH, conditions permitting, that's another story altogether.