Dear fellow Prius owners,

in another week or so, I should be able to take my 2007 Prius Touring with "Package # 6" & "Accessory Package A" home. In order to get this Prius without those foo-foo packages pre-installed by regional distributor, I had to put down 500 dollars deposit and wait for it. After it gets here, I do have couple days to decide whether to take it home or not.

After reading most of Prius related message boards, I would like to get some feedback from those who have been driving 2007 Prius Touring on the road if it's not too much trouble, to complete my research. But not limited to 2007 Prius owners of course, inputs from previous model years of Prius owners are also welcome.

1. How do you feel about when you "back up" ? Do you feel the visibility is good enough ? Or you utilize the rear camera ?

2. Have you experienced any "break failure" like one of message line "2006 Prius Break failure" described ?

3. Everybody says how much he/she loves Prius, but nothing is perfect. What do you dislike the most of 2007 Prius ? of course, besides the price tag, we all know we pay premium price to get a hybrid car these days.

4. Do you purchase the Toyota Premium 7-year/100K-mile extended warranty ? How much do you pay for ? If you didn't buy it, why ?

5. Any other tips/suggestions you can share with us about your experience with 2007 Prius either Base or Touring are greatly appreciated and most welcome.

I look forward to learning from your experience.

Sincerely,
Prius Owner-to-be

 

Hi.
I Just got my Prius this week, replacing a beloved '93 Camry wagon.
Package 2. I love the backup camera, esp. since I don't have a driveway,and my younger daughter will learn to drive this Summer.
I haven't heard of a brake failure problem. Hybrids are REALLY easy on the brakes. My '03 Civic hybrid has 74K miles, and the original pads.
One week on, the main sacrifice in the Prius is space: Just enough headroom for me (6' 4"), and cargo space with the seats up (about the same as the HCH trunk, but narrower.
Based on Consumer Reports article on Extended Warranties, I didn't consider it: they advise not paying for what amounts to insurance against breakdowns if your car is rated high in mech. reliability, as the Prius is.
I hope this helps.
Enjoy the car, and safely!
Dan

 

I have a Metallic Gray Package 6 Touring. I love the back up camera, but I still mostly look backwards when backing up. I really use it to check to see that I am in reverse since the "gear-shift" isn't intuitive to me. Reverse is forward, not backward.
I have the package with the Vehicle Shield/Sound proofing. Not sure it really makes a difference. I also asked for a cargo net since the groceries fly around in the back without it.
I bought the extended warranty figuring with as much electronics this thing has, something is bound to go wrong. $800 for 72K/60 mos.

I have had my car for 2 months and I still love it. My trips are really short (3.4 miles round trip) to the train station and back, so while I don't get the fantastic gas mileage others get, I am still very happy. I had a Hybrid Accord before and my mileage is almost double.

 

I have a 2007 with everything except the Touring package:

1) The backup camera is great but 30 years of habit still has me turning around.

2) No brake problems

3) No extended warranty. If I bought a GMC I would but one reason I buy a Toyota is reliability. Plus my wife has a 5 year old Prius and we've had ZERO problems with it.

4) I have zero complaints about the car and its everything I need in a vehicle. And I really like the leather seats.

Good luck

 

1. It works very well. No problems.

2. No.

3. I think the price is very fair, especially with all of the advanced technology.

4. No.

5. Great car, great mpg, what's not to like?

 

1) I still turn around when backiing up, but the camera allows me to come within inches of other objects without scratching the bumper.

2) No.

3) Would like to have a bigger payload capacity for takikng the family camping

4) No! The repair history of the Prius doesn't warrant an extended warranty.

5) Drive it and have fun!!

 

Is this post too late? I have a 2007 touring edition with option#2. I have had the backup camera twice save me from being hit by another car backing out of a parking space. I do check it, but I also look.

What brake problem, none here.

I got the car discounted - below sticker - but I did so through the internet. Dealing that way I talked with the fleet manager not a sales person. It paid off.

I have seen postings complaining about the handling of the standard edition. I certainly have not had any handling complaints about the touring edition. Good choice.

No extended warranty. I expected a subsequent offer from Toyota but none received. This is a crap shoot, with the odds in favor of the house, so I passed.

First several tank fulls of gas will not be giving superb mileage. It takes something like 5,000 miles to break in and deliver the best mileage. (Summer driving is also better than winter outings.) So while you may track the mpg, don't get excited about it at first.

 

Camry2Prius, all the feedbacks and input will never be too late for anyone who visits the site.

The truth is, I got Woody - 2007 Touring with Package #6 in Driftwood 2 months ago, couple weeks after my initial post. I am still excited to hear from all fellow Prius owners' experience and input.

I also had a quick communication exchange with Mr. Wilson, because I ran across another Prius web site. It seems quite a number of Prius owners with 2006/2007 model ran into either un-controllable acceleration and brake failure in north region. The car got wrecked, airbag deployed, but Toyota couldn't duplicate the scenarios. Apparently, few complains have been filed to various authority for this matter.

For those who are interested, the message forum for this matter locates at http://www.hybridcars.com/forums/toyota-prius-f3.html


Drive safe and be happy.

 

I had my Prius for about 4 months (before someone ran into the back while I was waiting to turn left).
I really like the backup camera, especially in parking lots when sitting next to larger vehicles. I can see cars moving using the camera when they are not in sight looking back! At home good for spotting debris, or stuff left on driveway (including mail and newspapers).
(My Prius is still in body shop. I have a rental car supplied by other driver insurance, but sure miss my Prius - hard to go back.)
Since I am missing my Prius, it is hard to think of any thing I didn't like about it!
Having previously had a Toyota (Tercel wagon that we kept for over 12 years), we skipped the extended warranty, because we didn't feel we would use it.
Also really like the placement of the speedometer. Good for the eyes.

 

Feed Back? You want feedback? OK, here goes:

1) You do not have to put up with paying a "premium price." Search the internet for best price for the options you want. I found mine about 250 miles from home. Wait time = 3 days, price = below sticker, model = Touring, options = package #2 (just what I wanted) vs. a 6 month wait at my neighborhood dealer. (250 miles away was slightly better than the dealer an adjacent state.)

Backing up? Visibility is not superb but not a big problem either. I use both the backup camera and looking. The camera kept me out of one accident so far.

Break (brake?) failure? Not with mine.

Dislikes: Backup beeper, arm rests too low, driver's leg space barely enough for me, display lighting for cash center area does not dim enough for my eyes. (My partner has no problem though.) Ground clearance is low, easy to scrape on curbs when angle parking or parking headed in. Have to watch out for road hazards that can hit the bottom because there is not a whole lot of clearance.

Extended warranty? No. I read and believe Consumer Reports which recommends not. Apparently the extended warranty is a dealer profit center. IF (<~ note caps) you go for the extended warranty, have dealer write it will honor the extended warranty on the sales agreement. (Some dealers of some cars sell a third party extended warranty which the dealer will not honor without that explicit notation.)

Other points: I really appreciate the suspension of the touring edition. Also, the headlights. Oh, leave the headlights on. When you turn the engine off and open the driver's door they will go out. Thus they function as daylight (and night) driving lights which reduces accidents. Light colored cars (white, silver, etc.) are in fewer accidents than dark colored cars. I found that gas mileage improves over the first 4,500 miles, so do not become fixated on this early on. If you want to get the most miles out of each gallon of gas, learn the hypermiling techniques that are found in other threads. GPS is great, but best deal is with after market units, not factory ones. 3-M makes a clear bra to protect the front end from stone damage. Not cheap but the car sure looks better (to me) than the strap on types. Change oil as indicated in owner manual.

Hope that helps. Good luck.