Hi there..
Took me a minute to figure out what a HCH2 was..I really like them, size wise they are similar to the Jetta and very cool inside but the only thing that keeps me from considering one is the lack of electronic stability control. After having it in the Jetta and seeing it work, I won't own a car without it. It does amaze me that Honda doesn't put it in the Civic as popular a car it is and if the car has anti lock brakes, the added hardware adds something like 200.00 to the price of the car.
The diesel Jetta doesn't have a whole lot of passing ooomph so I wonder if the Prius is similar. I know their 0-60 is close..
Thanks so much..
John

 

The first TCHs available all came from Japan. I don't know when they started production in the US, but I know mine came from Japan (over a year ago).

Of course mine came with only mats and moonroof as optional features (no NAV, no leather upholstery), but I wasn't looking for more than that (even the moonroof was a splurge because I didn't want to wait for one without). But it had lots of included features, so I was fine with that.

 

Does seem to be a regional thing. No port or dealer add-ons on the ones I saw (or the one I bought). I had heard the hybrids were being made in Kentucky since last fall, but I guess on the West Coast they still come from Japan.

 

It's interesting what is different down here as far as option packages too. I pulled up the Toyota site and plugged in the zip code for Santa Fe and the page was totally different as was the options. They didn't have those "extra mile options" like down here where they group things like floor mats, spoiler, and some sort of warranties..Much more straight forward up there but someone on a Prius forum told me the GST region where I am is weird and separate from the rest of the country..Don't know for sure but it sure looks different on the website..
John

 

A quick search turns up that Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (part of Toyota) handles sales in 10 regions in the US, with two additional regions being privately owned.

South East Toyota Distributors, LLC, has a five-state region - Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina.

Gulf States Toyota has a five-state region - Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma and Mississippi.

So there's the answer.

 

I took literary license on your post and added numbers to it so I could respond easier. I hope you don't mind. If you do, tough, live with it.

1) Upgrade? From 96 to 07, yep, lots of newer features are standard that weren't even available as options back then (or thought of). Really, got rid of car since it was starting to cost more to repair (nickel and dime'ing me to death) than it was worth. It had fog lights, which aren't even available on TCH, but are on the XLE. (Unlike some people, I liked the Grand Am fog lights.)

2) CVT -- Takes time to get used to. Change that -- After driving it, getting back into the Grand Am while the TCH was in the shop, was a nightmare. Squeaks and groans from an 11 year car along with the automatic transmission shifting made me like, nay, love the TCH even more.

3) NAV -- The dealers DO NOT install it after market. They order it with Factory NAV. It's not just slapping in the FM/CD/NAV head unit. Many extra sensors, different cable harnesses, etc. have to be added. It would be cheaper to buy the most expensive GPS unit you can find than purchase the entire NAV package and have it installed later. (In that case, many use Tom Tom, Garmin, etc. which is definitely than the NAV package.) TT, Garmin, etc owners can chime in on that price.

On the NAV aspect, you also get increased visibility of ENERGY condition (HV battery charge, charging/discharging state, etc) and FUEL CONSUMPTION (minute-by-minute bar graph, tank mpg, distance-to-empty). NOTE: This is standard on Prius except: Prius: 5 minute intervals for fuel consumption and it disappears after turning the car off. TCH retains the last 30 minutes of driving. On TCH, you can see some of this information on the instrument panel, but not easily.

4) Yes, normal gear shift. Only difference is "B" (Engine Braking) instead of "2/1/L".

Some bummers concerning the car (depending on your requirements): Trunk: 10.6 cubic feet. Normal Camry has 14.5. NO TRUNK PASS-THROUGH to speak of. Only room to lay a few 2 x 4's, ski's, etc. fore-to-aft. The pass-through is VERY narrow. Both limitations due to placement of HV battery.

Except for slim pass-through, I am very happy with the car, so far.


Oh, another limitation: Due to fuel tank size and fuel economy, I don't fill up that often. Three times I have pulled right-side to fuel pump. (Grand Am was right-side fueling!)

 

Hi John!
Thanks for taking the time to answer all those questions!
Seems odd, in other parts of the country you guys are seeing them fully loaded and down here none of them have NAV. I do have a Garmin and love it but want a built in..Seems I never have the Garmin when I need it as I won't leave it in the car for fear of theft. I was hoping they could be dealer installed but see how they would be a lot of extra work..Can't wait to drive a CVT car. Never have yet..I read somewhere on a Prius forum too somewhere that you can't always guage your speed by the speed of your ICE as it can vary depending more on demand than speed, that should be interesting as well..
Planning on going into Austin maybe this weekend to drive both the Camry and the Prius to see which fits the bill better..Just don't know if I can get past the funky shape of the Prius, I much prefer the Camry style..
Thanks again!
John

 

I got my nearly fully loaded TCH in october '06. It has leather, sunroof, NAV, spoiler, and a protection package. I could have gotten more Gulf States Distributor add ons, but declined them. The Gulf States region is a bit wierd. My wife is looking to get a new Tundra maxcab, and she wants it loaded like the TCH is. Unfortunatly they just don't build that many of them like that, so we have our dealer on "alert" so when he gets an allotment that has one, he will call us. That is how I got my car. I saw the dealer in September, and decided I wanted the Blue TCH with leather, NAV and sunroof, so told him to call me when he had one.

That would be the best thing to do. Just tell them what you want and wait for it. My dealer had a half dozen non NAV TCHs back then, but I really wanted the extra energy screens, so I waited. Glad I did. I love the NAV portion, and enjoy the extra data from the energy screen.

BTW, I am in Houston, but drive to Columbus daily and my avearge has been about 38 since I got the car.

Attached is a graph showing the relationship between the computer indicated mileage and my calculated mileage. I also have a line for the life average of the car. A/C is really killing my mileage.

 

Wow thanks..I really enjoyed looking at your graph too..Have you tried that economy button under the dash? I wonder how effective that is and exactly what it does? My guess is it's probably too hot down here specially in Houston to use it..
We will have to visit with the dealer about putting us on a list but first need to drive one.. I would think with Austin being one of the leading green cities promoting Hybrids and the fact there are so many technogeeks here that they are not ordering more with NAV..Or, maybe they are being snatched up and all that's left are the non nav cars!
John

 

I live with the eco button on. If it goes off (when I use the defroster) I immediatly turn it back on.

I would guess the NAV cars are not being built as much and whne a NAV car hit the dealer it is already pre-sold. I don't know why they don't make more NAV equiped cars, but for every NAV car there is, there are 10 - 15 non NAV cars built at least. Trucks too.

I also don't know why my dealer can't special order cars. They can only wait for the monthly allotments and sell from those available cars.