Hi All,
What should i do ? Buy a Spirit, pay extra and get the sat nav, IPS, reverse camera or pay less and get the T4 and use a Tom Tom and the MK1 eyeball for parking......all advice gratefully received.

If you can afford it get the T Spirit.

I don't own a Prius but I've been reading various forums.

My understanding is that view out the rear isn't the best. Now you could have parking sensors fitted but the Prius an annoying reversing beeper that can only be heard inside the car, so if you had reversing sensors those add to the beeps being heard inside the car, possibly making it difficult to hear which is just the reverse gear engaged and which is the parking sensors. Without owning the car, I can't tell you how acceptable the rear visibility is, if I were you and unsure I'd ask for another test drive,

When looking up post-codes on the GPS, you can not apparently enter the full post-code, but enter of form AA1 2 and then you look for the road that you are interested in - I don't know what the interface is like though.

I own a portable Garmin GPS which I use in my Honda Civic, and if I had enough money I'd have got a built-in GPS, just because I am so sick of installing and removing the stand/sucker from the windscreen. OTOH one advantage of a portable device, if it can easily fit in your pocket, is that you can mark where you parked the car, and then can easily find the car again if you forget where you've parked it.

I love gadgets, I'd buy the full tricked out T Spirit, but then that is easy to say that when it's not my own money.

Don't know if this has been any help

Get the Spirit.

The Sat Nav's very good, it's integrated with the radio, phone etc.

I had a Garmin 760 before but this is better. Only working to postcode sector is annoying but overall the fitted satnav is far superior.

The Traffic announcements are on time and accurate, unlike the Garmin.

The reversing camera is great for reversing, the intelligent autopark is a gimmick. I don't use the IAP as it take too long to set up, but I use the camera every time, it switches on automatically when reverse is engaged.

Voice command are cool as well, impress your friends by saying "nineteen degress", the car replies "setting temperature to nineteen degrees"!!

Try it!

Thanks All, It looks like its going to be the Spirit then. Now we're debating what colour to get, Black or Ducuma Grey.
"Let the games begin "

Our T spirit is Aztec Gold and it looks good with the black leather. You will not regret getting the T-Spirit. Good luck with the purchase. I agree with niglom's comments.
Chris.

[quote name='Chris Dance' post='787591' date='Aug 20 2008, 02:58 PM']Our T spirit is Aztec Gold and it looks good with the black leather. You will not regret getting the T-Spirit. Good luck with the purchase. I agree with niglom's comments.
Chris.[/quote]Nah...........The best colour I think is the silver follwed closely by the Grey!!

I have recently chosen the Prius as a company car, as you cannot get a better car for the tax you have to pay!! Forget the fact that you can average 55mpg easily, I chose it because for £66 per month you get an extremely quiet five seat, automatic, with cruise control, satnav, CD multichanger + MP3 jack, bluetooth, reversing camera etc. etc

I was also in two minds whether to take the Tspirit or the T4 and getting some money back for the difference. I decided to go for the Tspirit after having one on test for a few days, and I can say I don't regret it. I have just driven around 1000 miles to The Netherlands and back on holiday and the Sat Nav was faultless, even rerouting when it received traffic information about an accident on the motorway in Belgium.
But it is not just the sat nav that justifies the extra price. The bluetooth interface works well. I am still impressed by the ease of set up, and the fact that it automatically connects when I get into the car. (Having a Nokia phone helps though I think as these seem to be the most compatible).

I wasn't too concerned with the IPA as I thought that apart from initially showing off to friends I wouldn't use it as I can park quickly myself. But actually, it is all about the position of the car. If you stick the car in the correct position to begin with then the green box appears in the right place straight away, and with no mucking about trying to move it, it is easy to let it go by itself. I usually pull up, check if the box is in the right place and if it is use IPA and if it isn't, park myself.


Sorry about the long post, but I haven't had the car long so wanted to spout my initial thoughts out in one go.

Good from the company car perspective then.

I wonder whether private car owners view the GBP 2000.00 difference between the T4 and T Spirit in the same way?

I was also interested in an earlier comment and wondered what was better about the in-car Sat Nav compared with the Garmin 760?
For example, was better "ease of use" or "more upto date maps" or "larger screen" or "better navigation", etc

Oops, forgot to say I don't think your post was too long.