Seen My First Solar Roofed Prius

[Habu]

Pearl White TS passing through The University of York on Wednesday. Those 15" plastic wheels are really dreadful. It would be the first thing to change if I could afford the roof combo. The roof really stands out - I like a lot. Dunno who the car belongs to. Lecturer in electronics maybe? :)

[Ikelos]

lucky to see another Prius around this area, let alone one with a solar roof........... :(

[Fujisan]

......well, that's one more than me. :D

[Fujisan]

Finally seen one the other day in a local pub car park: white, still don't like those wheel trims on the 15" wheels :shutit:

Actually it was quite a Gen III spotting day; seen a few on the M56, I spotted one in Manchester, the lad spotted another that I didn't see (concentrating on Manchester traffic ) - sorry Gen II owners, he only considers the Gen III "a Prius", but he is only four so please cut him some slack

And when we came home a regular visitor to one of our neighbours had swapped their black gen II, for a black Gen III, with blacked out rear windows, looked quite good B) (could tell it was the same owner because the private reg had been transferred).

[Grumpy Cabbie]

lucky to see another Prius around this area, let alone one with a solar roof........... :(

Lucky to see a Prius around the York area? You're kidding right? I've seen loads of gen3's and am seeing more all the time. It seems the gen3 is going mainstream.

[Poupon]

I live in Windsor,commute into London daily - hence I got a Gen II Prius back in 2005 and took delivery of a Gen III yesterday ..... with a solar roof.

Given that it's March, think it will be a while before i use it, but I'd never have spent the money on it if it wasn't a company car (i.e. - I was spending someone else's money!). But I'm already provisionally ticked off about it: all the guff in the showroom and brochure, but when you trawl through the Owner's Manual, it reads as though it's of really limited usefulness/efficacy.

I shall reserve judgment till I see how it performs in a few months' time. I really wanted it as I have a dog, and while I'd never leave him in the car on his own (other than to pay for petrol) in hot weather ordinarily, I thought that the solar roof would be great for those (still rare) occasions when nipping in to get a pint of milk, loaf of bread and bar of chocolate and leaving him for 5-10 minutes. It might just be the legal liability risk management element in the manual, but it gives the view that you shouldn't really rely on it.

Hmmm.

My new Prius is Vermilion Red: thought that everyone would go for this colour or black, but in London (and there are still only a few Gen IIIs that I see driving M4/A4 into London) - mainly silver and white. White. Hmmmm.

I agree with original poster's comment on the 15" wheels. Really tacky plasticky looking.

Denise

[Habu]

lucky to see another Prius around this area, let alone one with a solar roof........... :(

Lucky to see a Prius around the York area? You're kidding right? I've seen loads of gen3's and am seeing more all the time. It seems the gen3 is going mainstream.

He was referring to the Kent area, not York. Yes, there are loads around York. Not many in my area though (Northallerton area).

[seljon]

I have had my solar roof gen 3 for a couple of months now. I love the sun roof part of it but agree that the solar bit is really a gimmick. Just about moves some air around the car whilst parked and allows air conditioning to go on for a few minutes before you get in which is quite useful but it has been more useful as a talking point rather than anything else. Quite like the look of the dark roof on a silver prius though and have even got used to the wheels now as they are same colour as car. If you want a sun roof and a talking point its £1400 well spent, otherwise I would go for a T4!!

[Fluffmeister]

Finally seen one the other day in a local pub car park: white, still don't like those wheel trims on the 15" wheels :!Removed!:

Actually it was quite a Gen III spotting day; seen a few on the M56, I spotted one in Manchester, the lad spotted another that I didn't see (concentrating on Manchester traffic ) - sorry Gen II owners, he only considers the Gen III "a Prius", but he is only four so please cut him some slack

And when we came home a regular visitor to one of our neighbours had swapped their black gen II, for a black Gen III, with blacked out rear windows, looked quite good B) (could tell it was the same owner because the private reg had been transferred).

I will have to keep an eye open for you, I live in Warrington and recently picked up a new Gen 3 T-Spirit in Vermillion Red.

[seljon]

Has anyone got the hang of using the solar roof and remote a/c yet? Sometimes my fan is going when I get in (it does make a difference on hot days) and sometimes not and pressing remote a/c doesn't seem to do anything very much.

[AP01]

Has anyone got the hang of using the solar roof and remote a/c yet? Sometimes my fan is going when I get in (it does make a difference on hot days) and sometimes not and pressing remote a/c doesn't seem to do anything very much.

There are actually 2 separate functions of the solar roof. One is remote air conditioning and the other is ventilation (not widely mentioned).

As long as you have the ventilation button pressed down (down the right hand side from the steering wheel) and the fan is not switched off, the solar roof will get the fan to come on and off continually by itself when the car is parked. However, this is just ventilation and not air conditioning.

To get the air conditioning switched on, you have to press the A/C button on your remote when you are walking towards your car. When you see the lights flash then you'll know that it has been activated. When you get to your car, do not open the door as this will deactivate the air conditioning. Just look in from the outside and you will see that the bars for the speed of the fan is at maximum from the display with some other lights switched on. You should also hear a whirling noise from the outside which indicates the air conditioning is being powered from the solar panel.

[johalareewi]

...

You should also hear a whirling noise from the outside which indicates the air conditioning is being powered from the solar panel.

Unfortunately not. The A/C is powered by the HV Battery.

The solar panel only drives the small ventilator fan.

It doesn't even keep the 12V Battery topped up. :(