I picked up my new CT200h on Tuesday night, bidding a fond farewell to my Prius. Today is the first day I have had time in daylight to just sit in the car and adjust things, play with the controls and generally get comfortable. I also had time to take some pictures:
Overall I'm very happy with the car: the handling is good, the seats are comfortable, the finish is excellent. The sound system is much better than that in any car that I have owned before (note: if you are a real sound system aficionado, do not take this as a definitive statement about the quality of the CT200h sound system. I've spent too many hours in noisy data centres, and my hearing is well below the original "factory specs" as a result. YMMV, caveat emptor, etc.), and the iPhone integration is a huge improvement over the phone integration in the Prius (OK, so there was no where to go but up on that one).
What I don't like.....
OK, who designed the compartment for sun glasses? And what were you thinking? Even a basic pair of Polaroids from the Cancer Council will not fit in this tiny space.
It is not possible to fit a standard street directory in the door bins. Yes, I know there is a GPS, but sometimes you need to look at a paper map to get the big picture.
I'm not crazy about the permanently illuminated "emergency flasher" button. I'm sure I will get used to it, but a red light on the periphery of my vision is distracting.
I'm used to a car that has several covered internal storage spaces: my Prius had a glove box, console bin, another small compartment in the middle of the dash, and a "drawer" at the bottom on the center console. This provided plenty of places to stash gloves, tissues, spare umbrella, small change, access cards, CDs, hand cream, car park access cards, phone charging cables, spare sun glasses, pens, and all the other small objects that I'm used to keeping in the car, while still keeping the car tidy. I have had to relocate some things that I would normally keep within arm's reach of the driver's seat into the storage compartment in the bottom of the boot.
I also urgently need a retractable black iPod cable. I've seen the thread on this subject, and I'll be interested to see what other people's recommendations are as they try different options.
