I Hate My Smart-ass Prius

My Prius is driving me crazy.

First that incessant reverse beeping which I realize I can get turned off, but that's just the beginning. I like how you just have to have the key on you. Until you actually need to find the key, which is usually during one of those times where my wife and I are out somewhere and I want to leave most of my purse in the car. Nope. Stop right there. Can't lock the door with a key inside. That's nice, but hey smart-thing can't you tell there's a key on the outside? So because we're late for our dinner reservations, we have to stop and search for which pocket (tm) the blasted Prius key has migrated to. Yes, it has a standard place in my purse, but it likes to travel like everything else.

I feel like I'm traumatizing the poor thing when it beeps back about that duplicate key, and refuses to lock the door and I start publically yelling "I hate this car." [Kick tire.] Or when I have the car on and running and I put it in Park to get out of the car to do something and it starts pathetically beeping because, horrors, its precious key has left the safety of the perimeter. There are other variations of this that get it upset. I think I should put it and I into therapy though it might try to have me arrested for being a bad, bad owner.

When driving it's usually fine except for all the times I drag it on the ground. If I could have another inch or two of clearance, our relationship would be all the easier. It's not like I'm going to stop trying to go all the places I need to go. Drag. Drag. Scrape.

The display is a little busy, but I've switched it to something more tolerable.

The vent placement is terrible for me but that's probably just me.

The rear window doesn't count as a window at all and why bother have a windshield wiper that can only cover half of the windshield?

And who put on contract out on this car? It's been hit three times. All brilliantly repaired, but what a horrible CarFax report. My Scion xB has only been hit once and when that happened they totaled it. No ding and swak sorry-about-that-didn't-see-you nonsense. Next hoity-toity ecologic car is going to be bright yellow or hot pink. Something that says "Don't touch me. I'm poisonous. ."

But this isn't meant as a car review--more like how a Toyota car designer and I need to have a long talk about usability and doing what's easier on the car, is not necessarily easier on the person.