Tomorrow I’m off to the dealership to get my oil changed. While I’m there, I will begin serious consideration of a 2012/2013 model to replace my 2007. I does not seem as though there is anything different in 2013 other than price. I am seriously considering paying $4000 extra to get the HDD unit. Does anybody have that? Is it a gimmick, or is it better than what I currently have? Also, I purchased an after-market iPhone integration unit from Dice Electronics. It seems as though iPhone integration is now standard. Does that mean you now have access to the phone through the head unit? It seems to me that it would be just as much trouble to plug in the phone as it would be to select an app. Am I wrong about this?
plug in prius. there are some great deals out there and the advanced model has the HDD and bluetooth entune. some have purchased the advanced for almost as low as the base model msrp.
The plug-in Prius is an intriguing idea, but given that this will be my only car, I'll need something that can travel further than a plug-in vehicle. I live in a townhouse, so having to plug the vehicle in every night probably wouldn't be practical. Further, I look forward to a yearly drive from South Florida to Vermont, and I do not think that would be possible in a plug-in vehicle.
The P.I.P. still has a gasoline engine, which works the same as a standard Prius. Besides that, though, it wouldn't be very hard to get a small 2.5" HDD (or SSD, even) and use it in the USB port on the non-HDD version, if that's all you are after at this point.
The PHV/PiP is a regular Prius with the ability to plug in for 10-15 miles of EV range. After that's depleted, it's still at 50mpg Prius (and if you travel through mountains, you can fully recharge the battery on the long downhill grades and get the 10-15 mile of range back!). Plus, it only takes 3 hours on a 110V (1.5hr on 240V). You don't even need a home plug-in unit so there's $1k saved over other plug in vehicles that would almost "require" the 240V home charger to get reasonable charge times. As for the nav, the HDD nav will be an evolution from your DVD-based system (the 6.1" Display Audio is a different system all together). If you're happy with your current nav, you'll be right at home with the HDD (with the exception of faster load times and sharper graphics and XM Nav/weather/sports etc). iPhone integration just allows you to play music from your iPhone through the car's speakers (the Prius will have the USB outlet there). An alternative solution is to get an iPad Mini and use that as an 8" touchscreen.
My sincere thanks to the people who provided great advice the last few days on Prius Chat. This morning I purchased a Blizzard Pearl (that’s white in English) 2012 Prius 4. In the end, I decided that the adjustable seat was more important than the sunroof, so I went with the 4 without the sunroof instead of the 3 with a sunroof. My 2007 Prius was red, but it was close to pink when I sold it this morning, so it seemed white was the best choice for a car that is left outside in South Florida. The Plug-in Prius is a great idea, but I don't have access to an outlet, and the additional expense was more than I could afford. I am now plodding my way through the controls at the manuals. That should cover my reading for about a month.
