In June I traded my 2008 Prius for a 2014 Prius v. This past weekend I completed the first 1000 miles. It seems like a good time to look back and reflect on some of differences, some good, some not so much. First the driver's seat. Much better with lumbar support. I finally got rid of my add-on support device. The additional cargo space in the "v" is a big plus. Now I can get my wife's wheelchair and the groceries in the back at the same time. Of course there are some items that seem to have gone downhill a bit. I expected a decrease in gas millage with the bigger, and heaver, Prius v but almost 10 mpg is a little more than I anticipated. I do feel a loss with the keyless entry only active on the driver's door. Now I have to dig out my fob when helping my wife into the car. Headlights: I really like the driving lights but the headlights no longer go off with the ignition. Run into a store, at night, and I have to manually turn them off and back on. I also miss the little shelf in the upper glove box. I found it really handy on the 2008. I always kept my garage door opener in the sun glasses holder, up by the map lights. Now it won't fit due to the design change. Stuff keeps falling into the gap between the cargo area and the back seat. I'm looking for some way to fill the gap. At least I know where to look when something goes missing. I'm thinking about a piece of foam cut to a snug fit. I love the EV mode. All in all I am happy with the purchase. I did let the dealer talk me into a lease. That won't happen again! I'm sure I could go on for some time but these are the items that come to mind right off the top of my head. Bob
sounds about right, but i disagree on the mpg's, it's not a matter of downhill, you have a larger car. the sticker shows the lower mpg's. all the best with your v!
Sounds like you needed the extra cargo capacity. Whenever you deal with anyone in the family that requires a wheelchair that becomes a vehicle priority. The rest of the stuff really sounds like minutia, that you always discover for good and bad with any new vehicle. It's a glass 1/2 full, 1/2 empty proposal. As the biggest member of the Prius family, correspondingly your gas mileage is going to be the least. But as the biggest member of The Prius family...you have the benefit and luxury of the most cargo space. You can enjoy that, knowing that pound for pound and inch for inch, you still are driving one of the most fuel efficient vehicles possible.
This is only available on the Five, I wish there was a Four with 3 door SKS but cloth. I know this is available on my 2012 Three, I did not know that the Two lacked that. (or did they drop it for 2014?) [Edit] this states it is available on the Two for 2014 Toyota Prius v Interior, Exterior and Safety Features You might be confused because the default is 30 seconds to turn off, and on the Gen 2 it was 0 seconds. Again on my Three, I was able to go into Setup and change the delay to Off I used a second cargo mat, placed backwards over the rear seats, which fits under the one behind the seats and keeps stuff out of the gap.
The delay can be turned off in setup. I can't find the 2014 manual online. http://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/omnav/OM33A02U/pdf/n08.pdf (page 16 of the PDF) this is for my 2012 v Three, but it should be hints how to find it in a 2014 v Two SETUP then VEHICLE then the doubleV and it is HEADLIGHT AUTO-OFF TIMER and I have it set to OFF to emulate the Gen 2 (if I was a female who parked on the street, I might choose one of the longer delays, 60 seconds or 90 seconds, so I got to my door in the light of the headlights)
The SKS can also be programmed to open all doors and hatch by touching the driver's door. If you go to the passenger side first? Then I guess you need the fob handy. I keep mine clipped to a belt loop with a carabiner so it's always in reach. SCH-I535
Thanks for the tips. I'll check on the headlight setup. I thought I had been through all of the setup items but I could have missed a couple. I did have the dealer "fix" the backup beeper. I'll see what I can do with the cargo/back seat gap. I did forget to mention the visibility of the instrument panel. On a sunny day while wearing sunglasses the green items are almost impossible to see. (Yes, it is turned up all the way.) Of course, this is no different that the Gen 2. I expected the mpg to go down due to the size difference. I was surprised at how much. More weight, bigger ICE, I guess it is what it is. The Gen 2 lifetime mpg was just over 43 and 45+ was not uncommon. I am trying some different driving techniques to see if I can find the secret to grab a couple of more, without too much work. JimboPalmer, you are my target of 40+ mpg. Bob
The 'station wagon' shape is less aerodynamic than the Gen 2 shape, .29 vs .26, so at higher speeds it will never meet it. I am doing no hypermiling, when I know I am going to stop or slow down I do so by coasting for about a half mile. Most of my driving is at 55 MPH for over 50 miles one way, so shorter, faster trips won't be as economical. (I kinda wish I had somewhere to go at 45 MPH, but there is no way out of town at 45 MPH that leads to one of my clients)
I don't do a darn thing but drive in what I consider a reasonable manner and my fuelly reports almost all show fill ups at over 40MPG. See what you get after a few thousand miles as things loosen up. You'll get there easily. This isn't a hatchback and you pay a MPG penalty for all that extra rear trunk room and extra back seat space. You seldom get something for nothing.
Of course, xliderider, I just paid extra a few months ago for polarized sunglasses. <BIG SIGH> JimboPalmer. I tried all the "fancy" stuff back in 2008. Now I just drive. I drive my granddaughter to and from school everyday. All in the city around 45 mph. Lots of stop and go which doesn't help the numbers. Each trip takes 45-60 minutes. With the Gen 2 I could actually improve the overall mpg. With this I'd say I just about break even. Still wouldn't want to go back to a regular car. Bob
Well, I "may" have discovered, at least, part of the fuel economy problem. Yesterday evening the "Tire Pressure" icon came on. This morning I decided to investigate. All 4 fires were below 25 PSI. This car is only 3 months old so I assume they came from the dealer lower than they should be. The door sticker says 35F and 33R is the correct pressure. I set to 37 and 35 respectfully. ( I always ran a couple of pounds high on the Gen 2 Prius.) I'll need to keep an eye on things over the next couple of weeks and see what happens. Bob
Checking pressure should be the FIRST thing you do when MPG is lower than expected. 40PSI is the best for MPG.
Yes, I know that but with a brand new car, direct from the dealer, combined with the fact that it's a bigger and heaver car I just didn't have that on the top of my list. I expected a hit going from a Gen 2 to a Prius v. When I go in for my first service I'll tell the service rep about it. Not that it will do much good, but can't hurt.. Bob
You can let them know, but it won't even register. They won't care. They just fill all car tires up to 32PSI and be done with it. If you come in with highly pressurized tires they usually deflate them all to 32PSI anyways. The only 2 times I have ever been to the dealership in the Prius I have to make sure to explicitly tell them to leave my darn tires alone or fill back up to 45PSI.
Depending on location, driver and conditions, the gen2 and v can get pretty similar MPG. The v is gen3.
It's entirely possible the major drop in pressure is from a major drop in outside temperatures. Lots of that happening this time of year.
...not having a "v" I can't visualize the gap behind the seat but I did see a TV ad a clever idea: sort of a plastic pouch that fits in the gaps beside the front seats (you know the gaps where the french fries go for a few months or years) ...probably get it at one of those As Seen on TV Stores
I'm pretty sure the ICE and hybrid motor are the same between the regular Prius and the v. Final gear ratio is higher for the v. We've owned our v for almost 4 months now and put on a bit over 5k miles. The worst tank we've seen (all hand calculated) has been 42.1, and that was a trip with a lot of 70+mph interstate sections. Most tanks are in the upper 40's, with a few in the low 50's. We do try hard to keep the bar graph out of the Power range, but have to get on it every now and then.
QUOTE="wjtracy, post: 2078693, member: 17892"]...not having a "v" I can't visualize the gap behind the seat but I did see a TV ad a clever idea: sort of a plastic pouch that fits in the gaps beside the front seats (you know the gaps where the french fries go for a few months or years) ...probably get it at one of those As Seen on TV Stores[/QUOTE] Here is the area behind the back seat. Problem with your idea is the back seats can be adjusted back and forth so the "gap" would be larger and smaller depending on that adjustment. It is also important to note that the seats adjust independently.
