Prius v (lowercase v for Prius v) Three vs Five... Which to buy?

If the five has Jbl and advanced navigation it might be worth it.

 

Only you can decide which one has the features you want. We bought the Five only because it was the only trim level on which the Advanced Technology Package was offered -- current retail price of ATP is a whopping $5,650.

Do you like cloth or vinyl seats?

Do you want the self leveling, probably lifetime LED headlights and headlight washers of the Five or are the halogen headlights of the Three good enough.

Do you value the Panoramic roof of the Five or would you rather have the regular roof.

There are lots of little differences between the Three and the Five so look closely.

I don't care for the Panoramic roof of our Five but my wife absolutely loves it and always has it's blinds open.

The 17 inch wheels and tires give the Five a harsher ride but maybe better handling - hard to tell. The 17 tires wear out faster, their side walls are easier to damage (yep, one was ruined scraping a curb), and they are more expensive to replace. I assume the 16" wheels/tires of the Three will provide a more pleasant ride since the 16" winter tires and wheels we use on our Five do.

Edit:

Download the brochure and compare the features line by line: http://www.toyota.com/content/ebrochure/2014/priusv_ebrochure.pdf
It can be from impossible to very expensive to add features later so get what you want now.

My wife and I decided many years ago that, since we keep our vehicles a long time (usually 10+ years), it is best for us to buy the highest trim level with the most packages and options available. Features that are optional today will be standard within a few years.

 

We're very happy with our v 3 (lowercase v) To me the v five (lowercase v) fivewasn't worth it unless you added the Advanced Technology Package, which is a lot more money. A vThreewith panoramic moonroof would have been my ideal, but they are on the rare side.

 

The v3 has cloth seats

 

Test drive both the Three and Five at night - preferably on a dark winding road. My wife an I are rather "mature" so the LED headlights were especially important to us. I'll leave the halogen headlights for the youngsters.

 

I just bought mine (package 5, loaded with everything. I'm pretty sure there is a kitchen sink in there to) last week. This prius is my 4th one. My first was a 06' package 2, since then all have been package 5.

Go test drive both, dress to impress too. You will feel different when switching cars. Tip provided by a friend of mine and it works.

 

The 3k difference seems like a lot now, but a couple years down the road, I'm pretty sure you will be glad you spent it.

 

We're looking to buy a v (lowercase v), our second Prius. First one got into an accident so we are upgrading.

Anyhow, I studied a bit on the various trim levels and I honestly don't value those upgrades. Again, only you can judge what you want. The v will be my wife's car and I'm getting the two because wife uses her phone for gps and traffic, plus have you tried using toyota GPS?? It's horrible and not to mention not user friendly. She wants leather so I'll just install aftermarket covers and install some fog lights for my satisfaction. So with all of that, I'll truly have a hybrid Prius v and save some money while at it.

 

We wrestled with the same decision when we got our v. But the extra cost was just not worth it to us. We really do not like the leather seats (we have 3 other vehicles with leather currently) and the 17" wheels are a negative in my book for the reasons stated above. I'm sure the 5 is a nice vehicle too, but it just was not worth the extra money.

 

You can get the Softex seats and armrests added to a three, I drive one that had the SET distributor package added. The dealer included it in the deal and had a auto upholstery shop do it.

 

I love my Three. Had the dealer toss in heated seats before I signed the paper.

 

Really enjoying our vanilla (no ATP ) v Five. If there was just one thing I could have added separately it was the panoramic roof.

 

In February 2014 I got a 2013 Two model B/C I wanted to customize it my way. I only coveted the 5's cool LED headlights.

I paid $24,400., including a remote starter, which I never use.

Go to the "modifications" page to see my list of mods.
Yes, I did change to ENKEI 17" wheels for the definitely better handling. You won't notice the improvement unless, like me, you drive "enthusiastically". Same goes for all the body stiffening bars I've added.

But no matter what you get you can improve the look by getting a perfectly color-matched shark fin antenna replacement from Juiced Hybrid. It even improved my reception a little in poor signal areas. Be sure to use the fitting template when attaching it.

 

I believe the v Three has the best value when it comes to the features. Mine has the Display Audio system w/ Navigation, which, as far as factory navigation systems go, is pretty good. However, I considers myself one of the few who can live without a lot of luxury features because I do not prioritize those in my daily driver.

As a few examples, I am satisfied with cloth manually adjustable seats. I also can live without adaptive cruise control as my commute does not utilize an Interstate or other highways. The moonroof is only a fixed acryllic panel with an opening sunshade, so I passed on that option.

I would have liked the LED headlights but the halogens seem to work well.

These are all features I have in my other two cars, so I don't miss them in my Prius v.

[Just realized this is an old post, but I'll leave this here in case others are still on the fence for the last few '14 model year Prius v cars]

 

I have had various cars with good/bad/indifferent headlights, both HID and halogen, and the halogen headlights in the v are very well projected, with resulting visibility that is very near to HID in brightness and coverage. I would not hesitate to recommend the v three headlights.

As to the "leather" that is included with the v five, it is not leather at all, but a synthetic imitation leather.

 

I'm not ready to get one yet but I agree with some in here that the Three is adequate. I don't want Satellite radio and wouldn't renew it after the trial subscription ended. I'd miss the panoramic roof but it's not essential.