Gen4, is it worth it?

You're not really talking to anyone...

 

In our opinion the Gen IV isn't worth it. And today we voted with our dollars.

We just returned from the Toyota dealer with a new 2015 Gen III Two. The deal was just too good to pass up. They have quite a few on sale for about $19k before tax and license. We paid a couple of hundred to get the Blizzard White.

Our 2008 Gen II has 158K miles on it. It has been 99.9% perfect, we haven't even had to change the brakes. I just couldn't send my wife out on some of her 1,100 mile round trips in a car with that many miles. After some recent drops (and return to normal) in mpg to 35 mpg for a few tanks, I became concerned that I'd soon be replacing the HV battery or something else expensive.

I carefully considered the Gen IV but frankly it just didn't excite me. There was little to attract me besides the increased mpg (albeit not as big as an increase as I thought it would be), and a number of things that made it seem less attractive than the Gen II. When I saw the price of the Two would be over $24K, and the MPG rating was only 2 higher than the Gen III it just became less and less attractive to me.

Gen IV
- External looks - ho hum
- Internal looks - less than excited about them, especially the bathroom fixtures
- New engine and drive train exciting advancements - ho hum, all I care about is the resulting mpg
- 2 mpg increase over Gen III - ho hum
- Lack of 12V power outlet under the dash - bigger deal to us than you'd think
- New color graphics - ho hum
- Better driving characteristics - ho hum, we never thought our Gen II had any issues here.
- More laid back drivers position and lower overall car height - not desirable
- Higher price. Toyota has tended to bump up the prices, and shift features to higher models.
- The idea that there will be six models, and several colors, coupled with a spare tire or not, along with the bathroom fixtures it will be a bit challenging to find the right mix of these things, and at a price we can tolerate.
- Loss of upper glove box
- Loss of space in lower glove box
- Loss of other little cubbies

We had to make some compromises. I have claustrophobia and the center flying buttress console kept me from buying a Gen III before. I guess I can be bought! We drove over to the dealer just so I could sit in the car to see if I could tolerate the console, and I decided I could.

The biggest loss was we now have a car with only the drivers door to unlock or lock the car via the smart key if kept in our pocket/purse. This is a big loss to me but we'll learn to live with it.

Gen III improvement to us which we'll enjoy
- 50 mpg vs 45 in our Gen II
- A bit more cargo space than Gen II
- Still has the 12V connector under the dash
- Telescoping wheel vs Gen II
- Bluetooth phone and audio
- Auto up/down on all four windows.
- My 5-year-old loves that the rear windows go all they way down into the doors.

Today we also took a look at a v, and drove a Subaru Impreza Hatchback. The v was not on sale and showed 8 mpg lower than the Gen III. The Impreza was nice but lacked when comparing it to a Prius in several ways. We would have liked the 4 wheel drive of the Subaru.

So to answer the OPs question in our particular case we voted to go Gen III, a great deal of the decision was based on purchase price, but I found little compelling about the Gen IV. If it wasn't for the sale price we could have stepped away from the Prius line and moved on to a CR-V or similar.

Toyota got the sale whether we bought a Gen III or Gen IV.

 

i can see your points. i would have to drive one to make a decision. too many variables and unknown quantities here.

positives percieved: quieter, smoother, better handling, better center console, better tech, more comfortable, better mpg's. vs the perceived negatives, i just can't decide on line.

but if it's all about the money, that brings in a whole nut her line of reasoning.

 

7 years from now you will have a similar list why you choose Gen4 and not Gen5 Prius

 

Probably right.

 

I voted in a similar fashion as JDonalds. I kind of like the Gen4. The Prius is a practical car and is one of 3 cars we own. I am not looking for the Prius to provide cutting edge handling or speed. Just safe ECONOMICAL transportation. Given current pricing on the Gen 3 vs Gen 4 it is like getting a new Prius and free gas for the life if the car. That was too good to pass up.

 

I hope they upgrade the crappy sound system they put in the Prius v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon) model.

 

yes, i prize 'quiet'. to me, it's mostly tyre noise, as it changes with different pavement. i was ready to buy the CT200h until it came out and disappointed. the perfect prius for me would be lexus quiet and comfortable. i actually don't care about handling or acceleration. but i still value mpg's and all the associated benefits that go with them, over any other car on the road. i can afford to promote the technology, which i believe is important as well. i wish the eco model had been $19,000., that might put a prius into more peoples garages. i can't explain it any better than that.

i did read you entire post btw.

 

So far I'm loving the Gen III. I'm experiencing what others have for five years since the Gen iii came out. I have no regrets about passing up on the Gen IV.

It's very obvious the Gen iii gets much better mpg. I can see easily getting 60 mph if I were the only driver. My wife just doesn't care to learn or use any hypermiling techniques. Still we should see 5-7 mpg better than the Gen II.

Does anyone want a perfectly good Gen II in California, with 158K miles, for $5K?

The Bluetooth is great too.

UPDATE: We've decided to keep the 2008 Prius too. I was disappointed Edmunds valued it at just under $5K. It's worth more than that to us. I'm selling my nearly new Yamaha FZ-07 sport bike instead. It will bring more $ back into the budget, and at 69 years old I'm losing interest in riding motorcycles.

We'll drive the Gen II around town, and the Gen III on long trips. I've ordered a bug bra to protect it only on those long trips, otherwise it will be off the car because they are ugly.

When the Gen II gives up and has it's first major problem we'll have to decide what to do then.

 

of course they do.

 

thanks. do you know if the oem's are directional?

 

i don't think they are, i'll check and cross rotate if not. i think the o/m only recommends front to back.

 

Yes, Owners Manual says to just rotate front to back. I've stuck with that, no issues, but that was new to me: Honda always says to cross rotate, and the tire manufacturers too.

 

That is better than a directional car. True story. A lot time ago a college student had a manual transmission MG he bought used. The reverse never worked. He had to always take care to park the car to avoid backing up. Otherwise he had to push it back. He finally decided to sell the car. When the new owner got into the car, he promptly backed the car up...at which point the student's jaw dropped and he ran over to see what happened. It turned out the original owner had replace the stick shift knob with one from another car with the reverse marked completely wrong on the knob for the MG. The new buyer just happened to be familiar with the MG and did not even look at the stick shift markings to back up.