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Strongly Considering 2017 Prius: Unsure Which Trim (Two vs. Three) + Miscellaneous Questions

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by i<3theventurafwy, Mar 12, 2017.

  1. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace 2025 Camry XLE FWD

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    One other thing on 2017 vs 2016. Apparently, Toyota improved the headlights, reducing glare.
     
  2. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Not to beat the battery choice to death, but as a CARB state CA would have 150k miles 10-yr warranty in either case.
     
  3. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    The glare was fixed in my 2016 Prius by simply aiming them a bit lower.

    JeffD
     
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  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    I wonder tho: if 2017 headlights are aimed per 2016, both aimed per spec, is there still less glare with the 2017? Are you compromising visibility with the 2016's, to achieve the same amount of glare?
     
  5. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Good question - I just looked it up - the Australian one had a new battery at 500,000km - but it then went on to continue being a TAXI - that was nearly a decade ago, no idea when it retired.

    The other one states "For those questioning the lifespan of a Toyota Prius battery, one taxi driver has 621,000" ... miles - that's a MILLION kms. It is a TAXI in Austria.

    This is the HybridCars article link where it talks about other cases too:

    Toyota Prius Taxi Running Strong With 600,000 Miles And Original Battery
     
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  6. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Wouldn't you be opening the door for her anyway? In which case it would be good that you could unlock it from her side rather than walk around.
     
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  7. RCO

    RCO Senior Member

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    And they said chivalry was dead!
     
  8. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace 2025 Camry XLE FWD

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    Apparently, it is for @royrose
     
  9. RCO

    RCO Senior Member

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    Nah, he's just scared of looking less than butch! :ROFLMAO:
     
  10. 'LectroFuel

    'LectroFuel Senior Member

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    You may want to consider a Two Eco, too. It gets better MPGs (58/53 MPG compared to 54/50 for the Two) and gives you automatic headlights, the smart key system on three doors instead of one, and IMO nicer looking two-tone wheels. The Two Eco is less than $500 more than the Two.

    The Two Eco also gives you a Li-ion battery pack instead of the Two's Ni-MH.

    The Two Eco also deletes the rear wiper (which you don't need in SoCal anyways) and the spare tire to save weight and aerodynamics.
     
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  11. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Just a heads-up, if that matters to you.
     
  12. royrose

    royrose Senior Member

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    Hey, we've been married 40 years. Give me a break! :sneaky:
     
  13. i<3theventurafwy

    i<3theventurafwy Junior Member

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    Thanks again to everyone for the input. I ended up going with the regular Two over either the Two Eco or the Three. It seemed pretty clear that the Three was functionally similar to the Two, and while it would have been nice to have the luxury features and the HUD from the ATP, a test drive suggested the HUD didn't provide nearly enough improvement in road attention to warrant the price increases. I was a little disappointed with the lack of blind spot detection on the Two, but since that wasn't available until the Four, I didn't factor it into the decision either. Meanwhile, the Two Eco was definitely a compelling option (I appreciate you pointing that out 'LectroFuel), but since I live in a slightly wetter part of CA now and take a lot of longer trips on isolated roads, I didn't want to compromise on the spare tire or rear wiper.

    Now that I'm a card carrying Prius driver, I have a couple more questions related to using it new. If they're better in another thread, please PM me and restate them there; if not, maybe the thread could be retitled to reflect that it covers a little more information than just deciding between two trims. With that said:

    1. Is there any need for a break-in period as there was in older cars? I'm probably going to end up taking through its paces (ie city driving, highway driving, and traffic "driving") in the course of my normal commute, but I thought I should know if it was ideal to do anything special to make sure it was set.

    2. How frequently do I need to change the oil? One salesperson at the dealership said every 10K, while another said every 5K, while another said to change it once after the first 100 miles of driving. I'll leave aside the obvious commentary about the knowledge levels of dealership personnel and just ask which one of them is right.

    3. Are the dealer tires (they're the Toyos) usable, or should I swap them out immediately for something better?

    4. Is there somewhere I can obtain a retractable cargo cover like those found in the second and third gen Prii? It's nice that Toyota has tried to minimize weight as much as possible, but it'd be even nicer if I could have a normal adjustable cargo cover with a handle rather than the repurposed sunblock they're trying pass off as one now.

    Thanks again for the help; I really appreciate it. I don't know how much I'll be able to contribute to this forum personally, but I'll certainly direct people this way if they need information on the Prius.
     
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  14. bobthejedi

    bobthejedi Active Member

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    Congrats!

    1) I would make sure everything feels right, some people noticed excessive rattles, but might have been early production models. But drive it normally, cycle through the driving modes, make sure EV mode works (low speed only), I've put about 4k miles on mine since Nov. Have not taken it in for service. Favorite thing is the dynamic cruise control. Only con that I've seen is that my lights are aimed a tad high, so people have flashed me thinking my brights are on...could be that people are not used to LED's too.

    2) I believe the newer gen prius use synthetic which is definitely rated for 5k-10k mileage, you should definitely have toyota care for first 2years/25k, so defer to their schedule for now. Once I i'm off toyota care, I probably will do every 7-8k.

    3) Stock tires are okay from what I've heard, I have no plans to change.

    4) Check with Dealer if you have any discounts, its pretty expensive though by itself, ebay has them for around $300, I don't mind the sunshade type cover, but to each of their own.

    Stick around, add content to the various threads, I don't know much about the nitty gritty of my car, but I like customizing it and making it mine.

    Highly recommend getting a dashcam though
     
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  15. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace 2025 Camry XLE FWD

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    Oil change is every 10K but the car has tires rotated and other checks every 5K. It provides the dealer an opportunity to sell more services IMHO.
     
  16. jtg61

    jtg61 Member

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    I would suggest the Two Eco. It has the best option package between the Two And Three and the best mileage as well.
     
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  17. RCO

    RCO Senior Member

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    Nice, but I think he's already chosen and got his car
     
  18. djSyndrome

    djSyndrome Member

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    Bought a two. Only thing I miss from higher trims is the smart unlock on the trunk and passenger doors (the Two only has it on the driver's door).

    One additional visual difference: center console plastic is black, not white, which you may prefer.
     
  19. JeffHastings

    JeffHastings Member

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    Interesting thread. I was looking at a Three Touring as a cheaper alternative to a Lincoln MKZ Hybrid because it's the least costly trim with Softex seats, albeit non-heated fronts. However, the comments on Lithium-Ion batteries DO concern me, especially reading about Boeing's 787 Dreamliner issues a few years ago. It's too bad the NIMH is only in the Two, nor Even the Two Eco. That the Three Touring, like the Two, also has the donut spare standard, unlike the higher trim models, also appeals to me but I'd have to reconcile concerns I still have about the long-term durability of the Li-ION battery. I concede that in the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid you don't have a choice of battery, Ford only uses Li-ION to preserve some added trunk space in a car not designed to be a hybrid.
     
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  20. i<3theventurafwy

    i<3theventurafwy Junior Member

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    Thanks for the input here @bobthejedi

    1. I have noticed a little bit of rattling, but it seems (very) intermittent and tied to the climate control system. I'm wondering if it's not meant to be there, or if I'm simply noticing something unavoidable because the Prius is such a quiet car mechanically (road noise isn't great on rough highway sections but I really can't get too bothered about it given the gas mileage is consistently above 50 even though I'm awful at driving it right now.) Overall it's been great aside from that and couple of other minor things, namely: a) the lack of blind spot warning is really annoying in principle because it makes absolutely no sense that they couldn't have added it for a trifling cost (literally all the electronic infrastructure is there because of TSS-P after all), but the mirrors are amazingly easy to adjust and barely have a blind spot if done properly; and b) the rear visibility is also horrible when it rains, because the vertical window beneath the spoiler doesn't have a wiper. I'd appreciate being able to have the backup camera on during normal driving so I can know that a car coming up on me isn't going to rear-end me, but these are definitely minor things that are tolerable given the efficiency, quiet, and sense of safety from the other active features. It's not perfect, but it's pretty close for the price range.

    2. Thank you for that; I'll stick with the schedule for now.

    3. Sounds good; I'll just be a little quick on the hook when the tread is getting low but otherwise won't fret.

    4. Where would I find them that isn't eBay? Just the dealer? Which model is ideal?

    A final question: why should I get a dash cam?