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Trying to decide which trim to buy

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by knightofdight, Jan 20, 2018.

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  1. knightofdight

    knightofdight New Member

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    So I am in the market for a new 2018 Prius, having never owned one before. I am currently deliberating between the Three + ATP or the Four Touring.

    The heated, power seats + lumbar support will be much appreciated, as will the auto dimming mirror. However, the lack of donut concerns me, and it does not have the HUD.

    The benefit of the Three is that it is $4000 (even more after taxes) cheaper than the 4T, comes with a donut, and it comes with the HUD. I won't know how badly the instrumentation location bothers me til I test drive, but I feel like the HUD would greatly alleviate this. Also it has fabric seats and smaller tires, but I am not really sure how much that matters.

    So basically, what it comes down to is deciding if the power heated seats and a rear-view dimmer are worth 4K extra plus my donut. It's a hard choice, for sure. It gets very cold in the winters in TN, and even during the summer time nights are kind of cold.

    Can anyone please help me decide?
     
    #1 knightofdight, Jan 20, 2018
  2. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    If you're talking new car, note that for 2018, the Four and Four Touring will have the 11.6" HD screen from the Prime. You have to decide if you want knobs for volume & tune or you're ok with a knob-less interface.

    In your case, I'd go with the 3ATP. You can add heated seats as an aftermarket unit (same as the auto-dimming mirror though... I'm not sure how it'll work with the TSS-P camera in that same area. You can search for the discussion on Gen 4's and adding auto-dimming mirror).
     
    #2 Tideland Prius, Jan 20, 2018
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  3. padroo

    padroo Senior Member

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    I have a few cars with auto dimming mirrors and have never liked them. I had the windows tinted and that really helps. This is my second vehicle with heated seats but my first one was my Dodge Dakota truck with heated cloth seats. I thought it was a joke having heated cloth seats. Lol
    The truck never sees cold weather so we have never used them. We do use and like them on our new Prius.
     
    #3 padroo, Jan 20, 2018
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  4. booke02

    booke02 Active Member

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    I have heated seats, but have never used them! But I love the HUD - I struggle when I drive my wife's car, as I have to constantly look down, and refocus, to see the speedo.
     
    #4 booke02, Jan 21, 2018
  5. RCO

    RCO Senior Member

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    Hello and welcome to Prius Chat. Forget about the auto-dimming rear view mirror, it didn't work well in the Prius because of the split rear screen. The wing shields the sensor from following headlamps at night so it stays bright. The 15" wheels ride better that the 17" ones and are cheaper at tyre replacement time. I find my cloth seats are fine and the seat heaters great in winter. I have a HUD but find it more of a distraction than a valuable item, your personal choice is best. Finally, unless there are going to be a number of regular drivers, the power seats will seldom be used, so why waste $4,000 to get that feature.

    Of course, if you're desperate to empty your hard earned, I'm willing to head the queue for handouts. Other readers please fall in line behind. ;)
     
    #5 RCO, Jan 21, 2018
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  6. knightofdight

    knightofdight New Member

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    The reason I wanted the auto dimmer is because my current car (a Mazda 6) has one and it is great. However, I did not take into account the split rear screen. I do agree I'd rather have the 15" wheels. The only people who will be driving the car are my wife and me, and we're both about the same height so you're probably right about the power seats being unnecessary. The one thing I will miss is the lumbar support -- I have back pain with long drives so maybe I can have this added after-market, along with heated seats.

    So based off these factors, I think I agree with the sentiment that it would be better to get the 3ATP and just pay to have heated seats (with lumbar support?) added after the fact.
     
    #6 knightofdight, Jan 21, 2018
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  7. knightofdight

    knightofdight New Member

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    So on second inspection, I feel like the 4ATP might actually be the best choice, even though it is the most expensive option, coming in a few hundred more than the 4T. I get the heated seats w/ lumbar support, I get my dimmer (however poorly it works), and I get my HUD too. And it has the 15 inch tires instead of the 17 inch. Seems like the only thing I am giving up is my donut.
     
    #7 knightofdight, Jan 21, 2018
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  8. padroo

    padroo Senior Member

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    Any time you go to a lower profile tire your ride will be firmer, it doesn't have anything to do with the wheel diameter. The 17's are a lower profile tire than the 15's I believe. I changed the stock tires and wheels on one of my cars and went to a larger wheel and low profile tires and it stiffened up the ride some.
     
    #8 padroo, Jan 21, 2018
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  9. krmcg

    krmcg Lowered Blizzard Pearl Beauty

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    Good Choice!
     
    #9 krmcg, Jan 21, 2018
  10. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    4ATP also works lol. But yes no spare.... but you do get a larger trunk in return. (the floor is lower on models without the spare)
     
    #10 Tideland Prius, Jan 21, 2018
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  11. knightofdight

    knightofdight New Member

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    Also seems like the 4ATP gives up the foglights too, doesn't it? But from what I've read on here, the foglights suck so it's not a big loss. Anyway, giving up the foglights to get the HUD is a worthy sacrifice any day.

    From here, I guess my biggest concern is how do you adjust the volume while driving if there are no knobs? Normally you can blindly feel for a knob, but without them, I am not taking my eyes off the road to look at my touchscreen. I assume there are steering wheel controls?

    For that matter, how do you adjust the AC/heat too? In pictures of the interior, I did not see any knobs for that either.
     
    #11 knightofdight, Jan 21, 2018
  12. krmcg

    krmcg Lowered Blizzard Pearl Beauty

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    Yes. There are steering wheel controls.
     
    #12 krmcg, Jan 21, 2018
  13. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    LED foglights and LED clearance lights are on the Touring models (3T or 4T). They also have the chevron LED parking light. Non-Touring uses the turn signals as parking lights.

    There are steering wheel controls for volume/seek/change track.


    There are buttons for temperature and front/rear defrosters. Other functions can be adjusted by bringing up the climate control screen (touch the bottom left of the screen to enlarge the climate control interface)

    upload_2018-1-21_21-38-29.png



    You can also use the 4.2" MID to change some of the basic functions. Go to the climate screen using the right directional pad on the steering wheel.
    upload_2018-1-21_21-43-23.png

    upload_2018-1-21_21-42-17.png
    upload_2018-1-21_21-42-36.png
     
    #13 Tideland Prius, Jan 22, 2018
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  14. knightofdight

    knightofdight New Member

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    So I just gave the Prius Prime a look and man, I think I am in love. It looks amazing (especially in the Blue Magnetism --- I have to have that color!), it pushes the already phenomenal gas mileage even further, and the Advanced trim comes with every option you can think of, except for a spare tire (of course). Also, from what I read, it still has 15 inch tires so that is great news too. It would run about $2.5k more than a 4ATP, buuuuut supposedly it entitles you to a 4.5k tax credit too so that should make up the price difference.
     
    #14 knightofdight, Jan 22, 2018
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  15. Robyn Jackey

    Robyn Jackey Junior Member

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    That's exactly the one I have and really love it. I was actually thinking I wanted to get a Highlander until I saw the Prime and calculated my 10-15 year cost comparison.

    The incentives right now on the 2017 Prime are awesome, I got mine in August for effectively the price of a Corolla after dealer, mfr, state, and federal discounts.
     
    #15 Robyn Jackey, Jan 24, 2018
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  16. sclevine

    sclevine Active Member

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    I've got the 4ATP and I'll just add that I think the rear view auto dimmer works great. I have not once had a situation where I felt I needed to change whether the mirror was dimmed or not, and have been in the car 13 months and 35,000+ miles. I sometimes wish side mirror auto dimming was a thing, as I sometimes find myself adjusting side mirrors when something is blinding me.
     
    #16 sclevine, Jan 26, 2018
  17. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    It is a thing, but so far kept to luxury cars (and occasionally making it down to the Toyota line. I think the Avalon had a driver's side auto-dimming mirror for one generation)
     
    #17 Tideland Prius, Jan 26, 2018
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  18. pjm877

    pjm877 Member

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    I remember reading that someone in CA was able to get the Dealer to change out the fix-it-kit and put in the doughnut tire... ask.. deal... just might work.

    Others have gone the route of getting the parts and changing it out... there is a thread(s) on this very action ... with part #'s and everything :) All it takes is money :ROFLMAO:

    Welcome to the nicest Prius place on the internet... 2016 level 4 owner in Lebanon Tn on a job.
     
    #18 pjm877, Jan 27, 2018
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  19. hyhi

    hyhi Member

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    I have the 4 Touring. I thought the smaller tires actually gave a smoother ride then the larger tires. I don't use the HUD though many probably like/love it. I have black interior, fake leather and like that it is easy to keep clean. Have dark tinted windows, more so then I would like but it came that way and live in sunny Florida. Would not want them out somewhere with little street lighting.

    The Prime has a high hatch floor so less storage space, that weird shaped hatch window might be issues with cupping snow I thought I read. I like all the safety features and knowing if I am about to bump into anything from any side of the car.

    You can save some $$$ on the Prime, just make sure it fits your needs. If any back issues I would do factory power seat/heat.
    My three cents
    plus I really like my green (sea mist?) color though do love the white though that Prime color is sweet.
     
    #19 hyhi, Feb 1, 2018
  20. tf4624

    tf4624 Active Member

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    Do a custom loaded 4 package that’s what I just ordered. Will wait a few months for it


    Bat cave
     
    #20 tf4624, Feb 1, 2018
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