My Prius PHV (the UK name for the car) arrived on Saturday and I'm pretty chuffed with it! I've found a couple of nit-picky marks on a couple of bits of the car, but nothing worth causing a fuss over. Other than that it's a perfect car and way more fun to drive than any other car I've ever had! The electric motors are fantastic. Now I've had a play around with it, I was wondering if anyone can answer some questions... 1: I've never, ever driven an automatic car before (They're not that common in the UK) so I'm sure it's something I'm doing wrong, but when coming to a stop I can't seem to do it without the car either jerking a little bit and/or the brakes letting out a small creaking sound. Is there a trick to stopping this car smoothly? If I press the pedal too hard it seems to jolt very hard, but if I don't press it hard enough then the brakes let out a much louder and prolonged creaking sound as the motor fights with the brakes to stop the car. 2: Am I right in thinking that the curtain airbags run the full length of the car? In previous cars I've opened up the a-pillar to find that it's easy to find a channel around the curtain airbags for dashcam cables, but on this one I had to actually route the cable underneath it rather than around, as I couldn't find where it ended - it seems to start very low in the pillar and continue running well past the passenger seat, at least from what I can see. Thanks in advance all - also if anyone has any tips or tricks they think id find helpful, feel free to fire them at me
I've had similar issues with the brakes. I think it has to do with the regenerative braking system. When I barely push the brakes, the car doesn't seem to slow down as much as other cars have for me in the past but if you apply them too much the car will screech to a halt. I've learned to start braking (or coasting) early, well before I need to stop and then you may have to let off the brake ever so slightly to keep the car from jerking to a stop but re-apply the brake further to make sure it actually does come to a complete stop. It's very strange but over this past year it has become second nature to apply the brakes in a way that doesn't cause the car to stop too suddenly. Can't help on the airbags as I've not really paid attention to them. Luckily I've never even seen a deployed airbag outside of TV shows and movies.
Dont worry its the regenerative braking not your fault cause your prob used to less sensitive brakes. You will get a feel for it don't worry. 2, It does seem that the airbag goes across as at the rear it says SRS AIRBAG hmmm. One sec ill check the iihs crash test and see. YES indeed they do go across the car. you can check the video and pictures that they took on this website. 2017 Toyota Prius Prime
Hmmm, it seems you have been using this forum for a long time. DId you have any other Prius?? Just wondering dont have to respond if u no want to.
Thanks for the link - this definitely lines up with what I found once I started pulling the trim back! I'm glad I went to the effort of routing the cable properly as it looks like it could have been pretty nasty had I just been lazy running it over the trim and I got into a serious accident... not sure my girlfriend would have been too happy about being smacked in the side of the head by the dashcam. Nope! This is my first Prius. I joined the forum back in late December last year when I first started looking at them. I ordered back at the end of the January and it only just arrived off the boat on Saturday!
Ahh cool. Yeah, good thing you dint lazy wire. Ottawa Isn't that bad so I don't think we need a dashcam. Did you install one in the rear too?
Not in the rear, but I may do some day. I have actually been rear ended while I had the front camera and no back, but the insurance still used the footage anyway to prove that I wasn't harshy braking or anything. I live in Birmingham in the UK which can be kinda sketchy on the roads... it's not too bad, but bad enough that the camera has saved me a few quid over the years. Even if I moved out to the sticks id probably still keep hold of it, the peace of mind is worth it!
The brake noise is likely some light rust on the rotors. Disc brakes do that if they are not used regularly. The Prius is prone to this too. The easiest solution is to place the car in Neutral and brake a couple of times. Braking in Neutral only uses the conventional friction brakes. Since the Prius & Prime use regenerative braking a lot, the brake pads last much longer and the rotors are prone to light rusting, especially in humid weather.
I’m curious about your U.K. PHV. Most European cars have repeater or side lights on the front fenders, I believe they may be referred to as “wings” in the U.K., yet when looking at your picture I don’t see any. Am I wrong? Additionally I’m curious about your outside mirrors, are there lights in them? Our USA models don’t have signal lights in the mirrors. I had to add them to mine as I see it more as a safety issue.
Congrats !!! I remember that feeling last year when mine arrived. The car is amazing. Lots to learn...enjoy !!!
I’ve not seen any lights on the wings of any Prius I’ve ever seen, though the orange section of the main light arrays glows orange when the lights are on which can be seen from the side. Also yes, the side indicator lights are inside the mirrors.
Congrats!! It's been a while. 1. It's not an automatic thing, it's an ECB thing (Electronically Controlled Brakes). I don't know why Toyota can't make them smooth. I've driven other cars with ECBs that are smoother. Additionally, there's the transition from regenerative braking to friction braking at low speeds. I find the Gen 4 (and I guess the PHV) to be a step back from the Gen 3 (and almost similar to the Gen 2). The brake pads are too far from the discs or the software is programmed to grab harder so when the regen lets up and the car switches over to the brake pads, they feel grabby and you suddenly slow down, resulting in a jerky stop. 2. I've never taken apart the headliner but Toyota does provide a full length curtain airbag on all North American vehicles (that includes 3rd row in Highlander... not sure about Sequoia). It's in the mirrors so they count towards that regulation. They haven't been on the fenders for nearly a decade now since mirror-mounted signals became a thing. (Those have been around for the better part of two decades)
Thanks for the responses. Really don’t understand why Toyota did NOT include them on the North American Primes A.K.A. PHV. Cost a pretty penny to add aftermarket ones that have OEM quality.
I think Toyota USA has determined that people wanting that feature should get a Lexus instead of a Toyota.
I received mine in the USA about 3 weeks ago. I still have that "chuffed" feeling. Have fun discovering all those little non-obvious features over the next few weeks.
I think so as well. When you are using regenerative braking at the end regenerative braking won't work and it would automatically use the brakepad to stop the car and thus the noise.
