One year and 22,000 miles later....

Hmmmm.
2 questions ...
1) Did you test drive the Prime before you purchased it? Most of your dislikes in #3 would have been pretty obvious.
2) Which Tesla? I'll guess it's the model 3.
I wish you good luck and enjoy the "range anxiety feature" the Tesla gives you at no additional cost.
J

 

Do the seats not move back on the base model? I'm 6' and have plenty of leg room in my Advanced.

 

Say what you want about Consumer Reports but I do maintain an Online subscription.
The Tesla Model 3 does edge out the Prime for Front Seat Comfort but that's about it.

Prius Prime:


Tesla Model 3:

 

Interesting on the consumer reports. I have noticed the smoothness of the ride in comparison to my 08 Prius. The noise level is very quiet as well. The seat? Well..... It is better than the 08.

Prime Candidate: I think you should have leased it. I leased mine with the idea that I needed to trade in my 08 but, knowing that EV tech is going to advance tremendously in the next few years, so when 3 years are up, I can move into pretty easy....with a lease or buy.

But if you came into this knowing 'all of those'.... then why did you purchase it?

 

I drive a Plus and have a similar length commute, and I'm similarly sized. That said, I may have much shorter legs than you, which could explain the big difference in seat comfort (I find the seats and the seating position comfortable).

That said, have you adjusted your vertical seat height? (see number 3 in the illustration)

 

3--I'm 5-11, 175, and I'm comfortable in our Prime. Some good upholstery shops can re-sculpt the foam in the seat to better suit individuals. That's a lot cheaper than changing cars. Check for shops that make custom formed motorcycle seats (not just fancy custom leather covers). They might have the know-how.
4--Speak with Tesla owners before you get one. A relative sold his, because Tesla didn't ramp up service as they increased sales. No one else will work on them, even for things like brakes or a window motor, and it took weeks to get a service appointment. When he decided to sell, some car dealers wouldn't take the Tesla in trade. Many aren't sure Tesla will continue. They've never broken even much less made money, they won't sell a $35k Model 3, just the high priced optioned versions, and build quality is a question.
5--Could the transmission thing you feel being the switch over from electric run to engine run & back? I don't feel what you do, but that's a possibility. I'm very satisfied with the drivetrain feel in our Prime.

 

unfortunately, a small number of folks with back problems report prius making it worse. not much you can do except try different devices or visit an upholstery shop.

 

6 feet, 4 inches. 260 pounds.
Two back surgeries.
Two disc removals.
Two spinal fusions.
Bone grafts.
Stabilization device around my lower vertebrae's.

Try squeezing all that into a Prius!! I was either insane, blind, or drunk when I bought my car! Probably all three. What the heck am I doing in this little Disneyland car?!

Two Aleve tablets right before I drive it. That numbs me up pretty good. As long as my poor liver doesn't fail, I'm good.

Should have bought a Tacoma. Never too late I guess.

 

Not that I am in market for Tesla, having no Tesla dealer near, purchasing a car that can not be serviced locally must be a nightmare.

OK, I just noticed that PRIME PLUS does not have lumbar support on the driver seat. If you have gotten Premium or Advanced trim with power seat, it has lumbar support. This does a wonder for your back. I had it on our old 2005 Sienna and loved it, but it broke and stayed deflated. I tried rolled up towels first but it wasn't convenient, so had to search for better lumbar support gadget just like you did. I didn't have the power seat with lumbar support in my previous Gen3 Pri either, but on my current Prime Premium with lumbar support I have no complaint for seating comfort so far.

 

I heard on the radio this morning a teardown of the Model 3 reveals a 30% markup. Not too shabby.

 

@ leasing: It doesn't make sense to lease a PHEV even more than it doesn't make sense to lease a normal car because (a) you don't get the dot.gov kickbacks which exacerbates the long ROI, and (b) people who have short drives to work can drive anything that they want to. People with long drives to work usually bust the 12-15k mileage caps for leaseed vehicles.

@range anxiety: Since you can refuel a Prime in under 5 minutes and a full bag of gas plus the electrons will challenge a human's range anxiety for pumping sanitaries......this really isn't a Prime thing.
AT THE VERY WORST (no place to charge, etc) a Prime is "only" as fuel efficient as a regular Prius. Since you get the aforementioned tax kickbacks, this means that the car might be (should be!) cheaper in many cases to buy than a regular Prius PLUS it might also be worth more when you sell it later.
Win Win.

@ergonomics: I can only speak for the G3, but they're ABYSMAL.
Whenever I have to run my normal route in my company car, I always get what we call "Prius Butt."
Yeah...sure. If you're driving 22,000 miles in a year then paying for gas in a less fuel efficient will give you a thinner wallet, which is easier on the sciatic nerve (or shoulder if you have a handbag.)
What I've learned to do is to get a lumbar support ($5) and customize it with some anti-static foam ($0)
It doesn't detract that much from the aesthetics of my Prius' interior but that's only because it did not have much of an aesthetically pleasing interior to begin with.

Recommendation:
Test drive a Volt before the tax kickbacks sunset on this vehicle.
They sit a little higher off the ground, they're an order of magnitude more comfortable than the Prius and they have more real-world EV only range.
If they're available for less than 30K in your area there as they are here, then you can be OTD for less than 25k after ttl.
Of course....you're going to be butt-sore for a different reason after selling the Prime (never trade in a vehicle if you can avoid it at all!)
but chiropractors ain't cheap either. You can put your Prime up for sale in this forum and locally and see if you get any nibbles before you go Volt shopping.

There is a third way.....and I only mention this anecdotally and totally without judgement......

About a year and a half ago my cholesterol was reaching out to touch 200, and I noticed that I was not fully keeping my promise to my self to maintain military fitness standards into retirement. Since I was over 50, and my people all have super high cholesterol my doctor mentioned stattons. I told him that the Earth would be orbiting a cold dead star before I used them, and I went out and bought a Fitbit Charge 2 ($120) and most recently I became a very VERY reluctant herbivore.
I dropped 20 pounds, 30 points of cholesterol, and now....curiously....my Prius Butt is even further diminished than it was with the goofy lumbar support.

TIFWIW.....

 

CR lambasted the Volt but gave the Bolt very good scores.

 

I've lost faith in CRs objectivity...as have others.

I'm looking at perhaps having to start commuting again, and the for me (and JUST for me) the V2 > the Prime in terms of comfort, cost, and I LOVE the regen-on-demand, something that Toyota strangely is not doing and something that the VOLT fanatics are doing some interesting things with.
They have bigger wheels (higher ground clearance), and MUCH better seats....although I understand that the G4 seats....."suck less."
The Prime is overall more efficient on paper, and has more options base-versus-base.....but a base model Volt is cheaper and more comfortable.
I already own 3 GMCs whose reliability has been better than my G3 so either I got three abby-normal units.....my maintenance practices make me luckier....or GM is building better cars that the wags think that they are.

Either way?
I'm not domestic averse.
This is a YMMV thing.

My Prius Butt has been solved locally and for now I'll be keeping the cars that I have now since I like the payments ($0) gas is cheap AND I have a three mile commute.

 

In a situation where the second gen Volt is *cheaper* than a Prime, the value proposition is much different, just like ETC(SS) is saying.

That said, earlier this spring when I bought my Prime Plus, it was much, much ($thousands, $thousands, $thousands) cheaper than a Gen 2 Volt, net of all rebates and tax incentives. I love my Prime, but if the environment I was purchasing in had the Volt cheaper, it would have been an outstanding purchase for my particular needs.