Greetings from Slovenia(EU). im looking into buying my first Prius witch will be mostly driven on country roads so it will rarely see speeds above 90km/h(55mph) and im looking for long term car.now i have two questions: I can buy used facelifted 3gen 2013-2014 and have some money spared on side for emergency repairs,new tires and new battery if needed or lease 4gen 2016-2017 Prius still in factory warranty so my question is 4 gen worth it in my case or should i play it safer and buy 3 gen? Second question whit witch one of them is easier to determine your placement on road im used too driving small cars so im alitle worried about its size?
welcome! i would go gen4, everything is supposed to be better. even the nightlines, if that's what you mean by placement on the road. if you do go gen3, beware of the egr circuit/oil burning/head gasket issues near 100,000 miles all the best!
as i said im used too small city cars and my current car is 2002 Toyota Yaris and Prius is bigger car so im worried i would have issus assesing car width thats why im asking witch gen is easier to know its placement on road. I did drive BMW F30 once and did not hit anything but was totaly unused too size of car. I am planing Test driving 4 gen Prius and i know with time i will get used to cars size
understood. i'm not sure how much larger prius is than yaris or f30. the biggest problem is that you sit low, with the body high around you, and the glass higher. it can be difficult to see the front and sides. some say the gen 4 is a little better, so i would test drive both and see.
Thanks, so does 2016 have any issues i would need too look for or is it rock solid im asking becouse its first year 4 gen prius?
The Gen 4 is vastly better than the Gen 3. More comfortable, more economical, safer. I've never driven a Yaris, but see them all the time. The biggest size difference seems to be the length. Since the widest part is the mirrors, it's not too hard to just the sides when parking. And with the backup camera, backing up should not be hard. The front end is where you might need the most practice, but that's true with all cars these days since you can't really see where the front of the car ends.
Well, if the big trucks get through, I'm sure the Prius will, too. Maybe find an experienced driver to coach you? It's much harder to explain than to demonstrate.
So im still searching but finding good gen 3 prius may be an issue so i started searching so early while gen 4 offers are quite good but rare. My trips are 2,4miles long and on flat road of that 24% are city(31mph),24% industrial zone(24mph) rest is country road 55mph. Witch gen would better handle short trips(worried about ICE and battery) if both of them are yearly taken to service for oil and oil filter changes ?
is 2,4 miles 2-4 miles? or 24 miles? if 2-4, i would look for a plug in. if 24, they will be similar, but gen4 is better in almost every respect
its 2,4miles or 3,8km sadly in my country is a project to get good used normal prius plug in is imposible to find so witch one would handle short trips better would gen 4s tech like active shutters help in warm up time on my trips?
A block heater helps some with such short trips; 2 hours plugged in raises coolant temperature by about 35~30 degrees centigrade. Toyota makes the block heater, quite a special case one.
true but block heater needs too be pluged into external power source i prefere not too use such thing becouse either i will forget too unplug it or be annoyed with constantly pluging and unpluging it so i prefere to pick gen that handles such short trips better. i watched this video: in it it looked that gen 4 starts using EV mode after first ICE start at about 0,8miles so could it be asumed that it could reach operating temperature in my 2,4miles trip?
it depends on ambient temp, but i have to think gen4 is better due to efficiencies and technology improvements. but if you're looking at cost, wouldn't a non hybrid be better?
If i only looked at cost i would keep my Toyota Yaris 2002, but im fan of technology plus i want too find a car that is good and reliable for longer time and based on my experiance with Yaris i decided i will stay on Toyota but Prius won me over becouse its a Hybrid,has HUD and digital instrument cluster i love in my Yaris. Only issue i have is a choice gen 3 or gen 4 for my short trips
i would go gen4 if possible. only caveat, we don't have enough accumulated experience for long term reliability
nothing wrong with gen3, and it poly won't be too less efficient than gen4. keep in mind: around 100k, egr is fully clogged and head gasket blows brake actuator is a known problem inverter is a known problem battery is getting weak after 8-10 years these are all just possibilities, and not the majority of cases, as far as we know.
