Test drove 2021 Prius Prime few days ago, questions...

might have been tire pressure too

 

Sway bars for handling work.

 

Here is the list from the manual stating when the engine will turn on while in EV mode. So if you’re in EV mode and power mode and you floor the gas pedal there is a chance the engine will turn on.

 

It depends.

It will always default to EV if the EV portion (Green on the icon) has a charge, but the mode will remain at whatever you last chose.

Also, it will NOT trigger the gas engine if you floor the pedal in EV only mode (unless and until you reach 135km/84mph). In EV Auto mode, you might provoke the gas engine if you floor it in some circumstances.

 

Mine stays on PWR mode (I don't normally use PWR mode, but recently injured my right ankle and find the lower resistance of PWR mode on the accelerator more comfortable).

 

Could well be a factor in light steering feel: dealerships receive vehicles with tires at max sidewall. They’re supposed to adjust to door decal during PDI, but don’t always. And higher pressured tires have less squirm?

 

My bad for missing that asterisk.

 

They have stiffer sidewalls, so should have less squirm.

 

Shame on the salesman who couldn't answer the questions and then let you get away without finding those answers for you!

 

This is important? He's a salesman. His job is to make sales, know the basic stuff about the cars, arrange the details, get you into the car you want.

 

Most car salesmen are legalized scam artists who know little about automotive technology. In fact most salesmen don't actually sell you the car. That job goes to the sales manager and finance guy, the top tier scam artists. Even at Toyota dealerships. Not all but way too many.

 

My sales guy owns a 2017 Prime, so I got lucky re: knowing the vehicle.

Mine is a 2021. Confirmed again today that it stays in PWR mode. Can’t speak to earlier models.

I sold cars for a year (nearly 25 years ago) to pay for grad school. The number one guy in sales (sold twice as many cars per month than the next best guy) was fired while I was there. Why? Because his refusal to learn even basic things about the cars outweighed his “salesmanship” owing to the sheer number of post-sale complaints from his customers (usually because a car lacked a feature he claimed it had—his “hood and trunk” presentations were outrageously wrong). Back then, with no internet to better arm customers, he managed to hang on for awhile. No way he’d have lasted more than two months today. A working knowledge of the car is important. Or, at the very least, pointing questions to the service department if the sales person doesn’t know the answer.