2016 Prius V (Canada) with Technology & Luxury - Test Drive what to look for?

If you have 40,000 mile Toyota warranty on the battery you are good. Assuming those miles will get you three or four years of use. There is a questionable utility called Dr Prius that attempts to force charge the battery by reving the engine while parked and then driving the car so it determines how long the battery holds a charge.

I might not pay for tire and rim warranty.

I would be more concerned about oil changes since no service records show until 80kms. Toyota fixed some oil consumption issues by 2016 but I would feel better if they had records or receipts. Hopefully you get a used car warranty backed by the dealer of at least one year. If necessary pay the tire money for a full powertrain warranty. You do get a hybrid warranty standard but check how long it is. Ask if one of the warranties would cover the two water pumps, brake booster and engine head gasket.

The two collisions in a year also bother me. Just because it says zero dollars could mean the repair shop did not report the costs. I would ask for the name of the repair shop and check. Or get an independent body shop inspection.

 

The recommendation for a warranty on the 17 inch rims would only be worth it if you would hit nasty potholes a lot (Like I do). Since you want technology packages, you are also stuck with 17 inch rims, with low profile tires of the same diameter as the 16 inch wheels would have. That puts less cushion between your rim and that pothole.

This sportier road feel has had some people resort to switching to 16 inch wheels. This gets expensive, even after selling off 4 good 17 rims with tires. I would be one of them, except my "four" came with 16 inch rims.

It is possible that the accidents were repaired without a collision insurance claim, so the paper trail would be hard to find. That could mean they were really minor accidents that did not meet a high deductible. It could mean the owner repaired the accident themselves. Buying a pre-painted bumper cover and installing it yourself would save a lot, if you were worried about your insurance rates going up. Or perhaps the owner backed into another car, resulting in damage to the other car, but not to the bumper of this car (I did this myself 3 years ago).

All that said, there are a lot of other less generous explanations that could spell trouble. I would still raise a red flag.

I had a rush job of a sale at an out of state Toyota dealer back in June. The Toyota CPO designation was on the website, but when I got home, there wasn't anything about the CPO in the bundle of papers I signed. I went into a total panic. I called my local dealere, and they showed nothing (the warranty takes a few weeks to propagate through the rest of Toyota).

Turns out the saleswoman was thinking ahead, and placed all that paperwork in the glovebox, so it would not be forgotten. You should get several things:

1) A booklet that is the actual warranty that you are getting. It looks like yet another glossy owners manual, so I overlooked it. Inside, the dealer fills out the relevant information on the 3rd page. I have not tested the if the Warranty would be upheld by my local dealer, but when I took my 2013 in for the Inverter recall last week, I had them enter the 2017 into their computer to save time in the future. My local dealer had all the information about the sale in New York state in their system.
2) The 160 point inspection report, which is a yellow carbon copy of the original. Hybrids have like 15 more items on the report.
3) You are supposed to get the Carfax report. Mine never showed, but you already paid for a Carfax report.

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There should be trip meters controls on the steering wheel. Toggle the Display button to avg mpg when on total odo miles. There are total and trip avg mpgs. However average mpgs reset with a 12v disconnect and trip mpgs can be artificially high (unusual) or low (typical) when a car has been excessively "idling on a car lot". Trip mpgs can be reset by a long press of the Trip button but the avg mpg will then fluctuate widely until you have a few hundred miles of typical driving.

Regardless a v wagon has more weight and a higher numerical final drive ratio than a hatchback and therefore has significantly lower mpg at 42 US combined than a hatchback. It also has a stronger ac system which sucks more hybrid hv battery. Finally, a big difference between 2016 Prii is the v wagon is still an older gen3 engine design where the hatchback is the current gen4 which gained reliability and mpg.

Because of the Gen3 design frequent oil changes are essential and egr cleanouts are user recommended although they are not in the Toyota maintenance schedule. Otherwise maintenance is minimal until the 100,000 mile mark in the US.

Canadian schedules may vary.

 

Yeah US brethren may say delay EGR (& intake manifold) cleanout to 100K miles, but I'd start hitting the books and gearing up, do it by 100K kilometers. FWIW I did our 2010 around 70K kms, don't regret it. Some reference info and links in my signature.

 

@rjparker has a 2012 V. I own a 2013 V and a 2017 V. The directions above would be exactly correct for my 2013 V, but not my 2017 V. My 2017 has a redesigned instrument cluster. I don't know if thee 2015/2016 models have the original cluster, or the newer cluster.

The first thing to note about the 2017 is that the buttons on the right hand side of the steering wheel are all different. The rubber part has a 4 way menu navigation control with a center select button. Below that is what looks like three buttons, but only the top two buttons do anything on a "four" model. That is the a "back" button and a "Disp" button.


That "Disp" button will only let you toggle through four different displays at the bottom of the LCD panel in the instrument cluster.
- Standard Odometer + avg MPG/KmPH (not sure, but I think this average is since the last time car was started.)
- Trip Odometer A + avg MPG/KmPH (I assume this average is since last reset of trip A)
- Trip Odometer B + avg MPG/KmPH (I assume this average is since last reset of trip B)
- Blank / Muted... no display.

Contrast with the 2013: the rubber button has four buttons in the corners. Upper Left and Lower Left are Temperature up down. The Upper right is the "Disp" button, and the lower right is the "Trip" button.

The "Trip" button on the 2013 does the trip odometer function of the "Disp" button on the 2017. The 2017 does not have the equivalent functionality of the 2013 "Disp" button, which is one of my disappointments with the 2017. It is available, but harder to get to.

Pressing the Disp button on a 2013 will cycle through displaying the following next to the odometer:
- Instantaneous MPG/KmPG
- Average MPG since the last reset
- Range Miles/Km til empty
- Set (Which allows you change the Eco display to the left of the Speedometer).

 

I did a search for the switch assembly for the right side of the steering wheel. The part number I got was: 84244-47260-B0. That part number also fits a 2015 and a 2016, but not a 2013 or 2014. So I guess that means the changes I described in the Instrument Cluster and how the right side buttons work apply to any 2015+ AKA "facelift" models.

 

Thanks so much Gromittoo for the details about the steering wheel right hand controls. I had a 2012 v and just bought a 2017 v and I'm adjusting to the fewer functions on the steering wheel and display. I agree - I prefer the older display.

 

What I miss most is the Hybrid indicator to the left of the Speedometer. After driving the 2013 more than 65k miles as an Uber driver in the City of the Brotherly Shove, I did not realize how much I watch that display when coming to a stop. The bottom part in white shows how much regenerative braking is occurring.

I am known to overthink things. When slowing down for a light, I use the brake so as to keep that white part as large as possible (without going over as Bob Barker would say on The Price is Right). I am really trying to get the most out of my brake pads, and recover as much kinetic energy as I can (crazy physics majors). The location of that display is perfect, as I can see it move while still focused on the car ahead of me.

Also, I can know that I am going to wear out the rubber on the "Disp" button pretty soon. I leave the display on Instantaneous MPG, but check the Average MPG at least 5 times an hour. I reset the average MPG before each day of Ubering, so I can compare days. Using the A/C while idling is the biggest variable in my average MPG. The 2017 resets the average MPG for you when you start the car. I don't like that.