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Danny's extended test drive in the Prius v

Discussion in 'Prius v Main Forum' started by Danny, Jan 5, 2012.

  1. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
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    [​IMG]
    About a week ago a beautiful Prius v Five w/AT showed up for me to drive thanks to the Prius Team and Southeast Toyota. I'll have the car until about the 15th of January, and have already been putting plenty of miles on it (about 1,300 so far).

    I'm going to do a full write-up soon, especially focusing on my time in the Vee during a 10 hour road trip to Florida, but I figured I'd open up this thread in case anyone has any questions that I can answer for you.

    I've already been talking a lot about the car on Twitter, so you can catch up at Twitter.

    First thing I'll mention: this naming convention is awful. Even people who follow PriusChat and the Prius world don't understand what I'm talking about when I say the Prius v.
     

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    #1 Danny, Jan 5, 2012
    3 people like this.
  2. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    When you're done with it Danny Toyota can send it up North from where you are to me for a few weeks as well. :)
     
    #2 Paradox, Jan 5, 2012
  3. njrose

    njrose New Member

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    I agree the name is a bit confusing. I called Toyota today to inquire about the Prius "vee" and the representative asked me which year the car was!! I had to tell her that it's a 2012 car. It appears that it's confusing to them also!!
     
    #3 njrose, Jan 5, 2012
  4. MrBillTulsa

    MrBillTulsa Member

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    Danny,

    Thank you for this opportunity to ask questions about the v5. I am anxiously awaiting the 2012 Liftback 5 and I am very curious about the GreenLeaf, therein (not just Entune).

    Does the v5 have GreenLeaf? If so, will you comment on its merit and sound qualities?

    Thank you,

    MrBill

    :eek:
     
    #4 MrBillTulsa, Jan 5, 2012
  5. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
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    It does have the JBL Greenleaf system. It's OK. Not nearly as full sounding as my 2010 Prius' sound system was. I have the bass all the way up and it's severely lacking.

    The rest of the audio system is great, minus Entune. Entune has been a frustrating experience so far, to say the least. I'm a tech guy and I don't find the system to be intuitive at all. The point of it is to keep your mind/eyes on the road, but it takes like 5 or 6 touches of the screen just to get to the Pandora app.

    But the 7" high-res screen is nice. Navigation with XM Traffic is great and helpful (except it won't take you around traffic even when you tell it to). Bluetooth audio is MUCH better on this unit than it was in my 2010, but that comes at the expense of Bluetooth calling. Everyone I've talked to via Bluetooth in the car tells me I sound horrible. They sound horrible, too. I have the audio all the way up and can barely hear the other person.

    HD Radio is surprisingly awesome. Beats the pants out of XM's sound quality.
     
    #5 Danny, Jan 6, 2012
  6. ksstathead

    ksstathead Active Member

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    Someone asked yesterday how to set the SKS to open all 5 doors, and someone else responded about holding lock and unlock buttons on the fob to toggle. Can you confirm this works on v like it does on regular gen3?

    Are you using scanguage? If so, do the gen3 codes work?
     
    #6 ksstathead, Jan 6, 2012
  7. miss jenny

    miss jenny New Member

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    hi danny,
    i'm wondering if you have any pics of the interior? i'm torn between a silver v three or five and would love to see as many examples of dark gray softex as possible : )

    many thanks!
     
    #7 miss jenny, Jan 6, 2012
  8. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Worked for me.
     
    #8 rjparker, Jan 6, 2012
  9. DianneWhitmire

    DianneWhitmire High PRIUStess

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    YES YES!
    Danny, thank you for clearly stating the two frustrations I am faced with:

    The Prius V?! Guys, there are TWENTY SIX letters in the alphabet. WHY did you pick one that was already in use for the same car family?!
    W for Wagon? F for Family? E for Exciting? E for Extended? L for Luxurious?
    No, S for STUPID! :rolleyes:
    It's been a huge problem with emails and pricing and folks working deals online for cars that aren't what they think they are!!

    And, Entune.
    I swear I have tried to like this and I am quite aware that we are stuck with it in many many models now.
    it made its debut in Camry 2012 and Prius v at the same time. Now, it's in 4Runners, and soon, in Corolla, the Limited Rav4 and Sienna vans. I'll learn to love it, I am sure. Just make sure your data plans are endless and ini 3 years, know that to use the app for Entune, someone's going to want a few bucks a month.

    :D
     
    #9 DianneWhitmire, Jan 6, 2012
  10. ksstathead

    ksstathead Active Member

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    Should I trade my gen3 Prius III for a Prius v Three, a Prius Three, a Prius c Three or a PiP PHEV? Or should I upgrade to a v Five?

    confusion, what confusion...
     
    #10 ksstathead, Jan 6, 2012
  11. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
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    I'll try to snap some pictures for you, but I will say that the two-tone dark grey softex is very attractive. I really like the Softex material. It's much more comfortable over long drives than leather, and seems to wear better so far.
     
    #11 Danny, Jan 11, 2012
    2 people like this.
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