2, 3 or 5

Nexus99 - The 17-in. alloy wheels, 3-Door Smart Key System (SKS), Homelink, SofTex-upholstery, 6-way adjustable driver’s seat w/ power lumbar support & heated front seats, and LED headlight with auto level control, auto on/off feature and fog lights are worth the $2,825 delta in cost (i.e. ~10% more).

Depending on the state you live in, you may be paying close to that much to the government in sales tax to get nothing. “Tax yourself,” and treat yourself the extra 10%, and you will not regret it.

The top compelling “Must-Have” reasons are the 3-Door SKS, 17-in. alloy wheels, SofTEx, and LED headlights.

 

We ended up young with a 2. I see your point about the delta but for us it was closer to 4k difference because we did not need entunes or the GPS.


iPad ? HD

 

Agree with Nexus. I really wanted the 17 in wheels mostly. I figured our gas savings would pay for the "5" in about 18 months anyway. I love how this car works!

 

Right there is the EXACT reason I went with the 5 over the 3. I priced having the seats removed and reupholstered in leather or something like SofTex and they wanted almost 2 grand to do it. Its a must have as we are readily approaching a family and spills are MUCH easier to clean off of leather than off of cloth! the 17", 3-Door Smart Key, Homelink and LED Headlights are the icing on the beautiful cake I brought home.... oh that and they only had Red and Pearl 3s and I was not buying a car in either color

 

I will agree the top of line is always great to have however the Model 3's 16" alloys are bigger than a regular Prius, it does have a driver's door smart key, Homelink can be added for maybe $200, the upholstery is ok, the 6-way driver's seat with power lumbar is included (minus heat), and the halogen headlights work great and have auto on/off.

The features I would have paid more for would include a much better seat frame and padding but none of the models are there yet. Better speakers than even the JBL would be welcome. I am also sure that the navigation with 7.1 screen would be great, however I am not so old that I can't find my way home with or without a Nav system. Finally a solid bluetooth phone interface and completely wireless Iphone integration would probably mean I bought a 2013 or 2014 model.

 

Gathered Prius Vee’erz – The MSRP Pecking Order is:

Prius v Two – MSRP: $26, 550 (MAZDA5 Sport: $19,625)
Prius v Three– MSRP: $27,315 (MAZDA5 Touring: $21,625)
Prius v Five– MSRP: $30,140 (MAZDA5 Grand Touring: $24,025)
Prius v Five w/Adv. Tech. Pkg – MSRP: $30,140 + $5,585 = $35,725 (MAZDA5 Grand Touring - Loaded: $24,025 + $3,050 = $27,575±)

All four, Two, Three, Five, Five w/ATP, Prius v models are running on and sipping fuel with the identical 44/42/40 EPA MPG Hybrid Synergy Drive running gear. Therefore, the buying decision, once you decide you “Gotta Have A Prius v,” is all about Toyota Profit Margin Boosting “$tuff.”

If you do not need Entune and NAV, and are O.K. with fabric-covered seats, then the Pv2 has your name on it.

If you like the Pv2 appointments, but are Smart Phone/iPhone obsessed and secretly in love with the NAV Lady, but do not need 17-in wheels, 3-Door SKS, Homelink, SofTex, heated driver’s and front passenger’s seats and LED headlights, then the Pv3 is calling you.

Should you need Entune, NAV, but also want 17” Wheels, LED headlights, the added convenience of 3-Door SKS & Homelink, the extra creature comfort a heated 6-way driver’s/4-way front passenger’s seats with the kicker of Softex upholstered cushiness and “All That Jazz” Elegance, run, do not walk to embrace and capture the 3-Door SKS Fob of a Pv5 “Pseudo-Limo.”

However, if you are a Space Cadet or Closet Trekkie who wants to run the table on all the Pv5 “Goodies & Stuff,” plus dig mucho deeper into your mattress to pony up the additional $5,585 on top of the Pv5’s MSRP to obtain “Shiny, Spinning Red Wheels” in the form of a non-opening Panoramic Moonroof Skylight, 0.9 extra inches of HDD-monitor display w/ JBL sound-speakers, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC) & Pre-Collision System (PCS) and an Advanced Parking Guidance System (APGS), you need to tell Scotty to “Beam You Up” into a Pv5ATP.

No matter which way you go, the versatile “v” in the Prius v is there to serve your driving needs. That “Caddy In A Kimono” is ready to save you money on the road by the miserly consumption of motor fuel, thereby, delivering you at least Official EPA MPG Fuel Economy.

 

We have the Five. Main points over the Three were the heated seats (cold winters up here!), the seat fabric, and the larger tire size. (Too-small tires or a lowered car always remind me of kid's Hot Wheels cars after they're stepped on). I would have gone for the moonroof if it had been offered separately, but I don't need the high-end ATP.

 

I went with the 3, and the main reasoning behind it was that it was only about $700 more than the 2 and it comes with Nav, Entunes, and Sirius. We did consider the 5 mainly for the faux leather, but the price jump was a bit too much. Ultimately, we felt like the Prius is more of a budget car, and it didn't make sense for us to pretend that it's a luxury car and went with the 3. Having said that, I can easily see being happy with any of the 3 models, even the 2. The nav on my phone is pretty good, and we hardly ever use Entunes or Sirius. But then again, we're talking about a pretty minor difference in price.

 

We have had our 2 for about 3 weeks. I was surprised how quiet and smooth the ride was. We opted for the 2 because this was the only V the dealer had in stock

 

The value seems to be with the 3. With only a $700 difference between the 2 and 3 I would get the 3. Sure, you might not use the nav all the time. But, having it in that rare instance is nice. And having Entunes is great for Bing searches for restaurants and stuff. Also, with the Sirius integrated is a nice touch.

At the end it is up to you. I am sure after negotiating price the difference is probably less than $700.

 

I totally agree with the other "3" owners. Integrated navi for the $700 navi/Entunes was a no brainer for us. We'll probably add Classic Soft Trim leather and heated seats next year. Considered the "5", but the dealer had the "3" in the color we wanted on the lot. Painless transaction.

 

We went with the 2. Added Katzkin and XM for $1,200 combined and we have the car we want. In the rare event we need nav, we power up the nüvi.

 

Get a 4 with solar panel and sun roof. You get the best of the high tech, heads up display, auto/on/off lights, power seats (a must for comfort on over 30 minute drives), auto dimming mirror, the larger higher definition nav.

The sunroof on the four is worth more than the dynamic cruise and lane keeping on the five. The roof adds the all black look, the roof looks cool when it's open, it's nice to have a sunroof, the solar fan thing actually works to keep car room temp.

 

Whoops. Sorry about that, saw it in Whats New and didn't notice the headline. Only suggestion on V is avoid the "vista roof". It's not a sunroof just a glass roof, great if want to cook eggs on your neck or the seats but an odd idea beyond that.

 

I went with a v2 and pick mine up today - excited. I have a droid phone, and a droid tablet - (10") so if I really NEED nav for a trip - I would rig up a holder for my tablet, tether it to my phone for internet and use google maps. up to date, and almost door to door directions. or my phone with the windshield mount, either way...
Entunes looked cool, but a lot of people don't seem to like it, and from what I have been reading looks like it will be a pay subscription to use later on... I like my tech, but I am all about free too - so XM radio - doesn't light miy fire... why pay for something I can get free over the air? I'm not sold on pay radio. so for me - saving the extra $1000 for no nav and no entunes - I was ok with that.

If I could afford it, I would have gotten the 5 with ATP - just for the radar cruise - I commute an hour each way to work daily and that would come in so handy - but a sun roof which is acrylic or some plastic - and you can't open it - the thing that concerns me there is that it will haze and yellow like these plastic headlamps on cars nowadays. leather is nice, and heated seats are too - but i have those now on my current car - and find that i rarely use them. auto headlights, and the homelink i thought should have been standard as well as DRLs for safety - I mean low end chevy cobalts have that... why couldn't the prius?

that's my 2cents.

 

We picked the v3 over the v5 because my kids hated the fake leather in the v5. We picked the v3 over the v2 because of the navigation system which we use all the time and find to be very useful.

 

Just picked up my v3 two days ago. How did you get auto on/off headlamps? I don't think mine has that feature.

 

We got the V2, since we wanted cloth seats, and didn't care for the entune/navigation. We just pair our phone through bluetooth, and can stream music, and use our phone's GPS to get where we need to go... and we saved $700+.