Read This Before Buying A Prius C

None of the above apply to me:

Size: No kid. Small people under 6'. Fine with me and my daughter to all scout camps with gears, luggage, foods, ...

Ride: Better than my previous 1197 Toyota Avalon with more than 256,000 miles.

Price: Cheaper than other Prius.

Entertainment: I didn't even set up the Entune, just enjoyed the SAT radio.

 

As a young, childless, female professional working in an urban environment, the smaller size is actually perfect for me. I had so much trouble parking my 2000 sable sometimes because of size. With the c being over 3 feet smaller (!!!) it's been much easier to find parking. If I had a family I probably would have not gotten the c and sprung for the full size Prius, but right now it is just me in the car 95% of the time.

Haven't noticed any horrible rides and I've already clocked 200 miles on mine in 4 days. Entertainment-wise, I just like how quickly it gets my iPhone's playlist up and running. Entune sucks but I didn't buy the car for that; I bought it for city driving.

I just wish I could use the voice commands to ask it to play a playlist. I've only got one playist on my iPhone but well over 100 on my iPod Classic (unless you can and I've just not found it yet).

I do love how the mpgs are better in city situations than highway driving. Most of my driving is in congested areas so I am using the c for what it was intended for

 

It sounds like you would have been more content with the bigger hatchback. Maybe you can return the C or trade it in for one? Your complaints are well thought out and the C just may not work for you. Sorry.

 

This makes sense why you feel this way coming from a Corolla to basically a Yaris. Glad to see you went with the 3rd gen hatchback now. My wife has a V so if any extra room is needed we use her car instead of mine. Plenty of room in both cars for us and 4 year old. A Prius C would be nothing more than a work car for me, I've driven 2 that have come through and while I like the car its impractical as a family vehicle.

PC36100 ? 2

 

I had similar concerns right when I was about to pick up the car. I'm single, but could always use more room. It's my daily driver so I don't really care for all the upgrades of trim 3. Trim 2 is just right for me. And the gas savings is the sole reason I got this car. I realize when you have a family, you gotta look at other cars. Prius C isn't for everyone for sure. For the price of this car, and the money you save(if you drive a ton like I do), there's no other car that comes even close. I think all of your points are legit. Glad you were able to get into the liftback. Enjoy!

 

I value well written negative reviews as they make you think about the reality of life with the car. I have a 'why the Prius may not be for you' review myself. I love my Prius but am not blind to the fact it is not for everyone.

considering a Prius | PriusChat

 

You couldn't tell from viewing/test driving the C that getting a kid in and out of the back would be a bit of an issue? This could have easily been found out by just looking at the car.

Bumps, you could also tell during the test drive.

Price, I'm not sure if I see your issue here? It still beats the competition easily for not much more.

Entune, you could also tell during the test drive. You could have also read reviews online to see most do not like it.


I understand you are just pointing out the negatives of the car in general but it sounds like you could have wrote the same review without having to buy one.

 

Sounds like you shot first and aimed second. That's not unusual, and is a good reminder to those that haven't purchased very many (or ANY) new cars.

Glad you finally found your match.

 

The square peg doesn't fit in the round hole!


ron

 

With the exception of you entune argument it seems like this complaint is specific to you. I have had no issues driving with 4 adults and some gear, in fact I do it fairly regularly. I am 5'10" and the other adults riding in the car are 6'3", 5'10" and 5'8".

As far as ride quality - it seems as good as any other car I have driven - If you want to improve comfort - deflate your tires a bit, just beware your MPG will fall a bit.

 

Right now we have a Recaro Vivo booster and a Britax Roundabout in the C for our kids which are both forward facing. But at one point both were rear facing, which is a tight but doable.

In reality you really have to look long term, in that all kids will eventually switch out to a forward facing seat. Plus, hauling a pack 'n play and stroller will be a thing of the past once they become mobile toddlers.

Just my 2 cents

 

Some test drives aren't sufficiently long or over bumpy enough roads or at the right speeds. Also, one may not notice then being bothersome until a lot of driving.

As for Entune, well, I have 0 familiarity w/Entune since I don't have it and the '10 Lexus HS that I won a week test drive of had a newer gen nav system (but very similar to mine other than it using a mouse-like controller instead of touchscreen) didn't have Entune as it didn't exist yet. It's easy to "hate" all nav systems and car telematics when you're not used to it or don't know how to use its features. So, dismissing the initial "hate", a lot of shortcomings don't become known/noticeable until you've learned it and really use it.

That said, yeah, there are a lot of complaints about Entune. There were some complaints about the generation of nav system on the 2nd gen Prius but yet I feel it's fine.

 

Entune sucks, yes.

How anyone can think this car is inferior to a Versa is beyond me. I had a Versa as a rental for three weeks and I wanted to drive it off a cliff.

What I really don't understand is all the complaints about ride and general NVH issues. This car rides just fine, quite well in fact for the class, and the noise levels are on par with everything else in the class. I used to have a '94 Civic on Skunk2 drag launch springs, that was a harsh ride. My gf's mom has a G35x. That thing has more road/wind noise than the C. Unless people saying these things are coming out of a Lexus GS or LS, I can't for the life of me understand where these complaints are coming from.

 

As you say, your opinions are your own. I have owned my Prius C for almost four months now, and far from "coming out of my Prius C euphoria", I like the car more every day I own it. Most of my driving is in the city, and I find the car is a perfect fit to my requirements. The Prius hatchback is a larger car than I need and it is almost 25% more expensive than the Prius C base model in Canada (similar to c2), which is what I own.

 

You should have thoroughly tested out the car and see if your kid would fit back there comfortably.
At that point, you would have realized that the car is not for you and walk away.
The Prius C works fine for me. It's mainly for driving to work.I don't find the ride bumpy compared to my previous car which was 12 years old. I knew Entune would suck so that's why I chose the C2. I'm happy with the fuel economy. So far I'm averaging in the high 60's. I use a lot of back roads.
Of course the car is not perfect. I dislike like the slow acceleration and getting tailgated a lot.

 

I have to chuckle at this.
Amazing that "settling into a 50 mpg reality" could be considered a "negative" point for a vehicle....
I'm very happy to settle into a 48 mpg reality! (Doubles my other car's mileage.)

 

I traded me Versa for my pc4. The ride is better than the Versa. I don't have young kids. Just my wife and I. Entune does not work in Canada so I am not missing anything. Gps works fine but I do prefer the graphics on my old TomTom. I am satisfied with my Pc4.

 

Most of these are complaints of a sub compact vs. a larger car. Yes, a small car has less room and a harsher ride than a bigger car. Yes, you pay some more for the HSD technology. Etunes sux, Toyota needs to go and hire some Ford Sync programmers to fix that dog!