Prius liftback with trim 4 or 5?? comments please :D

I'd be inclined to go for the 5. For:

1. Fog lights
2. LED headlights.
3. 17" OEM wheels (hate the 15" wheel covers)
4. Radar cruise...

do not know if it's just me, the 17" wheels and supposedly different steering setup, just feel a lot more planted, in the comparison test drives we did.

The JBL sound system's on both the 4 and 5, so moot. D.O. for auto-dimming mirror with HomeLink.

If the wheels are your main issue, the Persona might work for you.

The US website's a bit of a mess, or maybe I didn't look far enough. Had to resort to pdf of the brochure to compare features.

In Canada we got Touring package, which is kind of stripped down level 5. Has (had, no longer in current model year) the JBL system, LED headlights and fogs, the 17" wheels, auto-dim rear view with Homelink (and integrated back up camera display), that's about it. Actually a very good package, a bit cheaper since not all the electronic bells and whistles, per US 5 (aka V). No sun/moon roof, which I don't miss. Kinda wish for the radar cruise though.

 

you can't go wrong either way because the prius Two three is all you need. the rest is just fluff.

 

I have a Prius V and I can tell you it's a very nice car. If the price doesn't scare you away $35000, that should be the one to buy. If you drive a lot of (open) highways, the DRCC is very useful. If you are in a lot of traffic, that cruise control is annoying because it keeps on slowing down and speeding up. Also on long drives, you tend to get lazy and get tired easily from using this feature because it puts your brain to sleep from the lack of driving stimulation. The DRCC with LKA activated, you can literally fall asleep for a mile and won't notice you would drift off (until it starts panic beeping at you) because the LKA self adjusts and keeps you in your lane.

I can think of 1 big negative with the IV, if your solar roof ever gets broken (by an angry girlfriend with a hammer), the replacement cost is $2400.

 

With that type of driving, DRCC will be very beneficial. If the reason to consider the IV is to be able to cool the cabin, just simply leave a crack in the window on a hot day. Also you'll have AC so that heat won't be an issue for long

Youtube has many educational videos posted about the Prius V features. Watching them will make you want to buy one LOL.

LKA and PCS are explained in those videos.

 

If you can seriously hold off until the next Gen Prius comes out in 2015, that would be the best. It'll have the newest and best features available.

 

My wife fell for the sunroof. Open it, either just lifted a bit at the back edge or at any range of open and it's a little noisy at highway speed. Fine for slower motoring. I generally leave it closed.

The solar fan, on the other hand is pretty nice in warm to hot weather. Definitely nice to get into the car that's out in the sun and not feel you're going to suddenly spark into flames. Our Maine Summers can be on the mild side, but we've tested this system thoroughly in south central Florida in 95 degree sunshine on several trips down that way. The car will be warm, but not intolerably so. In all the year's we've had our Four (not IV as you own a 2011 and roman numerals were only used for 2010), we have yet to fire up the pre cooling with available via the remote A/C function.

We added fog lights to our Four and have a set of Prius 17 inch alloys as well. Kinda like having a V without the tech package. We travel quite a bit and have found our Prius to be very capable and comfortable.

Tough choice to make between a Four/IV and Five/V.

 

a member just posted that her solar roof shattered for no reason. $2400. fix, out of warranty. first one i've heard of though.

 

Don't overlook the comfort aspects. Power seat is a must, which I believe is only available on IV and V. Drive a IV with 15" wheels and then a V with 17" wheels. You may find the 17" wheels make the ride too "sporty" (harsh), or you may like it that way.

 

Someone mentioned a Prius v, so to avoid confusion, there is a Prius and a Prius v (But the Prius v with a lowercase v is the wagon. The Prius V with the uppercase V is really a 2010 Prius V (Five) because only in 2010 they used Roman Numerals to denote trim levels wihch is why it is important to explain why using v and V properly is important). Both have a model Four and a model Five. So the Prius v is the wagon with more cargo space and a different front interior.

I wanted a moon roof for the solar exhaust fan, but my wife doesn't like them. There are accessory solar-powered exhaust fans available from Amazon and others, but I don't know how well they work because even in the AZ heat, the A/C cools down quickly enough for us. We're retired though, so the car doesn't sit out in the sun all day.

I wouldn't mind the DRCC because we do take a lot of trips and I do end up turning cruise on/off when trucks pull out to pass at the last minute, etc. However, I don't know how well DRCC works under those conditions. I'm a very attentive driver, so it's not something I "need". The Cruise control level is right there on the steering wheel and I do my own DRCC'ing. From what I've read, you have to veer out of your lane quite a bit before LKA kicks in. And, again, I'm very attentive, so this also isn't a "need" for me. The same is true of PCS.

I happen to prefer a "sporty" ride, but was more interested in base mileage than either the technology, etc., available in the Prius Five or the added cargo space, but reduced mileage of the Prius v.

All that said, I will test all of these features for myself in about 3 years when I consider upgrading. Chances are though that some might be standard by then. If you aren't in a hurry, I'd wait to see what the 2016 Prius is going to offer, but be advised that I've read the new batteries are going to be an extra cost option and probably only on the higher priced models.

 

If I could do it again, I would just go for the base model Prius. Like someone else said here, most of the electronic mumbo jumbo is fluff to me. Plus, the crappy navi, memory lacking power seats, JBL sound, are not worth the money. Don't 17 inch wheels have more mass, reducing efficiency and acceleration? Do solar fans really make a huge difference? I don't have those, but I do have high end tints all around and I am comfortable even in our recent 100+ heat wave past couple months. The one option I do like is the fake leather seats. I'll take that over cloth any day.

 

A little fluff in the right places makes the world go round.

 

I have a trim 5 liftback, no tech package though, so can't comment on that. I did watch the HUD on youtube, and it seems nice, but they filmed it when it was pretty dark, so I'm not sure how well it looks during daytime.

The 17 inch wheels will make you lose mpg slightly, people have said 2-4 mpg on average. Never drove a liftback with 15 inch wheels, so I can't comment on that, but I did have a Prius c. On my c in summer driving with its 15 inch wheels, I averaged about 56-58 mpg in the summer. In the liftback, I'm getting about 52-54 mpg using the same driving techniques and driving the same route, so the larger wheel thing is probably at play here.

I work third shift, so night driving is pretty much all I do most of the year, so it feels weird when the sun is up lol. The LED lights compared to my prius c's halogen looks really nice, and was softer blue color compared to the yellowish halogens. The high beams on the liftback are halogen though, and the difference in color is pretty obvious if you drive through a dark area with no street lights.

The fog lights are handy if you have a lot of fog in your area. Honestly not sure why these aren't available on lower trims considering how useful and safety-minded they are.

Like JC91006 mentioned, if you're willing/able to wait a few months (from the sounds of what you mentioned, you'll have to anyway), at least until Toyota announces the Gen 4 Prius (most likely at the Detroit Auto Show in January 2015), then you can decide if you're better off waiting a bit longer for it. If nothing else though, use that info and see if you can snag a good deal on a Gen 3 ("I can wait for the Gen 4, but if you give me a good deal, I'll buy that Gen 3 today..." would probably be music to a car salesman's ears, but make sure you're really intent on buying if they meet your offer).

If your current car is on its last legs though, then yeah, you may want to just get a prius now. My recommendation would be towards the five with the tech package if you're willing to pay for it.

Personally, while I'm currently content with my liftback, my next purchase is going to be a car that can be plugged in. I don't think I can save much more gas by this point without it, so I'm looking at the next gen Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, whatever hybrid Ford brings out in 2017/18, Tesla Model 3, and of course, the next gen plug-in prius. Due to the intense competition, it should be interesting to see what each new plug-in/ev looks like. Toyota can't rest on their laurels anymore with hybrid vehicles.

 

What's your take on those fogs?

We've got them too, and the first few times I turned them on I found myself flipping the switch on/off/on/off, just trying to make sure there was a discernible difference, ie: they were working. Around the same time I had an opportunity to drive a Honda Pilot with fogs, and whoa: those were FOGS.

In the four years we've had the car I can't think of a single instance where they were really needed, for fog. OTOH, I've found them marginally helpful on dark twisty roads absent of street lights. But again, their output seems pretty ineffectual. They seem for the most to be a token fog light, filling that black plastic void in the bumper. And for that at least they do well.

 

I haven't really had any dense fog to test them in yet, but they worked well enough for the light fog I did drive through from time to time. Of course I don't have other cars to compare it to either, so my knowledge on it is only for the prius.