PiP vs standard

The two things I have found where the PIP is inferior to a Gen II are that it has no spare tire and almost no trunk. I liked having a trunk. Also, do you have a place to plug it in?

PS, 23 K miles on a pip is nothing.

 

There is still an under-the-false-floor storage area. It's vertical rather than horizontal. Having went from a 2010 (gen-3) to the plug-in model, that's really the only design difference. Not having a spare hasn't been a concern. More and more cars are doing that and tires are much higher quality than decades ago.

I've seen a real-world increase in efficiency of 20 MPG. Having the extra electricity is quite nice when you know you're going to be dealing with heavy traffic. The extra EV power from that is obviously nice too, from 25 to 62 mph. The HV electric-only (aka "Stealth" mode) is faster to engage too.

If you can snap up a bargain on one, I'd say go for it.

 

The cargo area above the false floor is identical.

The only difference is the small hidden tray underneath that. And it isn't completely gone either; the hidden area for PiP is vertical (along the bumper) instead.

 

Well the previous posts didn't really clarify for a newb. The "trunk" aka hatch is the same size on both. There is a flip up cargo floor panel with additional hidden storage on the standard model. The PIP uses that space along with spare tire zone for a larger battery.

 

The hatch area floor in PIP is at the same level, so yeah: you can discount the "almost no trunk" comment.

 

pip has several advantages, even when not plugging in. mpg's are better, due to larger, li-on battery and increased regen. you get heated seats and mirror, nav, etc.

 

agreed. i pay 24 cents for electrons, and that's almost twice as much as gas. but i have to warn you, it's habit forming.

 

I agree with above you might have about 1-ft3 less room beneath floor, and no spare (you can carry a spare). You might want to check where the car was orig sold and registered, need to be CARB state for the CARB warranty. Also the fuel tank is a little smaller so if you never plug-in you might notice a little less range depending on your use profile.

The 3 negs:
Slight less gaso tank
Slight less under floor storage
NST (no spare tire)

 

11 cents for a KWH of electricity here.

But with gas now at $1.39 per gallon, even regular hybrids are a hard sell.

 

yep. probably 1-2% of the countries drivers care. the rest want what they want. tough hurdle.

 

There are many returned leased PiP to the second hand market.
The price and mileage you presented is an OK price from a dealer, not so good from a private sale.
Now, the PiP is a better investment .

 

I would get the plugin version. It has equivalent to Prius 3 but with nicer alloy wheels (without plastic covers) and heated seats.

As others pointed out, it has no spare tire and less under floor cargo space.

 

^ Totally agree about the rims, the plastic wheel covers are the Achilles Heel of the Prius for me.

 

Hmmm... Not sure what to recommend but:

1) The Plug-in Prius is better than regular 3rd gen Prius in almost every way IMO. Main trunk space is the same. The only negative about the Plug-in Prius is it has no spare tire. This is why I find it bizarre that in markets like California, the Plug-in Prius is occasionally cheaper than the regular 3rd gen Prius with similar trim and mileage. Do people value spare tires that much?!? Or is it just that they are totally uneducated about the PiP?

2) OTOH, the new Prius 2016 has upgraded handling and suspension, among other things. If I were considering new, I'd probably take a new Prius 2016 with all the new safety features over a base pre-2016 plug-in, despite the higher cost.

3) I don't know your local market, but $16000 for a plug-in with 23000 miles seems like a reasonable deal to me. FWIW, using current Feb. 2016 Canadian-US exchange rates, last year I paid about US$21000 for a 2012 Plug-in with 18000 miles on it, but I got the Canadian Technology Package, which is roughly the same as the US Advanced model.

tl;dr:

The PiP is better than the 3rd gen Prius in every way except for missing the spare tire.
The PiP against the 2016 Prius is a harder comparison, because the 2016 is a brand new model.

 

Maybe due to high electricity rates in the States?

 

That's what I mean by being uneducated about the PiP. Even if high electricity rates exist in those states, the PiP is still better except for the lack of a spare tire. Remember, you can drive the PiP just like a regular car.

In fact, my PiP was a dealer shuttle car, but judging by the stats still stored in the car's EV range computer, the car was almost never charged after 2.3 years. Indeed, the charger in the trunk looked almost brand new. They just drove it as if it were a regular Prius. And it worked fine that way... and it works fine for me as a PHEV too, as I have over 50% EV mileage on it in the first year, even after all these winter months when the ICE comes on lots to heat the cabin.

If I want to be completely nitpicky about the negatives about the PiP, I can only come up with this:

1) It has no spare tire.
2) It's a bit heavier.
3) It has a bit less storage space underneath the cargo space floor, but the main cargo space is the same size.
4) The gas tank is very slightly smaller.

That's all I can think of, and of those, the only one that probably only really matters to anyone is that it has no spare tire. In contrast, some features that may benefit you with a PiP, even if you don't charge it at home.

1) You may be able to use it in some HOV lanes, depending on the rules in your state/province.
2) You may be able to park in special parking spots reserved for PHEVs and EVs.
3) You may be able to make use of free charging available in some parking spots in public and private parkades.
4) It comes with a charger that retails for $1200.
5) It comes with nicer wheels. (Or at least mine did.)
6) It has better trip logging features.

 

Yup I lust after those sweet rims.

I believe driving without charging it does better for mpg, say neck-and-neck with those dang 2016's?