What I don't like about the 2016 Prius

Been using codes for years now.
Need code for the 2016 battery. None of the old ones seem to work(for the battery). Even codes from the plug in do not apply to the new battery in the gen 4.

 

How about the built-in codes, is it behaving on your 2016.

 

I've been living with the new cargo cover for about a week, and like it better in every way. You have to be careful to get it installed correctly - the first car I test drove had it in upside down and it partly blocked the view out of the lower rear window. But once it's in, it's "set and forget" - it automatically rises out of the way as you open the hatch, it's always covering the contents of the trunk, and when it is in the way, stowing it only takes a quick fold with a twist and takes up approximately zero space, eliminating the problem of where to stick the "window shade" (unlike the Gen3, our Gen 2 doesn't have a good storage area under the floor for it). Yeah, it's way cheaper and not as fancy, and I viewed it with more that a little skepticism when I first saw it, but now I wouldn't trade it for the Four's "projector screen" cover.

Toyota thought so too - that's why they built the Prime. I'd suggest waiting for it rather than hacking a perfectly good hybrid, unless you'd rather just get a Volt (something tells me you might go that way ).

One thing that's a definite step backwards from our Gen2 is the XM radio**. There are pros and cons to the new radio setup (love the info and artwork from gracenote), but a big problem is that the preset listing shows only the station number, not the XM station name (the large "buttons" on the Gen2 XM display showed station names). I've been looking through the manual and menus and see no way to change this. XM moves stations around from time to time, number-wise, and while XM radio presets are smart enough to accommodate this, it does mean it's a bad idea to memorize station numbers. The end result is that having lots of XM presets becomes unmanageable since you can't tell what they are, just a bare list of numbers. If you have more than a few, you might as well just navigate the genre-based channel list, a feature I never touched on our Gen2. I haven't set up voice command yet - can you ask for XM stations by name? If not, has anyone found another workaround for this?


[** Though not officially offered on the Prius in '05, an entrepreneur "PriusXM" realized the Prius had the same radio as a Camry and would accept the Camry's XM tuner, then built a kit and set of instructions for attaching a cable and running it back to a space behind the lining of the trunk where there was room for the XM tuner - very scary project for a brand new car, but it worked out great.]

 

The window lock button is annoying in that it locks the front passenger window. One of my dogs will roll down the window so I use the window lock but it shouldn't stop the passenger side from being locked.

 

My Subaru does the same thing drives my Wife mad when I hit it by accident.

 

Heating system - no matter how cold it is outdoors - never automatically turns on recirculate mode - pull in the cold outside air.

Radio - volume does NOT increase relative to the car speed.

 

UK one does, you have to enable ASL (Automatic Sound Level)

 

Hi -
I did turn on the ASL - the manual shows multiple settings, low, medium, high - no such settings on mine - may be the JBL option excludes these options - weird....

 

Mine's JBL and it doesn't have any settings, just a tick box to select/deselect like your's. The only time I noticed mine working was in a heavy rainstorm , I guess that's the only time it's gotten noisy in the car.

 

LOL you are right. Its the worse part of the new design for sure.

 

I just took delivery of a 2016 Prius 4. I sold a 2004 Prius with 175, 000 miles. I wouldn't buy the 2016 again. Here's why.

1. No only is there no spare, they have eliminated what was covered storage space under the rear deck. The emergency "goop" system is mostly useless.
2. The rear deck is covered with some sort of stiff foam under the rug. It won't last. Drop something on it and it will crack.
3. Only 1 glove compartment. 2002 had 2
4. No overhead little compartment. It was really useful for auto registration
5. No change drawer
6. No covers for the cup holders. Therefore is is unsafe to use them for change.

In summary, Toyota has taken a great car and cheapen it. I can understand why there is no full size spare, but what about the emergency "donut tires". Yes, the car has all sort of great improvements and I paid for every one of them.

 

Man, you guys are brutal!

Relax, and have a hot green tea latte'. It will put you in the "Zen." Now being served on fine white china...

I would agree about the spare tire. Hopefully I will never need it; but it's nice to have. Was the concern being the extra weight? Toyota should've put a compact spare in every Prius model. So it's an extra 25 pounds? Combine the spare tire, with my tall body and that's quite a few extra pounds. But it doesn't seem to be affecting my Three model, as I'm averaging a very nice 60 mpg. For coins, some people are buying the ashtray cup with the lid on it. (You could stash that in the center armrest box.)

I'm enjoying my new Prius more & more each day. It's a great car for a retired single guy; I don't have a lot of "stuff" to haul around. The "White Knight" serves me very well. I would be pleased with 40 or 50 mpg... but getting 60 is fantastic! (Even my Toyo tires have gotten somewhat quieter now that I have 1400 miles on the ODO.)

 

Sounds like the lack of a spare tire in the 4 trim took you by surprise.

For those who think similarly but have not yet bought thier car, here is a link showing other cars (about 35% of the market, now) to avoid:

http://newsroom.aaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Vehicles-Sold-Without-a-Spare-Tire.pdf

I feel bad for the poster with his Gen 4 and the new generation blue Corvette (said nobody ever )

 

1. I agree, but my dealer got me a space saver (doughnut) spare wheel as part of the deal, I negotiated this as I already knew that the trims with 17" wheels came with gloop.
2. if you often drop things on the cargo deck area, you can buy a liner for the cargo floor.
3. I agree, but you still have a large area under the centre console.
4. I don't know if this is a US thing, but my UK Excel trim does have a small overhead storage where I put my sunglasses.
5. You should have a little sliding change drawer inside the centre console under the armrest.
6. You can buy ashtrays with lids that fit in cupholders.
So to put your mind at rest, most of the above can be easily solved.

 

you bought a new car without knowing any of these things?

 

It's weird, I mean: I guess I knew on some level, but I can distinctly recall the first time backing our 2010 out of the garage, looking back and thinking "Wait as sec, this is a hatchback", lol.

 

I test drove 2016 Prius Three and Two Eco. Driving experience is way better than my 2014 Three model. It is much quieter inside and exterior looked stylish and slick. However, I found the plastic used in cup holder area and part of steering wheel as cheap. It was made of white glossy plastic, more suitable for washbasin!!

 

Excuse me, Som. My white plastic cup holder area is referred to as "fine white china." It adds a bit of elegance to the car.

 

I bought the car not knowing it had a spare tire, which seemed concerning initially but being that I have only had a flat once in my life and only reason I changed it was due to me not wanting to wait for a tow truck to come help. I also wasn't particularly good to my tires, I'll try to be better with my prius All cars have various features and going from a car with a feature to one with it is a bit jarring. I really loved the little drawer that my Audi had in my dash, where I kept spare gas money (just in case). And even when I forgot to lock my car and some kids rifled through it, they didn't find the cash in the drawer. But I guess with a Prius running out of gas is less of a concern

The only thing that really annoys me is the lack of passenger side power seats and the window lock which locks the front passenger.