2016 Prius - let's hear from buyers

I've had my 2016 Prius 3 Touring for a bit over a week now; upgraded from a 2005 liftback. Having read extensively on these forums about all the things people don't like on these cars, I kind of hate to say it, but...

1. I really like it.
2. I look forward to driving it every day!
3. The ride is FAR better than my '05 (is this because I got the Touring?)
4. Driving on slick streets is WAY less scary than with the '05 and my 15" Ecopias.
   
5. My rather short commute with the AC on (low) is 50 mpg or better.
6. I feel better having the auto-brake and lane warnings.
7. The front seat seems comfier! (jury is still out til I take a long trip though)

If I must make a complaint, the giant headrests in the back seat block my visibility more than I like.
Can't wait to see how this baby performs on some bigger trips. Cost was just under $29k. Has some nice tinted windows and a cargo net. On no day have I averaged under 50 mpg (displayed), and my best is 58 mpg. (When I turn it off, the car advises me how I could do better!) Still on the first quarter tank. Also, I seem to have a full size spare, but I was expecting a donut (NOT complaining).
Metallic blue crush looks nice in the sun!

 

Did you get the phone paired? Or are you waiting until the car is repaired to try it again, maybe on the highway?

 

Waiting to get it repaired. Then I'm going to have the dealer help me get it paired. I thought that it was paired, but I received a call and it came straight to the phone, so I pressed the setup screen to see if it was paired and ran into the curb. By the way, the screen says it is paired, but it wasn't working.
By the way, be forewarned, if you purchase the $600 tire and wheel warranty, it does not cover hitting a curb.

 

My saleswoman at the dealership paired my phone while I was taking delivery and we were going through the details of the car, sitting at the dealership. Now I realize that was a really good procedure.

Incidentally, don't use the USB port located between the seats to charge your phone, especially if it is an iPhone. That port is actually an iPod/Audio Player port and using it will convince Entune that your phone is actually an iPod and from then on (even if the cable is not connected) Entune will insist on playing music stored on the phone. Get an adapter and use the 12v power plug instead.

 

I really appreciate this post. Thank you! It is an excellent reminder to us all not to (while driving) get lured into the tempting technology which persuaded us to get a Prius in the first place. I am glad you are ok and shared this experience with us.

Let's all stay connected (to the road) out there!

 

I admit it was stupid to avert my eyes to look at the screen and thus hit a curb, but WOW! In other cars, I've hit curbs (even driven up on them) with out any damage. The expenses just won't stop coming on this accident. Now they are charging $225 to reprogram the sensor for the tire. What the devil is this? I've had 4 Prius and all but this one I took to Discount Tire for tire and wheel service. Never have they charged anything for programing the tire sensor to the car. And once the whole tire wore off the rim, so the sensor must have been destroyed. It this my dealer pulling this foolishness, or is that what every dealer charges when a new sensor is put in a tire?

 

That seems ridiculous! A new sensor costs just under $60 at Tire Rack (look it up) and you can get an app (about $20) and a module (about $40) from Carista (look it up) that will enable you to register a new sensor yourself, dead easy (plus customize other settings on your car, plus check and reset any error codes that may pop up). The module plugs into the data port of the car (under the dash by your left knee) and the app loads on your phone (yes THAT phone!) and talks to it over Bluetooth. You will need the beta version of the app because Carista is just adding the TPMS capability. It took a little while for them to send me authorization to download the beta.

You can leave the sensor uncoded if you wish if you can tolerate the TPMS warning light on the dash for a while.

Good luck!

P.S. My Toyota dealer quoted me $350-375 per rim for the OEM rims (I was asking for another reason). Is that what they charged you? If so, for what they're charging you, you could go to Tire Rack or Discount Tire and get a set of 4 aftermarket rims, 2 new tires, and a TPMS sensor and pay less.

 

The news gets worse. They now tell me that somehow at the angle I hit the curb it caused my whole rear end to be screwed up and recommended I contact my insurance company to see what they would pay to fix it. I've never heard of so much damage from just hitting a curb. Well, what I ended up doing was trading in the car on a new Prius with a $15,000 difference. I didn't really want to drive a car, even though it was repaired, that had frame damage. The car only has 2000 miles on it.

 

You can fold down the tall rear head restraints when they are not in use. Hit the unlock button to raise them to their full height and push down and forward. To reset them, reverse those actions. (Owners Manual--page 189)

 

Smartphone and other electronics use seems to be by far the biggest hazard on the roads these days. Number of car accidents have been climbing up significantly over the recent years with the popularity of smartphones and car electronics. People can't even seem to drive straight any more.

 

It might be the toggle on Settings> Bluetooth> (i) on Toyota Prius> Show Notifications <ON>:

 

Lots of people couldn't drive straight without them. I was reading a story the other day where a girl was trying to go as fast as she could to record her speed in some social media app. She ended up permanently disabling the person she hit (at 100 MPH) and of course she took a selfie while she was on a stretcher. It is illegal in many (most?) states but people still do it.

 

It's interesting how opinions can vary so much. Some people love those Yokohama 17" tires/wheels. Quiet and well handling... Yet some others find them to be noisy and choppy.

I'm ready to wear earplugs because my 15" Toyo tires fill the cabin with loud noise... while others say they are quiet and normal.

Regarding the heater/fan air flow, have you taken if off "Eco" and put it on normal? I also discovered that when I use the "Auto" button, the air flow starts blasting significantly higher.

 

If it's not too late have it towed to an independent collision shop/alignment shop so that they can take a look at it to check what the dealer told you. If the trade-in is only $15,000, your damaged Prius must be worth $10,000 or more to them, so maybe the damage isn't as bad as they led you to believe.

From what you have said, it sounds as though you are hard on cars.

 

I think it is my age. I just seem to think that I'm as alert as always, but apparently I'm not. They gave me $22,000 trade in.

 

Sorry, I was unclear: I understood "with a $15,000 difference" to mean that you gave them your old car and paid $15,000, right? I misstated that as a $15,000 trade-in.

So if they gave you a $22,000 trade in and you paid $15,000 on top of that, their price for the new Model Four was $37,000??? If I got that right, yikes!

 

The tires might of had the nitrogen filled option?

 

I went for the 78% nitrogen option. The dealer didn't charge me anything for it!

 

I've had my red 2016 Prius 4 Touring for a week now; upgraded from a 2010 V model. Here is my experience in the first 250 miles:

1. I really like it with the exception of a few items. I look forward to our fourth trip out west.
2. It's much quieter than my 2010 and the displays are in color and high resolution . I really like it now that I got the Multi-information display set-up.
3. Mix driving of city highways and freeway on eco averaged 56.5 mpg. Really great so far.

4. Radar cruise, blind spot monitor and backup cross traffic monitors work great. Just make sure
their turned on!
5.The front seat seems pretty comfortable but the jury is still out until we take a long trip. My 2010
V was awesome!
We removed the giant headrests in the back seat because they block visibility.
The back up camera is a real let down compared to my wife's 2013 Subaru Outback. The guide bars show wider than the car and only one color bar. Toyota really shorted everyone on this one!
Daylight running lights are confusing because the front light indicator light is off. You can't see the lights when your in the car. Should have an indicator to confirm their on! Lights seemed to be adjusted for proper height and auto dim worked once the high beam is on.
Seems like the mileage to fill up is reading to many miles. I drove 230 miles on trip one set and it's on 3/4 tank displaying over 600 miles to fill up.
Not happy about no spare tire.
Hope this is helpful.

 

As I wrote late last night:

"You can fold down the tall rear head restraints when they are not in use. Hit the unlock button to raise them to their full height and push down and forward. To reset them, reverse those actions. (Owners Manual--page 189)."

Note that I had the car several weeks before I discovered this.