Looking at Prius gen 4 2016 as first Prius and have ?s

My gen 2 was good in the snow. Most front wheel drive cars are given good tires. 4 wheel drive is good if you have crazy steep hills to climb. I've never gotten stuck in buffalo winters with front wheel drive.

My three indicates 57+ mpg regularly with only 1,000 miles on it. I haven't calculated from receipt yet, I need a few more first.

You should be OK for 150k miles especially since your calendar years will be relatively low for that millage.

If like integrated nav just get the three. You won't say latter "I wish I had a two"

 

welcome! i hesitate to recommend prius to former subie drivers, because their bad weather expectectations are usually quite high. that being said, many here will attest to decent snow handling with a good set of snows. i have no experience in snow, and have never driven a subie or any all wheel drive vehicle.

50-60 mpg is definitely possible, as you can see in the mpg threads and on fully. but there are also people who somehow manage to get in the 40's.

generally speaking 150-200k is the average life with no major repairs, but again, ymmv.

all the best with your decision!

 

I suggest a pass on the navigation. Use Waze on your phone. That way you won't be stuck with a poor performing system. Lot's of complaints about the nav system on the Prius.

 

I have had so far no issues with my gen3 in snow and I don't expect to have them with my new Gen4 either. In Germany, they sell it with a switch to turn off traction control. That was not possible in Gen3.

A good set of winter tires is necessary in any case. Forget all-weather. I cycle between summer and winter tires.

I have my gen4 since 2 weeks and have currently 53,4 MPG (assuming 6% optimistic error is confirmed for Gen4 as well) indicated for the tank. I expect in winter to not go below this level much as the new Gen4 has many new updates to its drive train geared for improved efficiency and especially the front grille now open and closes itself automatically to keep the engine warm when necessary and improve aerodynamics, which is quite important in winter.

Your average speeds are "low" (not driving 70-80mph all the time on a highway, that is), so that will guarantee you good mileage.

25k miles a year is probably what taxi drivers do with them, if not more. They have been official reports of taxis driving gen3s and gen2s for like zillion miles, with essentially no repairs, so I'd say this car is for you.

As for the navigation, I never get inbuilt ones, as much as convenient they seem to be. They cost heaps compared to an app or separate device and are costly to repair and obsolete very quickly.
I prefer to rely on my Tomtom which is packed with the latest technology. I can upgrade it if I want every 2-3 years for like 300€. And like the app Waze, it offers excellent traffic jam recognition and avoidance (based essentially, but not only, on the position of mobile phones of drivers) which has saved my a$$ in many situations. In EU they offer this service called HD traffic for free with free map updates for the lifetime of the device. Check them out Tomtom.com. HD traffic is available in the US as well.
I have mine mounted directly in front of me on the dash behind the steering wheel, which keeps my eyes conveniently on the road and looking at the HUD on top of it.

Advice: test drive the Gen4. And if worried about snow, wait this winter and test drive it then. You will be able to answer at least some of these questions directly yourself and see if this car is really good for your usage patterns. You will also be able to see reports on Fuelly and Spritmonitor of real case usage to see if the EPA MPG claims are true or even beaten.

 

Get high quality "snow & ice" tires with a soft compound, not hard studdable snows, and you should do fine. Get a second set of rims (used is fine) and keep the snow tires mounted on them. It will save you money and possible tire damage from frequent tires changes.

 

You should be fine since the roads are mostly clear. Ice as always is the biggest issue and most city streets are salted.

You might want to consider a Touring. Not sure you need snow tires if the streets are kept clear unless you are an ER responder. If an ER responder then keep your Subaru.

 

I suggest you give strong consideration to the Rav4 Hybrid, it won't give you Prius gas mileage, but it is quite economical for an all wheel drive vehicle.

 

Great suggestion.

 

When I lived a KI Sawyer AFB we called lower Mich the banana belt.

 

Prius is 'ok' in the snow but even with good snow tires it's far from great. The traction control is so intrusive that if you are a bit stuck it will just cut all power to the wheels even if you floor it, whereas an older style system will allow you to spin the tires to burn through to a bit of traction just below the surface or quickly rock the car back and forth to get un-stuck. These maneuvers are not possible in the Prius. The other thing is that the underside of the car is almost completely flat due to the aero shields making it ride up in deep snow worse than many other more traditional cars. It's the only car I've ever owned that I've become hopelessly high-centered in relatively shallow snow-pack.

It's fine for most general winter driving, but it's not one of its strengths by any means.

 

It is pretty low to the ground for hopping snow drifts. I had forgotten that ground clearance is an issue.

 

All the winter experience will be with an older generation of Prius. No one has been through a winter with a gen 4.

 

However, you can at least turn traction control off if it's over aggressive on the Gen 4 (that said, I've noticed that my car allows some wheelspin on greasier or loose surfaces, so it might actually be fine).

50-60 MPG is relatively easy - for that matter, I was getting 57 MPG with the cruise set for 75 MPH the other day (only about 50-51 on the first part of my return trip though, but I had a headwind). The big thing is anticipating traffic, and getting out of the accelerator and gently on the brakes early, so you can recharge the battery, and minimize having to accelerate hard to get back up to speed. (Mind you, driving like that in a non-hybrid will also help your mileage, but it's more important in a hybrid, as gentle braking puts energy back into the battery (after which it's available to use the next time you accelerate), hard braking turns it into heat.)

 

Not so sure I would agree. The voice commands don't work well, but entering addresses when stopped works well and while limited, you can save some addresses for quick retrieval later. The nav actually gives you lots of options not available on a hand held device. I can see map and turn list on a split screen showing both at once. I can switch that to POI's at each upcoming exit on the freeway I'm traveling on. To me, the zoom in and out is quicker and easier on the nav than on my phone. Next turn comes up on the HUD, so no need to look down. I do keep Waze on and volume on for alerts only and enter the address on that app as well as that alerts me to Police and things on the roadway, also provides some confirmation that nav is sending me the best route. Together they are great and better than trying to look at your phone. No really good location to mount phone on the gen 4. And so you know, I've used nav on iPhone since very first model, Windows phone and now Samsung, Apple Maps, Google Maps and Waze; so I have almost 10 years of experience and this is the first time I've been willing to give up the phone for nav installed in an automobile.

 

Traction control can be switched off on Gen4 - at least the one I have here in Germany. I don't know if it is standard on USA models.

 

The button is standard here in the US.

 

I have a Tomtom with HD traffic exactly in front of me underneath the HUD. I don't need to look anywhere but ahead of me - it is all in the same line of sight - traffic, HUD, Navigation.
And I can upgrade the device with the latest tech just by changing it every 2-3 years if I want to / it becomes necessary, at a fraction of the price.
The Navi on a Gen4, or any car, cannot be upgraded and typically they don't offer services like HD traffic (now even for free in EU with Tomtom), that pinpoint traffic jams to the meter via mobile phone locations. The Navi in the EU Gen4 offers Tomtom traffic services, but you have to pay a subscription and you need to pay for map updates. Both are for free for the lifetime of the Tomtom device.

Having a navigation device in front of the steering wheel on the dash might not be elegant, but it is, at least for me, extremely convenient and efficient. And if I want I can use the same device on any other car I might end up driving.

 

Do we know yet if it is a true off switch? Many times these switches that turn 'off' driver aids merely put them in a less-intrusive mode.