Hi there Prius fans, I am looking for a 3rd gen Prius with Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC) and seeking advice on how to find one. I want to avoid the deprecation associated with buying new which is why I am seeking a 3rd gen vs a 2016 model. I am seeking DRCC bc I currently have a bmw 335d which I use a my daily driver for a 80 mile (roundtrip) mainly hwy daily commute @ mainly 70- 80 mph. With a diesel I get decent mpg at this speed and have realized with a Prius I would have to drive slower to maximize my mpg, thus would need to do about 60, and thus would need to move form the left to the middle lane, which for me, the only way this could be done is with DRCC as I dont have the patience constantly break and gas in this lane (I know my lack of patience could be topic for another forum on a different site). But the challenge I have been having is that all the Priui I see on the used car market are not equipped with DRCC. Why is this? Any advice on how I can find one. I want to trade my 335d in. I am in Atlanta.
DRCC was offered only in the Advanced Technology Package that was only available on the Prius V (five) in 2010 and on the Prius Five from 2011-2015. On truecar there are six in Virginia & three in New York (within 250 miles of Philadelphia) Prius V or Five. cars.com lists 306 available across the country. The three options were: Base, NAV(igation), or AT. The PiP (Plug in Prius) also has DRCC in the Advanced package. What is your "decent" fuel economy in the diesel? Happy hunting.
Thanks so much for the advice Jim. I will check those websites. On the hwy I usually get mid to high 30's doing 70-80 mph.
I currently have a bmw 335d which I use a my daily driver for a 80 mile (roundtrip) mainly hwy daily commute @ mainly 70- 80 mph. With a diesel I get decent mpg at this speed and have realized with a Prius I would have to drive slower to maximize my mpg, thus would need to do about 60, and thus would need to move form the left to the middle lane, You would be going slower, in a less comfortable car, and stretching out your daily commute. How do you benefit from switching?? I can confirm that the 2012 Plugin Prius/Advanced does have the radar cruise control.
The PiP would deliver better fuel economy due to the bigger battery even if you don't plug in. My guess is that even if you don't slow down a Prius will deliver better fuel economy. Unless the BMW is optimized for fuel economy at 70-80mph reducing speed will also increase fuel economy.
I would be benefiting by getting a car that is more reliable, better on gas and thus lower operating costs. My 335d is really unreliable... I poured about 8k in it over the last year. Also by going slower this would in turn be safer.
I would be benefiting by getting a car that is more reliable, better on gas and thus lower operating costs. If these are important to you, then the switch makes good sense. Priuses do well at all three of these. Have you considered renting/borrowing a Prius and taking it over your normal commute, just to try it?
You can't find any because DRCC Included in the advanced technology package only accounts for 5% of total gen 3 Prius.
Actually I thought about this earlier this week and want to try to reach out to my neighbors via the next door app and do a trade for a few days.
wow... yeah I may never find a used one... but I want to avoid the depreciation associated with buying new as I want to keep it for only 3-5 years and get a tesla.
Just keep looking & don't get discouraged. You never know when one will drop in your lap. You can have mine when you can pry it out of cold dead hands.
They're out there but rare, you need to expand your search across the country to find them unfortunately. I got lucky and found a 2010 V with the advancted tech option for a good price. I'd also be careful about searching for specific trim, i find a lot of dealers either purposely or non-purposely don't put up all the correct options. It's really easy to know if the car you're looking at has the option because it has buttons for the radar CC and LKA under the right steering wheel controls. The car i bought was at a lincoln dealership as trade, they didn't even know it had it until i pointed it out to them. From what i know i don't think you could get a V without leather so just put leather as the main filter, will drastically reduce the options. Then look for 17" rims in the photos, also a V standard option and that should help. EDIT: My prius is my 1st experience with radar cruise control and using it to drive home after flying to pick it up was like cheating. Hard to go back if/when i get a new car.
They're few and far between. I looked for one and bought one recently. Here's how I did it: I searched for every Prius between 2011 and 2015 (I skipped 2010 due to possible oil consumption issues) on several sites because trim levels are often mislabeled. I'd scroll through the listings quickly looking for the Prius Five wheels. I'd open those ads only, and look for a picture of the steering wheel. You can see the DRCC and LKA buttons on the right side. If it has those buttons I know it's what I'm looking for, the Advanced Technology Package. Spend some time hunting and expect to have to drive a bit to pick up your new car. They didn't make many like this but it's worth the effort. I paid $14,500 for a 2012 with ATP and 45k miles. Good luck!
2012 Prius V Five here, I have Adaptive Cruise control on my vehicle and love it. Same as DRCC? I do not have lane keep assist, just a blank on my steering wheel. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Yes, it's the same. DRCC is Toyota's name for their adaptive cruise control. Honda used call their ABS as ALB when it first came out in the Prelude. Only the regular Prius has LKA. The V didn't. In 2012MY, The regular Prius has LKA and the Prius v has IPA. Only the 2010MY and 2011MY Prius have both.
This is definitely a good way to narrow down your search. Searching by model might not be helpful because some dealers don't list the model/options correctly. I bought a 2012 that was listed as a Prius II when it was actually a 5. The finance guy noticed, but it was way to late in the process for them to change anything. It made negotiating a price fairly easy on my end when they had it listed for a price quite a bit below what it was worth. It wasn't a Toyota dealer, and it was apparent early in the discussions that they didn't know much about the options (but I knew that would be the case when I saw it was not listed correctly). The salesman actually fell asleep twice during the test drive. I guess riding in a Prius really is that boring It gave me a great opportunity to find out how well the brakes worked though. Actually having him be asleep probably made the test drive easier. At least he wasn't giving me wrong information during it.
