My Review of my Prime Advanced package

As promised the following is my review of the all new prius Prime Advanced package! I've had it for about a month now, which has been long enough for me to make an opinion.

I'll start with the cons: if you looked into this car at all, you know that the back windshield has been changed compared to any other prius. It has a dip that is supposed to be more aerodynamic and also used to drain water, snow etc. Here in Pennsylvania we've had a plethora of weather over this month and I've come to realize this rear windshield sucks. Water does not run down, snow does not slide off, and now without a back windshield wiper, it's almost impossible to see. I'm sure it helps my mpg, but it does not help me to see out the back.

Next, is the backup camera. Because of its location under the dip of the rear windshield, I find its always dirty! I'm constantly having to wipe it before driving in order to use it! Its either wet, dirty, or covered in salt from snow. With my 2010 prius, I never had this big of an issue with the camera getting so dirty!

Speaking of the camera, it is less than impressive. If you've ever been in other newer vehicles, their back up cameras have lines that tilt and move to better help assist you. On this prime, it looks like toyota wanted to make it look helpful by taking the camera they've always used and just adding lines. They only help if you're backing up in a straight line, they do not tilt or turn and honestly just get in the way most of the time.

The next problem is the GPS. It has not been updated, it looks the same as it always has. There's nothing special to it. I know with my 2010 I did not trust or use my GPS and it's looking like that's how this will be too. It seems to not know most roads and always takes way longer than if I just use my phones gps. Come on toyota get with it!

Also, this car is only a 4 seater, Toyota got rid of its 5th seat to cut down on weight and improve mpg. I'm sure in the years to come they'll bring 5 seaters back, but if that's what you need this isn't the car for you right now.

Now with that being said here are my pros: in all honesty I do love my car. It's looks are great, the interior (black leather) is comfortable and does not give off that harsh leather odor. The heated steering wheel and front seats heat quickly and perfectly. If you don't already know, this car has no belts under the hood. The heat/air conditioning are controlled solely by electronics and the outside air, which probably contributes to how fast it heats up and also means that in cold temperatures you don't need to turn on your car prior to leaving which is nice!

I charge my car overnight, and this car has a setting that you can tell it what time you leave so that it will be fully charged by that time and also heated up and ready to go based on what temperature your heat or air is set to! Which is super great for cold mornings.

The car also seems to be getting used to my commute, or I'm getting used to the car, but I find that it has been doing better and better each day mpg wise.

The automatic/sensing high beams are nice for night driving, no more having to remember to switch high beams off for oncoming traffic, the car does it for you! Not to mention the lights on this car are amazing!

This car also has a rain sensing windshield. There's a sensor that senses a dirty/ rain soaked windshield and automatically turns on your wipers for whatever speed it feels is adequate. A nonimportant feature, but it is nice!

The get up for the car is better than your average prius! It almost feels like a newer corolla would. It doesn't lag as much, especially with a charged battery. Though when the electric battery is dead, it does go back to the normal prius feel, no biggie!

This car also has radar cruise control. So, you can set the cruise to whatever speed, but if a car going slower were to go in front of you the car will sense that and match it's speed until that car moves from your lane. It'll keep you at a 3 car distance away. So you could have your self set for 80mph but if the car in front of you is doing 20, you will go 20 safely! It's very nice!

This car has plenty of safety features such as heads up display, blind spot detection, rear cross traffic alert, parking assist, and lane departure warning. Which if you've never had the lane departure it can be shocking at first! The car detects the lines on the road and if you cross them (or leave your lane without a turn signal) the car will beep at you, if you don't correct yourself the car will correct your driving for you so it literally steers you back into your lane. It's not aggressive, if you're really switching lanes the car will let you, but it's still nice.

As for the mpg, its amazing. The electric battery allows around 20 miles of gasless driving at speeds up to 84mph. And for those who work close to home you'll almost never touch your gas tank! The car allows you to use only battery or have it switch from hv to ev based on the driving conditions (hills, straight aways, or based on your speed).

I use the hv/ev mode to go to work since I live about 35 miles from my job to get the best mpg. Once the battery is dead the prius does not lose its mpg! I still get my mpg in the 60s with the normal hybrid battery. If you're wondering how this car is better than a chevy volt, I'll explain.

Volts charged battery can get you around 38 miles on a battery until it dies. But once that battery dies the mpg plummets. The battery is now at 0% with nothing saved to help your mpg from then on. You're driving an average car at that point with low low mpg. The prime does not allow its battery to completely die. The all electric driving is over when the battery is around 20%, leaving the remainder to help keep your mpg high even while using gas. A great feature of the car for those with long commutes.

Overall, there are more pros than cons with this car. I love it's new sporty look and fun new gadgets. It does need tweaking but I'm sure it'll come in time! If anyone has any other questions about anything I mentioned or hadn't mentioned don't hesitate ask!

Edit: stop complaining about the formatting..

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The wipers have an auto position, it can be manual or auto. So when already in this position it goes on its own without you having to turn anything on

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I agree, the raised floor does give you noticeably less space as compared to the 2008 and 2010 I had before. I even feel bad beating it up in the back because of it being a black interior where scratches would be noticed. But overall, you can still put your seats down and you have plenty of storage to carry boxes, bags, or even a bike!

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I know of the 20% from the reseach I did before purchasing the car. But there's an indicator on the heads up display or the trip display that tells you how many miles you have left with the electric charge before it switches to hybrid. It is possible to give the car small charges with braking, as you can with a normal prius, but it's usually less than a mile of charge that way.

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Sorry guys, I also posted this to a Facebook page I'm apart of and I just copied and pasted it to here!

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