Buy a new 2017 (G4) or used 2014/5 (G3)?

great savings no doubt. almost a no brainer, but the g4 has a lot more features. on top of that, the ride, the seats, the mpg's, so much has changed. g3 is a great vehicle, take them both for a spin to compare.
there might be some g4's coming off of 1 year lease as well.

 

That is what I did. Way cheaper.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

What are the extra features? I'm just trying to think. Radar cruise is on all levels?

I'm very 3rd gen chauvinistic, think the fourth gen has cut back or deleted too much. Plus I hate the new styling, sorry.

OTOH I don't much like buying used, tough call.

 

there's a bunch of safety features on the 2017's, if that's your thing. you'd have to line up the features on a car website i guess. it depends on what you want. besides the mechanical improvements, li-on battery, 12v under the hood, quieter comfier ride. you'd have to line up the 2 vehicles features side by side on a car website to see the differences like led lighting, audio, and etc.

yes, there are some drawbacks like loss of storage, and a gen4 pkg.4 may be decontented compared to gen 3, idk.

personally, i like the new center console layout compared to the flying bridge, but that's not really a feature.

 

If saving money is your thing, drive a gen2 first, then the gen3 will feel like a brand new car

 

You will save a lot of money buying used. However, since all the safety features are standard on 2017 models, that's something to consider. On a side note, if you do decide to buy new, the Prime seems like a better choice to me than the gen 4.

 

2016s are going for low 20s right now.


2016 Prius 4T Premium Convenience Pkg
2016 NX200t F Sport

 

Did you own a S2k before? Your screen name looks familiar

 

I had to make the same decision between gen 4 and 3.
To me the gen 3 is the only Prius that is remotely close to being good looking.

 

rose colored glasses?

 

Haha I honestly think the gen 4 looks horrible, I have no idea what Toyota was thinking, it shares a lot in common with the back end of the new Civic. Maybe with enough time the gen 4 will grow on me, but for right now I have never met anyone in person who actually thinks it's a good looking car. From the beginning of the rear doors to the end of the rear bumper, something went wrong

Gen 2s never looked good to me, exterior is very bland, interior looks like a home made CRT TV install in the dash

Gen 1s look like a cartoon version of a real car.

 

design is purpose driven. it's not always clear why. what is clear is that toyota has always intended prius to stand out.
more of the same had to go, too many copycats out there now.

 

I get the sense that their designs are sometimes whim based. And when there's negative reaction to a "feature", they get stubborn, push them harder, make the features all the more prominent. Lexus front grills for example.

 

possible. across the whole company you're saying?

 

I don't like used Priuses because almost nobody reads and heeds the maintenance schedule, but it's hard to misstreat a car that only has 20,000 miles on the clock, and the G3 is a proven, dependable and efficient design.
The G4 gets much better reviews for handling than the G3 and there's no denying that it's more efficient.......however (COMMA!!!!) I'm not wild about the G4 re-design (putting it VERY mildly!!!) and there is NO WAY I'm paying $32,000 for ANY Prius.......period.

I'd go with a dependable G3.....or........wait until all of the early adopters get Primes and go with one of those.
You'll have to wait a while in SoCal or maybe travel to a far off land where gas is less than $2 a gallon and Priuses aren't as much in demand.

YMMV.


Good LUCK!
Let us know what you decide!

 

Honda's doing their share too.

 

the new ls 500h is getting rave reviews at the geneva show, despite the legendary grille.

 

Haha yeah the Lexus grill took awhile for me to like, I think topgear called it a vacuum cleaner, it still looks a bit over the top to me but I've come to accept it.

I heard the new LS was supposed to be nearly a huge as a deal as the first LS...I'm sure it has nothing to do with the grill design

 

I vote Gen.IV.

I've owned all generations of Prius, and there is no doubt in my head that the Gen.IV is worlds ahead of it's predecessor. Much nicer interior, the doors no longer feel tinny, they shut with a solid thud. The seats were designed special to reduce pressure on the sciatic nerve, securing comfort. The floating bridge is gone, giving everyone much more wiggle room and making the interior feel open and airy. The dash has a wrap-around effect and everything falls together elegantly. The new double-wishbone rear suspension now gives it an almost SUV like ride, softly bobbing and floating over cracks and bumps in the road versus thumping over them stiffly and feeling like you're in a bass drum in the previous models.

The engine though!! In my first three generations of Prius, accelerating quickly caused the engine to rev high, being very pronounced. The new engine produces max torque at a much lower 3,600 rpm. It's great, because now when I floor it, the engine rpm stays low and muted. More of a throaty growl with a nice exhaust note and better refinement versus the high scream from before. I enjoy it becuase when I climb hills now, I don't feel like I'm thrashing it. Not only that, but the new body, which uses 19% more ultra high-strength steel versus 3% for the 2015 Prius, is designed to cancel out engine frequencies at specific rpm's. It works. Driving it feels like driving an EV. Extremely smooth.

The standard Bi-LED headlights are awesome. I haven't had the issue of people flashing me, either. The light is much easier on the eyes at night, and I don't feel as fatigued.

& I don't know why so many think it's ugly. Though looks are a personal preference, but anyone that I've shown my Gen.IV to loves the design. Especially in the "Hypersonic Red" color that is a newly formulated paint that's supposed to highlight the different hue's of the body lines. It looks awesome. I'm glad we finally have something different to look at rather than the same old boring designs that populate our roads.

And as for my MPG? I own the base Prius Two model which uses the Ni-MH battery, and over my 4,2XX miles driven, my MPG is sitting at 56. It was at over 60 mpg for a while until winter hit.

I'd just drive them both if I were you. But Gen.IV's can be had for low 20's. I snagged mine for 23.2k or something like that. I was going to be 22.8k but the Tri-coat paint was extra $$. I also bought a full frontal clear-bra from 3M.

P.S. The Gen.IV Prius also uses EV mode much more frequently. The new electric-only top speed is 74 mph. Up from 46 mph in the Gen.III. Even on the highway at 65 mph, it'll switch smoothly without a shudder or hiccup to EV and cruise for a mile or so. Less time that the engine runs, means less wear and tear, better MPG... And since the computer always protects the battery by only allowing it to use 40% of it's usable capacity, I'm not worrying about charge cycles that much. Though I hardly see it get below 3 bars on the display.