Strongly Considering 2017 Prius: Unsure Which Trim (Two vs. Three) + Miscellaneous Questions

I would not worry about the Li-ion battery. They've been using them since 2012 in the PiP and I've never even heard of a failure, much less a fire with them. Mine is 4 years old and still has a little more EV range than what Toyota claims in their brochure. You'd have the same warranty with either battery. Only possible negative with Li-ion is the inability to recondition it with a Prolong grid charger to extend its life.

 

No Problem!

1) To be fair BSM has a few more components mainly a rear sensor, but yeah its annoying. Also perplexing is the lack of side signal on the mirrors that are standard (mandated too!) in EU other markets. I stuck some blind spot mirrors on the mirror to help, but I do the side shoulder check 99% of the time anyway.

2) Others are right, looks like because its synthetic, toyota says 10k is norm now between changing oil.

4) Check the Dealer, looks like you will be looking for part 64910-47060-C0, judging by the links I've seen, its pretty expensive at $400 new, you could see if ebay has one used from a pick and pull (totalled prius?)

Dash camera, your prerogative of course, but I think of it as extra bit of insurance, For $50-100, you can get something that can save you a whole bunch of money if you get in an accident and there are no witnesses on your side and they try to assign 100% of the blame on you.

I think this a good example and one of the main reasons I got a dash cam, you have a situation that points that you technically were in the right, but the evidence can be interpreted as another.

I opted to go a little more expensive $250-300 and got a blackvue that has a rear camera which connects to the front camera through 1 wire that handles power and coaxial. Overkill? maybe, but I've started to catch some interesting things that happens in daily life.

This is a good website

DashCamTalk

 

I don't think rear camera is overkill. Especially if you tend to stick to the limit.

 

On the Two Eco, wondering why Toyota doesn't tout the higher pressure tires and special sun reflecting windshield in the model specs on the website. You'd think they'd be aiming at the "MPG above all else" crowd that won't pony up added bucks for the Prime . MOST peculiar!

 

I suspect the Eco is just a CARB compliance car so they can say they offer a model that meets that particular CARB economy category.

 

Get the cheapest one on the lot if you are young and a great driver. If you are over the hill please get all the safety features so we can all die in the proper lane.

Back up auto stop or warning for children and skinny pretty women directly behind the car is not available. There are many other brands that have this if you are on your last few driving years.

It does see people wearing aluminum foil and multiple metal plates in their bodies.

So my next car will be a self driving with auto back up stop for all creatures great and small.

 

You need to stop for an ant to cross the road??

 

The next PETA bumper sticker -- "I brake for ants."

 

Probably cats would be as small as I would go but really only children. Cats and dogs can be replaced easily and cheaply.

Also thins out the loose animals in the neighborhood.

 

Maybe small black ants/LOL. Not fire ants. First time in years I have noticed small black ants in my yard. I quit dumping poison on my yard because I am a cheap skate and it wasn't working. Bird nests are back too and lots of juicy worms for the birds. Actually prefer the wild flowers and natural vegetation to the non native grass. Acquired taste for sure as most people want a lush thick grassy nole to die on.

 

Down here it's gopher turtles and sandhill cranes. They just saunter across the road like they own it and if you hit one, there'll be a lynch mob. Not that I'd want to hit one, but golly! I actually had to take to the shoulder for a pair of cranes a few weeks ago. Came around the curve at 50 mph and there they were. I could have slowed and stopped, but would have been rear ended by the bozo driving six inches off my bumper. He managed to stop, too, but just barely and only because I got out of his way. I doubt if he learned anything, though.

 

Grass?? You need to mow your kitchen floor occasionally

 

How about squirrels that eat your tomatoes?? Especially cherry tomatoes. Suirrels eat them & leave the seeds for the birds.
They gave up on the hot peppers though.

 

LOL. I got a kick out of that one. I am approaching the hill (mid 50's) and just brought home a 17 Prius Four today for exactly that reason. I wanted all the safety features, comfy seat, etc....

We have a 15 Tundra and an 16 Avalon as well. Could have done without Entune/Nav. We're Toyota fans (obviously) but we ignore Entune and Nav on our other Toyotas and stick with Waze and other apps via bluetooth.

 

Welcome.
I am about 10 years older than you and bought a Trim Two last October. Haven't killed anybody yet...

 

Yes but what happened to those unique features Toyota cited for the Two Eco? Are they really there or was that some marketing blather now dispelled? Aside from the lack of a rear wiper and the Li-Ion battery, the Two Eco appears on Toyota's specs page as basically identical to the plain Two. No mention of the special windshield or higher pressure tires. No biggie, think I might go for a Three Touring, even though bigger tires hurt MPGs. The Softex seats would be an improvement on the cloth and I can keep a rear window wiper AND a spare donut.

 

Wayne Gerdes over at CleanMPG drove both a regular and a 2 Eco and reported significantly higher mpg capable with the latter. He is a complete hypermiling nutter, so if he thinks it is something special, it probably does have some extra tricks. As to what all, who knows.

 

probably just look through the pertinent gen 4 threads. i'm sure there's good advice there, and you can decide what is obsessive, and what isn't.