Hey All about to make my first prius purchase and was just wondering what you guys think between the plus and the premium. Is the premium worth the upgrade? Is the main difference just the softex seats and 11 inch infotainment system? Or is there more that makes the premium worth it over the plus? Im interested in all of your thoughts.
For me it was an extra 29 bucks a month. I really wanted the soft/Tex seats. It also adds door proxy for passenger and hatch and smart lock for your charging cord and wireless charging. I had mixed feelings about the big screen. But it does have a wow factor when showing your buddy's your driving a Prius lol
And if there's any chance that you are swayed to a Premium, may I try to sway you further on getting the Advanced trim and spoiling yourself? Happy deciding.
You can go through their brochure...Page 19 shows the detailed differences... You have to read carefully as they don't always make it crystal clear what the differences are For instance, you can read the bullets for the Quad-LED headlights 10 times and still miss the fact that the Premium added auto-on/off rather than just auto-off. +1 on the advanced recommendation...Love all the safety features...But there is a bit of a price jump.
You might get better discount on Premium model than Plus model. I wanted Plus, but my local dealer had only Premium in stock and the price they gave me was better than Plus from other dealers. If there was substantial saving on Plus, I would have liked cloth seats and smaller LCD with real knobs, but that is just me.
The jump from Plus to Premium is small enough for most people. Unless you really want cloth or a radio with knobs for volume/tune (those are the two reasons the majority of owners go for the Plus), I would go for the Premium. The SofTex seats, power driver's seat, 11.6" HD LCD screen, automatic headlights and 3-door Smart Key make it worth while imo.
It's a personal choice and everyone is different. I contemplated the premium or advanced, but when a blue magnetism w/moonstone interior plus appeared on the local dealer lot my decision was done. I prefer cloth seats and physical radio knobs and HVAC controls. Interestingly enough, when I purchased my prime, after finishing with the finance guy and gathering things up from my trade-in, my sales person came up to me and said, "uh...we have a problem". I asked what is the "problem", I'm all done and ready to go? Doooood, where's my car? Sales person informed me that Toyota requires the dealers to fully charge the battery before they are turn it over to the customer. After the sales person repeatedly asked what they could do to make up for this (including an offer for free window tint), I said, how about you let me drive your "fleet/demo" prime until mine is fully charged. The dealership was closed the next day meaning I would have this "loaner" prime for 2 days. Come to find out it was an advanced model. After driving it for 2 days, it made me very content in my choice of the plus. I didn't care for the 11" touch screen. Bad glare off of it during the day and it was a bit distracting to adjust things. Yes you can use the steering wheel controls. I also didn't care for the soft-tex seats. Not saying it wasn't nice, it was. But to each their own...I'm happy with my plus.
Interesting about dealers having to charge the battery before leaving the dealership. I bought a Prime from a dealer in CA and had it shipped to UT and the traction battery was completely dead.
The reason for flying over and driving back. If the car won't start and leave the lot ... let them put you up in a motel. <grins> Bob Wilson
Well, the rest of the story was quite interesting. I returned 2 days later to pick up my prime. When I pulled into the dealership, my new prime was parked in front of the showroom next to my trade-in. My plates were still on my trade-in. Sales person gives me the keys and begins transferring my plates whilst I transfer my things from their loaner to my new car. When I open the door on my new prime there is plastic on the driver's seat, multiple paper floor liners on both sides of the front. Then I open the hatch to find the charging cord and the bubble wrap / plastic packaging left in the hatch. I finish transferring my things and get the car started (it was only about 5 degrees F) and the HVAC on. Sales person finishes the plates, says thank you for my business and returns to the showroom. I continue to get things set up while the engine is running. When I turn on the radio/infotainment a message displays saying unable to read/locate map SD card. I open the micorSD card door and there's no card installed. Back into the showroom to find my sales person. He brings an SD card out, inserts it. No go, it can't read it. He runs back in and returns with a couple more SD cards. The third one finally worked. Alright, time to go home....as I start to pull out of the dealer lot I look at the MID and see this I was completely satisfied with the sales transaction, but the vehicle prep was an EPIC fail. Apparently, my dealer does not have a L2 charger and their delivery prep crew is completely incompetent.
If the Plus and Premium were the same price, I would choose the Plus. My wife and I think that poorly of the Softex.
We were mixed on the Softex too, but not on the electrically adjustability features of the seats in the Premium.
I suspect that was an excuse. My car was delivered without a charge, too. 3 weeks later, the gas used for the three miles between the dealer and home is still the only gas we've used!
To us, powered driver's seat is a must, and "leather seats" is also preferred. Otherwise, Plus is good enough.
I bought the premium trim because I wanted the big screen. I didn't get the advanced because it was more expensive and I'm cheap. I regret not getting the top trim now though. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
I was debating the same thing myself when I bought mine. I was at least going to get the premium model and was debating the Advance. I plan on keeping this car until it basically falls apart, so i sprung for the advanced. Glad i did!
