How Do I Tell...

https://www.cars.com/research/toyota-prius_v-2012/trims/ ???

 

If it is a three your radio will have an XM label, there was no four, and if it has JBL on the radio it is a five. Otherwise a two. Both the three and five had navigation but the five had a higher end hard disk based nav option as well.

This from a three, nav is accessed through the Apps button


One of the Five radios with JBL

.

 

Armed with the VIN, any Toyota dealer should be able to tell you.

 

If you have the VIN, enter it on the following web page to find the information you are seeking and a lot more: Vehicle Specification | Toyota Owners

If this Prius has real leather, then it is aftermarket leather which would not necessarily be a bad thing. Our Prius v Five came with seats covered with Toyota's "SofTex" vinyl which wears well but is not much like real leather.

 

Surprisingly, the Toyota Owners' site does a poor job with 2012 v flavors. Our factory v Five shows as a Three.

 

And all this time you thought you had a Five!

Seriously, yours is the first report I've ever heard of the Toyota Owners site failing to provide correct information for a VIN. I've used the feature countless times myself and have helped many others on other Toyota oriented forums use it.

It correctly shows our 2012 Prius v Five including information about its Advanced Technology Package and that its mudflaps and carpet mats were installed at the port instead of at the factory. It correctly lists all the information for the Camry we bought new in 1998 including its very unusual features for its day.

Very odd.

 

Is it an early or late 2012? West Coast of East Coast POE? Ours is early, East.

 

Five had 17” wheels, but 16” will fit. Turning radius slightly wider with 5.

 

The "Five" also has XM radio but with a larger 7" screen. Our 2012 Prius v Five came with 17" wheels and tires but I downsized to 16" wheels and tires to get a wider selection and lower cost Winter tires. I bought a steel wheel Winter tire package from Tire Rack and wish I hadn't. They require poorly fitting lug nuts and wheel covers. The wheel covers I bought from Tire Rack are trash - still using all four but they're held together by strapping tape.

I should have bought Winter tires from Costco where I usually buy tires. If I could have a do-over I would buy refurbished OEM Prius v 16" wheels from Wheels and Caps where I bought OEM wheels to use with Winter tires on our Sienna:
aluminum-16x65-wheel-rim-69600
Hubcaps are not needed with the 16" Prius v wheels - there are threads on this forum on where to buy Toyoto logo covers for their wheel hubs.

 

With the 16" downsized summer wheels, what hub cover/cap did you get? Why won't that fit on your winter wheel set?

I went the plastic hub center cover which looks OEM and the wheels under the original hubcaps were good looking I thought. Whoever buys my car will get a set of hubcaps with maybe 20 miles on them and a front drivers mat with maybe less because I went WeatherTech based on my experience with a prior car..

 

Sorry, I should have used the term "full wheel covers" which were what I bought in early 2013 from Tire Rack in a package that included four 16" steel wheels, TPMS sensors, and Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 Winter tires. IIRC, the plastic wheel covers were about $10 each - they are quite fragile, fit poorly and had to be modified to fit around the valve stems. I'm amazed that none of the wheel covers have been lost as they are very easy to pop off.

When I bought this package from Tire Rack, OEM refurbished or replica Prius v wheels were not yet available at reasonable prices from resellers. The only reason I bought this package was to get the wheels. Normally I buy our tires and TPMS from Costco which I've found to usually be substantially less expensive than Tire Rack when all costs are considered ... plus there's a Costco less than one mile from our house. Costco includes lifetime tire rotation and balancing and usually no-cost or 1 cent installation.

 

I go back to the MEMCO days before PriceClub and their ultimate merger with COSTCO. I still use my PriceCostco card dating to the early '90s.

I have never seen a study on the effect of using the original hubcaps versus the hubcapless operation of the wheels.