"Cross posting the cables, even briefly, can cost $500." This varies by Generation, but Gen 3 and the v have a serviceable DC to DC converter. Admittedly $500 is just the part, labor will set you back as well. In earlier Generations, the entire Inverter needs to be replaced, which can be $3000 in parts alone.
If your state taxes personal property, with the car of equivalent condition, the 2012 would be a better deal.
There are several reasons people might care. The 2012-2014 miserably failed the IIHS "Small overlap front: driver-side" crash test earning the lowest "Poor" rating. That has become one of the most common real world collision types that causes injury. The 2015-up was redesigned and got the IIHS highest "Good" rating in the same crash test. A power driver seat became available beginning with the 2014 models. The driver seat is my #1 complaint about our 2012. I've verified that the newer power driver seat addresses the problem. The optional Pre-Collision System (PCS) on the 2012-2014 failed IIHS tests and got zero points/bars. The redesigned PCS on the 2015-up was found by the IIHS to be much more effective and got a medium (2-bar) effectiveness rating. While the standard incandescent headlights on the 2015-2017 are rated Poor by the IIHS and people on this forum have often complained about the incandescent headlights on the 2012-2014 being bad, the revised bi-LED headlights on the 2015-up Prius v Five got the 2nd highest rating ("Acceptable") from the IIHS. The 2015-up Prius v Five with the Advanced Technology Package which has "Auto High Beam" was the first vehicle that earned the IIHS highest "Good" headlight rating. The quad LED headlights on the 2012-2014 Prius v Five "seem" to be reasonably good but they don't have the Auto High Beam feature. Our 2012 Prius v Five/ATP reached 44,000 miles yesterday. If it was a 2015 or newer Prius v Five/ATP we'd likely keep it for a few more years instead of planning to replace it in mid-2020.
Don't do it......... Gas is cheap... Get a Good MPG ECE................. way lower cost if you plan on keeping it a long time....
I kindof have gone back to the drawing board. The crash test fail that Offline noted was kinda the nail in the coffin for me for that year. I greatly appreciate everyone's help.
That crash test was introduced almost exactly the same day as the car, so they had no time to plan. About our tests
Being on a forum will always highlight all the negative experiences from a car, being it’s a small concentrated group of owners posting about similar issues (good or bad) in the same place. What you have to realize is this community is a small percentage of the pool of Prius owners; there is a good amount of non car enthusiasts that just drive their car and don’t ever have a problem on their pri.. even with poor maintenance. You will just be way more informed than those owners being here.
