I have 99% settled on the Prius (upgrading from a 2008 Touring), but I was wondering if anyone had some insight on the overall comfort differences between the current Prius LE & Rav4 Hybrid LE. I'm leaning toward the Prius for many issues, especially price & MPG (if my calculations are correct, the Prius could consume about 1000 gallons less over the life of the vehicle). I'm not too concerned about the AWD, and honestly the low ground clearance is the main thing that worries me a bit on the Prius. But if the seat and ride comfort was far better on the Rav4, I might have to reconsider. I've only briefly sat in both (very pushy dealer cut my "test sit" short a few months back), but it was too quick to really get a good feel, and I haven't test driven either one to know how the overall ride and handling differs. Much appreciative for any feedback or suggestions.
You live in Colorado and not worried about AWD? Doesn't sound right. Find another Toyota dealer to sit and test drive. Yes, Toyota is a volume car seller and will be more "pushy" than a low-volume, premium car dealer, but that shouldn't stop you from getting what you want. It's your money, so don't let them push you around.
I'd try again, you really want to have a good test drive in both candidates. A few thoughts: 1. If you're tall, the sunroof levels cut head room, and increase weight, complexity, possible issues down the road. 2. If you care about it, maybe only the base level (of 2WD) has a spare now? Just my 2 cents: in maybe 18 months 5th gen Prius is coming. I'd wait-and-see, just maybe they'll come to their senses, about some of the "styling excesses", outside and in, dearth of of spare tires, eroded storage. That's what I'm doing, without a lot of optimism though.
I'm right in Denver, and unlike the neighboring mountain areas we get very little snow here on average. I also don't ski as much, if I did I would probably go for a Subaru. I have found that on the Prius at least, the front-wheel drive and Nokian tires have been pretty decent. I've never been somewhere that I couldn't get moving from a standstill or had trouble at very low speeds, which is where the Toyota AWD would have helped the most. I have needed a spare tire on occasion, which is the one thing you have to lose for the AWD on the Prius. My initial impression on sitting in the 2020 Prius coming from the 2008 was that it felt like I was sitting on the floor. It took me a second to notice the height adjustment, which I don't have on mine, but even when raised it still does feel like I am sitting a little low (I'm 5'8"). The Rav4 felt the exact opposite, seemed a little unnecessarily high. It's difficult to tell though how either of those would feel on a longer road trip. And then to further complicate things, a good percentage of my miles on the new car would be with a rooftop cargo box, and I would imagine that would take more MPGs off of the Prius than the RAV4, so my calculations might not be exactly accurate for my real world scenario. Styling wise, my biggest 2 complaints on the Gen 4 Prius were the white on the inside and the z tail lights, both of which they got rid of in the model I am looking at.
Essentially cus the "AWD" Prius is a pretty amateur effort. There's no great stretch of engineering effort: need somewhere to put the AWD? Just just chuck out the spare and plunk it there, spares are passe...
It may be completely unwarranted, but I don't have too much confidence in the AWD just yet. It's still a bit new, it's more stuff to go wrong, & might it do more harm than good if the timing and/or power aren't perfect for each instance? No idea, but I will definitely be keeping an eye on it as the results come in & as the tech evolves in future models.
Forget about this. The AWDi system is fantastic, and certainly not new tech. Each new generation gets better too. I drove a Prius-v before moving to the Rav4. I would never go back under any circumstances. The Rav has a lot more power and interior space, and the newest generation gets great MPG as well. But mainly, I am old and creaky and the Prius is too low to the ground for me to get in and out easily. The Rav4 height is perfect. Forget about sitting in them, go drive them.
My studies show a shorter/lower ingress entry on the RAV4. I tried to like it, but gave up on it as it made me bend my neck/spine to get into the driver's seat (seat all the way down) vs. the Prius (again, seat all the way down). IIRC, it was a 2" or 2.5" lower ingress height. That was the comfort-thing I was measuring with a tape measure across a few platforms. The Kia Soul, Camry and Corolla all failed the test as well. For older folks, and folks with bad knees, the RAV4 may be the answer, but as I don't have bad knees, but do end up with an aching back and neck from bending them to get in and out of my for-business vehicle so many times a day, the ease of ingress and egress was important.
Possibly but considering electric AWD in Toyotas have been around for 15 years (mid 2000s with the Estima minivan in Japan as well as the first gen Highlander Hybrid and RX400h), it shouldn't be a problem. Also, given that it's just an extension from the power split device (which has to manage two electric motors that spin at different rpm and power/regen almost instantaneously as you accelerate and brake), I think it's fine.
If my current car wasn't on it's last... well, tires I guess... I'd probably wait until the next model year & see what happens. The Rav4 is a seriously good looking vehicle & probably the only SUV I'd consider, although I do daydream about converting a Highlander hybrid or similar into a camper at some point. I just don't know if it's worth the extra cost & fuel usage at the moment. I've only been in 3 situations in the past 12 years where the Prius wasn't able enough to proceed (McInnis Canyons, some roads near the Indian Peaks Wilderness, & the road to Zapata Falls near Great Sand Dunes National Park). I could always upgrade to 17" wheels on the Prius & squeak out a tiny bit more ground clearance I reckon, again not sure if it'd even be worth it though. I'm gonna have to head back to the dealer next week & test drive the Rav4 & sit in the Prius again. Decisions, decisions. Always grateful for this site. It helped me decide on the Prius back in 2008, after I had already put a down payment on a Civic. I think I made the right choice & feel somewhat bad for the alternate-universe version of me that went with the Honda.
