Prius Prime harsh ride quality?

Not having reference points of Lexus or Tesla in my experience, I may not be able to compere but I know PP is not the quietest car I have driven before. As far as comfort goes, again our 7 years old Pathfinder Hybrid is far more comfortable to drive. That being said, PP is better than my previous HCH and Gen3 in overall ride quality. But the tires contribute a large portion of noise and comfort on any car. I would suggest you try test driving a brand new 2022 PP and see if that is any better. If so, then yeah, the used PP you drove could be a dud (or maybe just had very bad tires).

 

Ride comfort is completely subjective. Go drive a different one, or a new one, as a comparison.

 

definitely going to feel rough compared to many cars. if this would be your first prius, you'll have to resign yourself to it.
for those that came from previous generations, it's much improved, believe it or not.

the only thing you can check is the tires and pressures. maybe they have the wrong tires or the pressures are too high.

 

Recommend you drive another Prime, as others have suggested.

 

Cars make use of sound insulation to quiet the cabin. You'll find more of it in a luxury car on average. It can add a bit of weight, and is an easy thing to cut for weight reduction. The Prius very likely has a lot less of that insulation than the Lexus.

A used car can have non-OEM tires on it. Which can be noisier and rougher, or the tire pressure is set higher. That can have the same results, but it does help with efficiency.

If you try another Prius, take a tire gauge with you to check pressures.

 

I rented a new PP for a weekend trip. Ride was very harsh. It turns out the dealer never adjusted the shipping tire pressure. It was at 50 psi.

 

In the case of a used car, the previous owner may have the pressures high for better fuel economy.

 

Our other vehicle is a 2017 RX450h.

I just drove that down to Southern California and back which was about 1200 miles. That is a much quieter and comfortable ride than our 2019 Prime I drive everyday .

Hard to compare a RX to a base model Prime without finding what you found in my experience.

 

Yeah, as a lot of responders have said, could be the test-drive car had grossly over-inflated tires.

 

I suspect ( since I'm not from your area ) there are a lot of prius there and a lot of motorheads too, (unless I'm misinformed). So given, neither you nor I have specific details concerning the car, it's hard to know what or why you got a bad feeling during your time in the Prime. Although, I'd think it might be possible the Prime had some suspension work done on it. Tanabe makes custom suspension exact fit parts that are undetectable to the casual viewer. https://www.tanabe-usa.com/

 

I concur with the over-inflated tire theory. My previous vehicle was a 2018 Mercedes E400 with air suspension, and believe it or not, my PP compares favorably for comfort. Handling? No. Not even close. But very comfortable.

 

Absolutely! Our Prime sees a lot more use than our other vehicles and, while not as nimble, it is reasonably comfortable (third Prime in as many years... love 'em)!