LE/XLE Prime vs Prius LE (with BSM, IPA)

I don’t think I’d ever buy a car without blind spot monitoring/cross traffic monitoring.

 

Can you even find a PP for sale? I have not seen any PP in inventory at our local Toyota dealers for over 6 months now. Even if they advertise it on their website, they are usually already spoken for.

In any case, it is not the best time to shop for a car. If you can wait for a while assuming you have a 2017 Prius now, I would sit tight and wait for a better market.

BTW, for me personally, BSM and IPA are features I almost never need/use. If I had a choice of buying PP LE I would have picked it over Limited and saved $5K. For me, the choice was very simple PP was cheaper than any of Gen4 Prius even for Ltd trim back in 2021, but if PP LE and Prius LE are the same prices, I still would definitely pick PP over regular Prius. ~30miles of pure electric can be very handy. I have filled my PP tank only 5 times in the past 12 months for ~9K miles.

 

Get all the safety options you can!! Will NEVER have another care without it, especially at my age!! You won't regret it.

 

I'll second the waiting if the 2017 is still in good shape. Unless you decide on the Prime, then it looks like you'll have to the end of September to get the full tax credit. Will the 2017 be traded in?

The BSM is nice if you regularly drive in traffic, and I'm assuming you do. Toyota made it a free package for the Prius in order to compete with the original Ioniq hybrid when it came out. Guess they didn't feel the need to do so with the Prime. Likely because their margins were already thin on it.

Then using less gas could be nicer. The Prime also tends to do a little better when using gas than the standard Prius. If you decide on BSM, I'll say to wait. I don't see gas prices crashing, and thus the value of your 2017 Prius, in the near future.

 

If you never owned a car with BSM and/or IPA before; your not going to miss it on your new car. That being said, IMHO these systems makes a driver lazy and more dependent on technology. This also gives them the excuse that; "It wasn't my fault; the BSM didn't light up". Well the honest truth is that you swerved into the other car without looking. You have the ultimate responsibility to ensure the lane was clear BEFORE moving over, and your the one who move the steering wheel over to hit the other car.
Just because you bought a Tesla with autopilot installed; doesn't mean that you can just fall asleep behind the wheel of a three ton wreaking ball traveling down the highway at 55+mph.....

Just my 2-cents; Ignore it if you like.....

 

Just get a stick-on wide view mirror. First thing I put on every car for the past 30 years.
Of course, get the Prime!

 

My "first date" with blind spot monitoring was a rented 2016 Volvo.

It would sometimes warn me about cars next to me, but would sometimes miss entire semi trucks.

I now own a Mazda with the feature, and although haven't caught it wrong, I still don't trust it either.

 

Yep, and you shouldn't. If you try to sue the manufacturer; they will simply say that it's a driver assist option - the driver is in ultimate control of the car - Not their fault, even if it malfunctioned. "Enhanced safety", without liability - how reliable is this stuff suppose to be???

Out here, semi-trucks aren't allowed to drag three trailers - but some states allow this. Well, I was tired and passing through Utah when I got boxed in behind a slow moving RV. This usually doesn't happen to me; because I usually plan ahead and avoid those type of situations. My ingrained lane change routine is check lane, check mirror, check blind spot - then check mirror again before moving over. I had a semi-truck along side of me, also passing the slow moving RV. So the plan was to tuck in behind it to pass the RV. Well, when the second trailer rolled by; I was about to execute - when I saw that third trailer!!! Luckily for my ingrained routine - it could've been a horrible mess and my fault!!!!