My Concerns with the New Prius

Can that be? Wouldn’t the 17’s OD be significantly less? Typo?

up super late due to airport run btw.

 

There’s a lot to like. I’m going to miss the bright and cheery moonstone interior. Have always disliked black. I saw a YouTube video saying there’s also an option for light gray seats. But I’m not a fan of the red that seems to be obligatory with the prime models because they’re “the sportier” version. Never got into Prii for sportiness. RIP blue magnetism and seaglass pearl…

 

Performance, exterior design, and color are the very last things on my priority list for my daily driver.

Affordability, value, and efficiency are far more important to me. If it requires premium gas and odd-sized larger tires that alone will be a deal breaker. It will cost $$$ more than my current PP to operate.

 

if we're going to go negative, there isn't enough paper on the internet

 

I would not be an early adopter. After the third year, all these issues will likely be addressed and worked out.

Tire companies by then will likely have addressed the replacement tire issue.

 

2 inch lower roof and 1 inch lower seating position are the deal breaker for me. The odd tire size and premium fuel recommendation are another "nail in the coffin." I don't think this redesign will be a success. It seems like Toyota is trying to build a efficient performance car.
There's a really small market for that.

 

And Tesla’s got it covered?

 

Still no compact spare tire??? LoL

 

Seriously, I think Tesla does have the efficient performance sedan sector covered. At least until the Ioniq 6 hits the market.

 

Hmm, that is the first I heard about the premium fuel, which is disappointing, but also with the extended EV range, it is probably more of a psychological concern for many (including myself), as doing a high % of EV driving means the actual cost impact to the wallet of more expensive fuel is likely relatively low, unless travelling, etc. It just sucks when you are looking at the cost at the pump when refuelling.

A few questions/thoughts on this topic;

• It sounds like Premium is needed to extract max power, but it sounds like you can use regular as well and sacrifice a bit of power? If true (and there are no other issues in doing so regularly), it could be a simple solution which works for everyone - if you don’t care for the extra power or fuel cost, just put regular and go.
• Would the higher octane of premium fuel better protect the fuel from going stale? (Don’t know… genuinely asking). If so, this could be a secondary reason for the premium, if your use pattern is to drive mostly EV and often go multiple months at a time without adding gas.…

Thanks!

 

Most modern computer controlled engines will compensate for the lower octane fuel; though I do know that some older VW's will throw a CEL; if you try to fill-up with the cheap stuff. Don't know if that's still the case - not a VW guy.....

 

Slightly annoying on the fuel, but I'm already using premium because it's the only way I can get ethanol-free in my area. Very annoying on the tires, but maybe that will work itself out in time. I plan to use AA, so I'm good there.

(Yes, I know it's a bit strange that a Prius owner chooses to avoid ethanol, but I'm in the camp that believes ethanol can do small amounts of long-term damage to an engine. If it was a car that I only planned to own a few years, or it was likely to die before 150k miles like most domestic cars, I wouldn't care. But a Toyota can go 300k+ easily with proper maintenance(cough5000mi/6monthoilchangescough) and, like most Prius owners, I tend to keep my car for 10-20 years.)

 

Sharp eye on the fine print there. Nice.

I think the best strategy here would be to use premium fuel when doing regular driving mostly in EV, where the tank will last weeks or months. But if travelling on a long trip, you could choose to save a few dollars and put 87 in if you will burn through multiple tanks... Or not, and just spend the extra $5 or $10 or whatever, since the car is hyper-efficient and the owner can clearly afford a brand new car anyway, so I doubt this will break them.

In the end, it is probably just splitting hairs...

 

The Owner's Manual will for sure address this. Hopefully pdf becomes available soon, say from Tech Info. Not there yet:



Likely will be added around same time as the car's for sale with the paper manual?

 

I agree...Heck, I just might go for a used Prius C instead of the new Gen 5 to tide me over until Gen 6....haha. And I'm certainly not going to pay a dealer markup for the Gen 5...so I will have a long time to wait just because of that! In fact, I kind of hope the Gen 5's are really popular so it frees up many more used Toyota hybrids.

One thing I'll say about the Prius C is that it is incredibly cheap to maintain, tires are cheap, etc...

 

Up until I purchased my current PP Limited, the most expensive car I have purchased was a 2005 Sienna AWD XL purchased new. I can't remember the exact price I paid, but it was around $35K. It was the very first car I ever purchased new. Until then, I always had one of our more expensive cars (minivan or SUV) leased, and another car was purchased used economy compact car that was cheap to maintain (i.e. Honda Civic). On the leased minivan or SUV, I spent absolutely nothing on maintenance or upkeep. Routine services were included in the cost, and I never purchased any tires. It was a fixed monthly rental cost that was easy to budget. But I was getting tired of keep paying for a monthly lease for a minivan year after year, although it was nice to be able to drive a new car every 3 years. When I purchased a Sienna AWD minivan, I thought it was expensive. Then I realized that purchasing a new expensive car can be more expensive than leasing it. I had to pay for the routine services, and I had to buy tires. I had hoped the car would run many, many years trouble-free with minimum repair cost, such that it would be cost-effective to buy a new minivan and keep it for a long time than leasing it every three years. In the end, that plan did not pan out. The Sienna was probably the most expensive car I have ever owned (cost to purchase, maintenance, repair, and final value when sold, all taken into consideration).

Yeah, the set of tires for Sienna costs ~$1,200. (edited: I exaggerated the number a bit. Apparently, it wasn't $2,000. It was $1,200 back then 17 years ago.) As per the manual, I had to change all 4 tires even if only one got flat.

 

What year was the Sienna? I want to take a look at the manual, curious about that one flat and it's new tire time.