20.000km with the Prius - a summary

My Gen4 Prius, now 14months old, has reached 20.000km (13k miles).
This is my second Prius (I had Gen3 before for a total of 100.000km (63k miles) for about 7 years).
Briefly, in no particular order, my positives, negatives, no-gos (especially in comparison to the Gen3):

Positives:

• much improved fuel consumption, in all conditions (morning commute is on average 15% lower; lifetime is currently at 4,82L/100km // 48.8mpg, 10% lower than the Gen3; on most drives now in summer I reach easily consumption of less than 4L/100km // 59mpg; managing less than 3.5L/100km // 65+ mpg is not impossible - I expect my average lifetime to go further down in the future);
• much better driving/handling (more firm and solid);
• really nice improved color head-up display, and instrument cluster with a lot of interesting and useful information; more accurate too (4.5% off instead of 6.5% for fuel consumption and speedometer is also around 6-7% instead of the absurd 10% of the Gen3 - PS: yes in the EU market speedometers tend to be more off than in the USA market; who knows why...);
• better overall visibility;
• quieter;
• better braking;
• can achieve up to 60% EV ratio driving - essentially making it an EV with range-extender in city traffic;
• comfortable seating, even on long journeys;
• safety features like the blind-spot detection, rear crossing traffic alert and emergency braking are simply a must-have - helped me in several occasions already; I miss them when driving cars without them;
• parallel self park, simply amazing (especially in tight spots I would never park myself!);
• very good and reliable BT connection with iPhone;
• helpful wireless phone charging;
• very good audio (6 speaker stock version);
• finally electrically folding mirrors and automatic lights are standard on all versions in the German market (for Gen3 they were not even available);
• EV gliding available at higher speeds and stronger accelerations from a stop;
• better and roomier trunk space - I am always amazed the stuff I manage to carry in it...!
• certainly a very subjective point: I really like the design - modern, different, with character; distinguishes itself a lot from many cars out there with conventional boring designs; I don't see myself getting bored by it, like I ended up being with Gen3;

Negatives:

• vibration from the dash behind/underneath the steering wheel due to some plastic sheet/part vibrating in resonance to the ICE at particular rpms and ambient temps; I figured I can make it quieter for a while, if I go underneath the steering column and touch the panel covering the knee airbag and the air conditioning duct;
• noisy brakes (squeaking and scraping noises, especially at cold after 2-3 days not using the car) - not improved at all vs Gen3, if not even worse; BTW one disc is somehow scratched in radial fashion and makes repetitive noises when slowing down to a stop; the dealer cannot fix-it unless by changing the disc, which is otherwise ok and brakes fine, and told me "it will go away with time and usage" - after 4 months it is still there...but after all one doesn't really use that much the mechanical brakes in this Gen4, more so than vs Gen3);
• some stone or what else, is rolling around (in the battery compartment under the seat? in the center console?) and making annoying noises whenever I accelerate a bit harder after braking (or when breaking harder) and when steering more decisively; how this can happen in a modern car is beyond me and it is driving me insane; anyone had the same issue? can I safely open the battery compartment under the seat to see if something there is free to roam the compartment? what about the center console? can it be opened easily?
• the feeling that the cabin has a worst build than the Gen3, even if the plastics are/seem of better quality;
• radar CC only really useful in stop&go traffic jams (lacks real intelligence, and brakes sometimes suddenly when a big truck is preceding in the neighboring lane, or braking too much too fast when approaching a slower vehicle in the same lane, when a simple "bip" advising to change lane would be enough, by keeping the flow)
• infotainment software is and looks cheap (90s graphics on low res screen) and doesn't even show the cover art of songs being played from phone
• tonneau cover still "cheap" and cumbersome to close (it is very hard at times to get it into place when closing it)
• 1970s trunk light: really??? again???
• interior lighting is not LED, but instead cheap and ugly looking conventional light bulbs... meh...

No-gos:

• idiotically, rain-sensor is not standard (and I don't live in sunny Ibiza) and not even optional! (it was in Gen3!)
• automatic headlights & traffic sign recognition - useless gimmicks off all the time: the former is too aggressive, blinding drivers too often; the latter has no real intelligence built into it, and it will recognize speed limit stickers of trucks (common in the EU), when logic and physics would dictate they are what they are...stickers
• no Apple/Google car play; no mirroring of the mobile phone screen (which for me would be perfect) - infotainment system is in general a no-go; even the more expensive one; are they still stuck in the 90s???

Would I buy it again? for sure, but I would get the "redesigned" version whenever it will come out to see if the above issues get sorted out.

On a side note, I would really get a Prime if:

• I knew where to plug it
• it didn't cost 10k€ more than the Prius (I don't care if the base version of the plug-in model offers more options standard than the Prius) - it is simply idiotically too expensive, even after the incentives from the German government, to make any business/economical if not even ecological sense
• it didn't have a considerably smaller trunk space vs Gen4 Prius
• it didn't have a smaller screen compared to the the USA version and offered the obnoxious infotainment system as currently on the Prius Gen4

 

I actually have the basic version without any navigation function - I prefer to save 7-800€ and buy a Tomtom navi that offers all traffic and map services lifetime for free and can be updated with the latest tech without any issues.
And the fact that having the navi option, doesn't bring much more to the experience - ah yes, the song covers...for 1k€....it is such a bargain...!

 

I feel the car to be very stable with 17" rims at high speeds 150km/h+.
Better than Gen3, which was already not bad at all (also with 17" rims).

At 130km/h (i.e. 120km/h real) I just got this weekend on my drive back from Berlin (580km), with 2 passengers, 30C ambient temp and AC at 21C, a respectable 4,8L/100km // 49mpg (as reported by the Multi Function Display, MFD), driving an average of 100km/h.

Two thirds of those kms are on a very hilly terrain (and in Germany they don't really like to build tunnels, they simply go up and down the hills with their highways). Moreover Berlin sits about 500m lower than Munich, where I live.
Going to Berlin instead, I was driving more aggressively and landed at 5.7L/100km (as per MFD).
(FYI, the MFD is about 5% optimistic.)

Ride comfort is very good for a car built more for urban and suburban traffic than for high autobahn speeds. Seats are comfortable and don't give back pain, even after 6+ hrs driving.
There is quite some road noise coming in, but not from the car itself, rather depending on what the tires are rolling on. If the tarmac is smooth, it is not that noisy. With a rough surface tarmac, it can be quite noisy. I would advise you to test it to see for yourself.

It is hard for me to compare to other cars as I rode only a Gen3 before, and before that a Polo that doesn't really compare.
At 130km/h the car still has "breath" to accelerate decently and is by no means "dead". But it is a car made to save fuel, not to race on the highway, so don't expect to be pushed on the seat. And if the battery is empty, acceleration at high speed is markedly lower.
My bf has a BMW 428i and that is a more apt car for the purpose
The Prius can easily have a "violent" acceleration from a stop up to 50-70km/h thanks to the electric motor with instant full torque.

I am overall very happy with the Gen4 and its astounding fuel consumption.
Plug-ins and EVs are unfortunately not really an option for me, either because of purchase price (in most cases obscene and making zero business sense), or because I would not know where to plug them to recharge.
Germany in the past 10 years was too busy building diesels I am afraid, than thinking the about the future.

I am just annoyed about the things I wrote in my original post.
But by no means a deal breaker. After all I bought a Toyota, not a Lexus...