4th generation coming 2015!

Thank you markabele, I suppose I am "obsessed" with the G4. The feeling comes mostly from the fact that I am ready to upgrade my G3; I respect the Toyota brand name; and my 2010 has been an absolutely wonderful vehicle, in every respect. By 2015, my Prius will have lost virtually all of it's trade value ... too many miles, and I have no inclination to replace my 2010 with the exact same technology. Don't we all want the "new stuff?"

Few can dispute your guess re the PIP, the V and the C.

 

Patience.

Having started my quest way back in 1999, take that advice seriously. I know.

Each of my upgrades included a very looooooooooong wait. All were totally worth it.

 

You must put a TON of miles on if you think your G3 has lost all it's trade value. (fwiw, I always recommend selling yourself over trade) Are you putting like 30k miles on a year?

 

Dianne, maybe not ready in winter 2015 means there will be yet a 2015 model of the current gen. That'll be disappointing. I'm encouraged by what you say especially "knocking our socks off" because with the Gen3 doing so well and so well designed, that'll be hard.

I hope it doesn't mean "Wireless Charging" because that IMO won't sell me especially if it's $1-5k more.

Now I'd imagine the plugin would finally get a sunroof and will have a bit more space to match the gen3, but we'll see. I don't think dealers see what it would like it though, I've been to many dealers and talked to many owners, they know nothing and they're not pretending.

I want the Prius Alpha to be released... Prius C plugin would be especially interesting.

 

I put together a 4" high stack of neoprene foam for the door armrest: It's a 4" x 2.25" x 2" piece with 4" x 3.25 x 2" piece glued together. The narrower piece will sit on the base of the door armrest while the wider piece will contact the vertical fabric (leather panel). Stays in place well using 3M Command strips with velcro interface on side and regular strips on bottom of foam.

Picture later after it's been working for a while. I noticed on the cars that fit me well, just put my left elbow on door armrest and get a good grip on steering wheel at 9'oclock. With a 4" chunk on Prius door armrest, I can do that.

Here's that pic. it's a keeper -

 

I guess the sales depends very much on where you live. If you have incentives from government, tax reduction etc the GEN III might still be a good offer. However, in Europe diesels tend to gain more and more market share. My friends are not very impressed by the MPG of the Prius, since there are diesel cars with roughly the same or better MPG and they are less expensive. So if the Prius is to have any chance in the coming years, the MPG has to increase substantially, given the current price. Here in Sweden the Prius sales are not impressive at all, hardly any new Priuses roll out except for a few Prius+ and of course the new Auris touring sports hybrid. So my prediction is that the European sales of the Prius will fall rather steeply during 2014. If the next gen is delayed to the last quarter of 2015 or even later it has a lot to prove to be in the game again. That said, I love my Prius+ but it wouldn't hurt with towing capability or AWD to be a game changer in the nordic countries

 

Can't you add a hitch to the Prius+? And isn't Diesel measurements in MPG more generous in Europe than it is here? I mean granted, I think the Gen III has at least 10 mpg higher than any other diesel if you include city driving (maybe just +5 higher on highway)

Again real-world numbers are different and I've done 60 mpg american before...

 

The Prius Gen 3 came out in 2009 as a 2010 model.
Please use your logic.
C'mon, you are all SO smart!!!

 

But Dianne, you said that the Gen4 may not even be ready 2015 winter...which mean it's a strong candidate for a 2016 or even 2017 model (if it might come out 2016 winter)...

2015 winter though, is that the front end of the year or tail-end (December?)

 

They should after all it's free and what a better way to actually read owners complaints or praises to stay on top of the competition.

 

I suspect few of us write in Japanese.

 

My 2004 Prius I believe is the worst model year when going up a snow covered hill and it appears from reading other comments that the newer models have improved. As a result, I was actually thinking of a low speed 4WD since one would need it when they're either stuck or trying to go up a snow covered hilly road/street. The reason being is that AWD would be active full time and that would decrease Toyota's mpg goal. In any case, anything better than my year would be a plus when it is time to replace my current vehicle.

 

Dianne, I was a bit taken back by your retort. I'm not too smart I'm afraid. I have no idea what you are implying. Inferno hit it right on the mark.

 

Every one expects a new model to hit the lots "bam" right in early fall... and with Toyota, we do that with some models but not many anymore.

I have seen Toyota bring new models out later than expected, or earlier. Look at when the Prius c showed up on the scene! The v wagons? The PHEVS! Half way thru a model year.
Toyota's proven that they prefer to bring out a car when it's ready, and not ascribe to "protocol" or waiting for some indeterminate time/date line to happen.

The all-new 2010 Gen 3 Prius showed up on my lot May 29th, 2009.
I hope that helps you figger things out.

 

Is there any US law that says a manufacturer must label their car a certain year by the build date? IOW, can Toyota state that a model is a 2015 even if it's built in 2014? Perhaps there's a cut-off date?

 

I think it's whatever the manufacture calls it. If memory serves correctly the 2010 Prius actually was available in June 09 maybe even early as May.

 

Both 2004 and 2005 has the same traction control. Starting from 2006 model, they allowed some wheel spin and made it better.

 

Again real-world numbers are different and I've done 60 mpg american before...[/quote]
No, no towing with the Prius+. I was comparing more real world MPG with my friends diesel vehicles. They are close to and sometimes below my MPG....

 

Good to hear Dianne, it'll come out when it's ready. It'd be good to set a date range to help expectations though, otherwise competitors (eyeing the Volt 2 and Outlander PHEV) will come out and people may just say, "Ehh, what the heck, Volt 2.0 should be good enough, we'll get it".

2 year window for it? Ok, maybe we can wait. 3 Year? Less so, would be good to know either way. It'll be ready when it's ready could mean 2017 or 18, no firm date it'll just have me going to the dealership next year without the extra push for waiting and try another car and buy it.

 

I believe you need a heavier chassis for 4WD than AWD due to more torque/stresses that can be put on it.