6 months, 30,000 mile review

I've had my '16 Prius Two Eco for six months and 30,000 miles, so I figured it was time for a review.

I'll get the fuel economy question out of the way first. 54.1 mpg indicated on the dash, 51.4 actual mpg using Fuelly. To put that in some sort of context, I'll describe my commute. Roughly 230 miles round trip daily, 95% highway, 1500 ft. elevation gain going to work, typically there's a 20+ mph headwind on most of the way home at the end of the day, with a temperature range of anywhere from the mid 40's up to 105, lots of defroster use in the morning, lots of AC use on the way home, and I'll usually set the cruise control somewhere between 68-74 mph, with the faster section being the half of the drive closest to work. As a sidebar, on the rare days when I don't have the headwind coming home and I don't need AC, I'll see my indicated mpg for the 115 mile commute home hit 60 mpg (typical indicated is 49 for going home) so that headwind combined with AC use definitely uses more gas. Oh and the aero hubcaps are sitting in the garage...I know they're supposed to help with aerodynamics, but I don't like how they look.

With the fuel economy out of the way....

Overall it's a great commuter vehicle, and I'm glad that I chose it for the commute. It's a supremely competent car for eating up the miles. It's comfortable, mostly quiet (depending on the road surface and wind conditions), and does not leave me feeling beat up or fatigued in any way from the drive.

Tires: Mine has the Toyo Nanoenergy tires. With a 320 treadwear rating, I thought I'd have replaced them by now, but given what they look like, I'm thinking they'll last 45-50K miles. No odd wear patterns, and they seem to be holding up well, although I have noticed that they're getting slightly noisier as they wear...but most tires do that.

I hate the climate controls. 8 buttons (that are indistinguishable by feel) and three switches to do what 3 round knobs and 1-2 buttons could do. I hate that I have to look at it in order to do something...it would be safer and easier if I could operate it by feel. I hate that it is inconsistent...sometimes turning off the defroster puts it into automatic mode, sometimes not, sometimes when changing one thing it does something else that I don't want it to do...it is a daily irritation, and causes me to have to look away from the road more than I should have to.

I'm not a fan of the touch screen...give me buttons on the dash rather than virtual switches, so I can operate it by feel while driving and not have to look at it. This is less bothersome than the climate controls because there are some redundant buttons on the steering wheel, but it's still a minor irritant.

Nothing has gone wrong with the car in 30,000 miles. A little hatch rattle was solved with some closed-cell foam tape, and an under-dash buzzing was solved the same way. One time I got a little screeching noise just after a cold start and I started rolling, but it never happened again. Once, the car didn't shut down properly when pressing the power button, but turning it on then off again cleared whatever fault was going on, and it's never done it again. Hasn't used a drop of oil, seats are still in great condition with no visible wear...it's handling the commuter duties very, very well.

I do wish that it sat a little higher...I scraped the underside on a tall speed bump, and I have to enter and exit my driveway at an angle to avoid scraping. Another inch of ground clearance would eliminate that. But I understand why it sits low...aerodynamics & fuel economy. I'd take a small hit in fuel economy for a slightly higher ride height.

The sun visors are useless when the sun is coming from the side, which happens to me every day on my way home from work (and to a lesser degree on the way to work). A little sliding extension would be great.

The headlights are fantastic, which is great because now that the days are shorter, roughly half of my commute is done in darkness. I've adjusted them downward because I was constantly getting flashed by other drivers, but even after the adjustment, I'll still get flashed once or twice a week. That's a small price for the fantastic visibility they provide.

That's what jumps out at me after 6 months & 30,000 miles. Again...it's a great commuter vehicle.