Beware Buyers

Even service advisors are off with figures - couple weeks ago I mentioned to a service advisor, ' Toyota is selling a lot of (liftback) Prius cars' to which he replied, 'yeah, 'cause they're rated at 60 MPG'.


I think we went over this before that keeping the PiP just below HSI PWR zone in EV mode provides more robust acceleration than regular liftback just below PWR zone (ICE on), correct? ...

I hope so because regular Prius acceleration is quite tepid just below PWR zone. I'm in it much of the time off a stop light and usually a little under the acceleration pace of traffic.

 

Hi Michael- Welcome aboard Prius Chat ....I am sorry about the misundertsanding but you have purchased one the best green vehicles IMHO. I am guessing Nelson Toyota is Southern VA. Anyways we are really getting a lot of VA Prius owners.

Please check out the Federal and State Incentives sticky thread. You will see Dominion VA has a special discount elec program for Plug-Ins (Caution- It was for a limited time only, but maybe you can advise me if they are still offering this incentive). See you on I95 (Ugh).

 

IMO opinion its more a case of the salesman lacking proper knowledge of the car they are selling. I don't think they tried to defraud you, just another case of dealer nfc.

But I can understand your frustration. Hopefully summer will be better for you if you keep the car.

My dealer spent 10 minutes trying to explain to me how the Leaf was an inferior car to the gen3, becuase the Leaf uses the exact same gas/electric hybrid technology of the gen2 Prius, and it is obsolete compared to the gen 3 hybrid electric. He wasn't trying to defraud me, he just wasn't that well informed.

 

Leave the heater, etc. off and the PIP will be 100% electric EXCEPT when it mysteriously uses a little bit of gas. Here in the Boston area, I drive without heat for most trips and get the 999mpg for my short trips.

 

ev mode is overated.

 

Hope you didn't submit the Customer Satisfaction Survey. If you're looking for a place to vent, that's the place. You may try talking to the GM or Sales Manager describing how you feel. They may be willing to do something to make you feel a bit better.

There's only one way to not burn gas--buy an EV. Hint: Toyota doesn't sell one on the East Coast.

 

Referring to the Rav4 EV?

 

that's the only Toyota one, but of course he's got other alternatives as well

 

The salesman told me that the AC button on the FOB works the heat as well. Still can't seem to make that work....(joke - salesman know every little about this car...)

 

not sure if this is a joke, but i'll spare you the wait and tell you that it never will work that way AC button only activates AC, which only runs if the temperature setting is lower than outside temp.

 

. . . And that it is impossible for a PIP to get a flat tire.

 

You're right. We as a community should be more welcoming. Saying "tough cookies" is just going to spread more ill will towards the Prius. We should point out that there are lot of positives in owning the Prius. I'll keep that in mind for the next angry new poster.

 

OP - sorry to hear of your problems. The only thing that I can say is just take comfort in the fact that you have purchased a safe and reliable car that is going to achieve terrific mileage, especially during short drives.

The issue that you describe though really comes back to you. I'm sure that you have already heard what happens when you assume - that you make an A$$ out of U and ME. If running exclusively in EV mode was so important that the engine firing up at all is an issue you really needed to 1) make sure that the salesperson knew that this was a crucial factor for you and 2) you needed to independently verify this. There is a reason that car salesmen have the reputation as sleazy - that does not mean that all are bad, but should be a tip-off to anyone not to treat their statements as gospel. Because you did not do this you wound up with the wrong car.

Going forward I think that you just need to adjust your expectations. You have a great car that will get terrific mileage and has a terrific record of reliability. Just keep in mind that you have a Gen 3 Prius that Toyota modified to be a plug-in. You may not realize this, but they actually took a bunch of 2010's, added in prototype plug-in equipment and then sent them off as test mules, then took what they learned and designed the production version. The car was never designed or intended to be an EV - sorry, but true.

 

I agree with the sentiment, but just take a look at the title of the post - "Beware Buyers". That is pretty provocative and also a bit misleading. Yes, buyers need to be educated about what they buy. Yes, the dealership needs to be better educated, but so does the customer. It is pretty clear to me that the OP bought the wrong car and likely did not ask the correct questions from the dealer - had it been me and all EV range was paramount I'd have asked how far can the car go without the gas engine starting at all - not for a warm-up cycle, not for heat, not for anything. My guess is that the OP does not realize that the Volt will not run 100% of the time in EV even with a full battery - every month or so it needs to run in maintenance mode to keep things lubricated. If the OP bought a Volt would he be mad about this?

 

Yea, you could take it as an opportunity and learn to maximize usage with what you got. A lot of people are getting great results -- about 120+ MPGe on electric miles and 50+ MPG on gas miles.

Gas engine and electric motor will work together to assure maximum efficiency for both fuels.

Can you take a picture of your EV Driving Ratio screen? We can tell you how you are doing with each fuel.

 

If you don't take the time to learn to swim, don't jump in the lake!
Why you would ever trust a car salesman, without going in forwarned and prepaired with info to speak intelligently about the car your going to buy.
Maybe you should trade it in on a Volt!

 

Due to the complexity of the PIP- there's many events/very specific conditions and situations that trigger the ICE start-up. Unless you drive the PIP through all four seasons- there's no way you could describe every situation when the ICE would start up to a prospective buyer. Heck, some "experts" here have owned the PIP for almost a year and put multiple thousands of miles on in- and they're still confounded as to why the ICE fires up when it does.
Yes, the salesman should not make blanket statements like "you can go 12mi with out the engine ever starting"- but knowing what we now know- could you imagine him/her trying to cover all the situations where the ICE could start?
On the other hand- the first rule of sales is don't talk yourself out of the sale- if the buyer doesn't bring something up- you don't either..

 

I would suggest doing a through research on Volt first before trading it in. This way, he won't repeat the mistake twice.

Volt should meet his EV driving wants. How about other needs such as number of seats, cargo space, total interior size, purchasing price, etc? Ford Energi is also a choice with higher EV power but less cargo space. OP should see this.

 

i'm driving over 10 miles per trip almost exclusively on ev. obviously, op living in a much milder climate, doesn't need a different vehicle, he just needs to educate himself.