Fit and finish

Welcome to the Prius family. So how is the resale value on your Passat?

 

Man, that don't look too good. Is that for real?

I haven't noticed any interior fit or finish flaws. But I do believe the quality of the materials could be better. I'm not expecting perfection, and there are things I really like about my Three model. But there's also a few areas that are disappointing, especially given all the "hype" about the new Global Platform.

I promised not to bore people again with my tire noise issue. So I'll move on to a new rant... Cabin noise! Seriously. My new Prius is louder than the Toyota pickup I once owned! And it's louder than the Nissan and Hondas I owned. And it's more noisy than my old '05 Camry I owned. My 2016 Prius has more cabin noise than my dad's ancient 1984 Camry!

The more I drive the freeways, the more the noise is bugging the hell outa me. Wind noise! Engine noise! Other vehicle noise! It was so bad yesterday, it sounded like the rear window was not fully up; or maybe the door was ajar! There seems to be very little sound insulation in my car. (I wonder if I got stuck with a pre-production test model?) I cannot relax, or enjoy the drive with all that irritating noise filling the cabin. I may end up selling this Prius before the year is up. My nerves are already shot.

All you guys who drive Gens 1, 2, and 3s, say the 2016 is a much quieter vehicle. Excuse me, but have you had your hearing checked?! You must be so accustomed to the noise of those previous models, that the new Gen4 actually sounds quiet to you.


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I watched every YouTube review of the new Prius. And read just about every online drive test review. Buried in the fine print, it says: "Toyota paid for the reviewer's lodging, meals, and transportation to this event."

Do you really think they will mention anything negative about the car? Very little, if at all.

 

Oh I don't know about that. A certain amount of clever snark seems to have become the norm among so many automobile journalisti when scribbling their reviews of the Prius. Pathetic that these supposed experts have such difficulty changing with the times, grasping the appeal of fuel-efficient vehicles, and seeing past "stomp-and-go", and "look cool". I subscribed to Road & Track for many years until all the posturing finally wore me out.

 

Maybe you could complain to your dealer and test drive another one on the same route and see how it compares. Is there a consensus on which tires (if any) that come with the car are quietest? I had one car where I was aware of this, courtesy of a forum, and stipulated the dealer exchange tires with another car before I took delivery. When I buy, I'll tell the dealer to swap tires with another car on the lot if there's a better choice to be made.

 

Danny was impressed on his test drive. Maybe his test drive vehicle was a ringer, extra insulation? Or their quality control is slipping.

 

take it back to the dealer, show the the fitment problems, and look at some others on the lot. if yours is defective, ask them to fix it.

 

There's a difference in being snarky, and providing honest constructive criticism. In fact, I never saw any snark in the reviews that I viewed, or read. The worse thing most said (if you can call it "worse") is that the new Prius is still not very sporty, the handling is still pretty average, and is still fairly slow to accelerate. And they praised all the good features. I think I viewed 3 dozen video reviews. There was no haters... but it seems very strange to me, that only 2 guys made note of the cabin noise.

I'm certainly no hater. My entire family are long-term Toyota owners. I've had 3, and now a 4th with the new Prius. But unfortunately, I just find the cabin noise in my Gen4 to be unreasonably loud. Certainly louder than my previous three Toyotas. And to me, thats just unacceptable.


(One of the Toyota sponsored events, was in Malibu, Ca. A couple of the reviewers stated that Toyota pays their air fare, lodging, and meals, and that they joyfully go to all these new car roll-outs.)

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Absolutely, Mendel. Maybe not a "ringer", but I would bet that the vehicles provided to the media at these roll-out events, are carefully gone over by Toyota. That's why I like Consumer Reports. They buy their cars from the dealer lot and test them. I haven't seen their latest review on the 2016, but I heard it was positive.

Makes one wonder, at least it makes ME wonder, if all that hyped extra sound insulation and extra welds, actually made into the build process? Wouldn't it be great to talk with one of the assembly workers? (Not the robots )

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Agreed. That's the worst interior fit & finish I've ever seen on a Toyota. I wouldn't accept that. I would just ask for a whole new car!


Merge.....

Thanks, thunderstruck. No go from the dealer on the tires. But If the car had proper (and better) insulation, it wouldn't matter so much if the tires were a bit noisy. I'm beating a dead horse here; boring everyone. But my freeway drive yesterday, reaffirmed to me just how loud the traffic and wind noise is in the cabin.

But of course, it's just one man's opinion. All the seasoned veteran Prius drivers in this forum, seem to think the Gen4 is very quiet. If that's the case, I'm sure glad I didn't buy a Gen2!!

 

With regard to your photo of the door up by the mirror, It looks like you are missing a plastic component that covers the foam.

What does yours look like on the passenger side? Here is a photo of mine for comparison:

WRT your first photo, mine looks much the same. To my eye and sensiblities I don't see an issue there given the complexity of curves coming together. A good CAD guy or cabinet maker might think differently .

Here is a photo of my car for comparison.

 

Sorry for the foam showing. I have the same color Prius two with no foam showing. Show it to the dealer, there may be trim missing there. The other photo by the split screen is more typical. Mine does happen to be tighter, but I tested other higher levels with more irregularity in that seam. Overall, the fit/finish seems pretty good to me, especially compared to my creaky 2010 Prius.

 

Its not that bad! I've driven MANY cars that sound much worse on the inside than my car. My 05 is only a little louder than my 16. There is much less road noise than the Hondas I've owned.

 

Lectro, I can only comment on what my Prius sounds like. I'm not trying to convince everyone that all 2016's are noisy. I'm only talking about my car, specifically. I owned 2 Honda Civics and the Accord. My Prius is louder than those cars were. And it's louder than my two Camrys were. Just my personal opinion.

During another freeway drive this morning, I couldn't even have a relaxed conversation with the two passengers in the back seat. I never brought up the noise issue... it was they that kept saying: "Pardon me? Say that again?" Apparently, the cabin is even louder in the back seat. Closer to the hatchback.

Enjoy your Toyo tires.

 

You should take it in to Toyota and test drive other Prii and see if its just your car. If it is, then tell the service guy to ride with you in the car and ask him what he thinks. They might install more sound insulation.

 

There are sound meter apps available on Andriod and Apple. I'd suggest trying one on your car, then take the same route with another Prius...
The 16 I drove was super quiet compared to my 10...

 

I just got a loud noise from mine. From scraping the left edge of the front bumper on a curb. At least the scraping was underneath the bottom edge so it's not visible. And my new car is now "broken in".

 

definitely some trim missing on that door, it makes you wonder what other bits of trim or insulation could be missing elsewhere.

 

Me too, John. I have to remember to go slower over familiar dips, driveways, and bumps... that in the past were no problem. I've scraped *something* under there, 3 times now.

 

I hate to sound like a pessimist, but I would sure like to talk to an assembly line worker.

I was wondering, are the airbags in our new Pruis safe? Did they ever get that huge mess fixed? I haven't heard anything further. Did Toyota find a new company to make airbags?

 

Airbags....?? Your Prius is a 2016....