Poll for your reaction of the Gen 4 - so far.

Supersonic Red is awesome.
The front looks good, I can live with the back.
I really like the electronics technology.
Will definitely buy one to replace 2010 Prius level V w tech package.

 

I got an invitation from my dealer to trade my 2013 for a new model. At the showroom I was shocked at the ugly interiors for the 2016 line. It looks as if it had a slim toilet installed between the front seats.

 

Yeah, I know. You probably don't care, but I'll offer a couple of updated reactions from a confirmed "traveling bidet" hater:

- There are some things you get used to and some you don't. I've definitely gotten used to this, and I have a Harvest Beige interior, the one with which the porcelain absolutely clashes the worst. I guess the central reality is that neither the driver nor front passenger even see the damned thing most of the time. It's largely blocked from the rear passengers, except for the guy in the center position, who obviously has bigger problems than what the front console looks like.

- It has real advantages that I hadn't anticipated. The fact is that at night, faintly but continuously illuminated by the "shifter lamp" in the overhead console, the white console makes it very easy for the front passenger to find whatever might have been put there, be it a mug, a phone, whatever.

Before taking delivery, I half-expected to give the stock console a try for a while, get sick of it, and order the black applique kit. I am no longer so inclined. But hey, if the mini-urinal look bugs you that much, that applique kit is very much an option. I think it looks great, and if you haven't seen it yet, I'm sure your dealer has several cars with it installed (it's a popular tack-on at every dealer I've visited). All in all, I wouldn't let that console be a showstopper. As for the rest of the interior, I really like the wraparound dashboard, center stack, and upper displays, but if those don't float your boat, that's a different matter - time to consider alternatives?

 

wow! this gives me hope for our divided country to come a bit closer together!

 

Agreed - I wasn't sure when I first saw it, but driving other boring cars with ALL BLACK interiors (Ford, Mazda, Volvo, BMW) - it seemed a fresh idea.

What I'm not so sure of - is the shiny black. I've only had it 10 days, but the 2 times my ageing mother got in the car, she got out a handkerchief and dusted the black. My big black shiny piano loves attracting it too. It's something you need blinkers to avoid noticing.

 

This confirms my concern on that point. I'm annoyed enough with the glossy piano black slathered all over the dash and demanding a regular dusting/wiping, a more extreme form of an issue we had with the Gen2's center stack. Nice on the showroom floor (assuming the staff's conscientious about wiping it down), but just an annoyance in the real world.

For the sake of simplifying the discussion, I omitted my actual plan, which was to wait for more options, perhaps from third parties. It seemed to me at the time that the problem was so bad it cried out for a solution from accessories folks, but so far I haven't seen anything. A flat or at least patterned applique would eliminate the piano black problem.

If I could wave a wand, I'd probably replace the white with something like a "golden mocha marble" shaded to blend in with the Harvest Beige. That would preserve the nighttime benefits of the light-shaded console while l imagine coordinating tons better. Any Photoshop boffins willing to give us a look?

 

Extremely Pleased. Hypersonic Red with Moonstone interior is awesome! MPG are Fantastic, and just keep going up! My Wife of 50 years complains about some things, but since it is not her car, (she has a Chevy Equinox). I just ask her were are we going? And meet her there. LOL LOL LOL.

 

Actually wish the piano black was the same white as the cup holder area. The white doesn't show dust and finger prints.

 

Cruise Control limitation - I had a long patch of roadworks marked 40km/hr (25MPH US) today and we've got savage POLICE as far as speed is concerned. In my last 3 cars, I'd set cruise on 42 which = a real 40, but discovered that the lowest the Prius will be set is 45km/hr.

It also doesn't hold to the set speed as well as either my KIA or 2 FORDs.

 

I see several every day now out and about. My real-world reaction now to this car goes from complete boredom to fugly. But I have to tell you, driving behind a Gen 4 at night, makes me realize how incredibly stupid those taillights look when lit.

But to be fair, when my significant other drove my car and followed me driving hers, I realized that the front view of my very own car, was pretty lame. I might have to join some ugly car owners support group or something.

 

Gen 4 vote: Extremely pleased!

Bought our 2016 without a test drive.
Had a 2009 Camry Hyb. with 180k miles, so the
technology is proven to be reliable.

Have a 2013 Prius 2, and liked that.
Reviews on the 2016, plus the YouTube reviews says
it is an improvement all around on Gen 3s.

I also like the new, 'edgy' look, so I put in my order.
Had to wait 3 months which was the only negative on
the purchase.
Waiting for a 2 door Prius coupe to be offered!

stt

 

I'm in my mid-50s, and have owned all kinds of different cars in my life. After a month of Prius ownership I think I may have found my favorite car. True, I've never owned a Lexus or a Mercedes (actually I have but that's a long story) or Corvette or any other Toyota, but overall I've been very impressed with this Four. The acceleration is sluggish true but sufficient for the way I drive these days. Just overall feels very refined unless you really want to push it hard in straight line acceleration. After not being sold on the styling, it's really grown on me quite a bit and I've come to really like it! It's nice to own something that looks different from most other cars on the road. I vote "Extremely Pleased".

 

Hey, we all have opinions, and I think the car look very good, better than the older models that look drab in comparison. Hope you don't mind that I think your taste about this model is "fugly" and/or "incredibly stupid".

Hey now!, it's just my opinion and we can't all have good taste.

 

I love mine. probably wouldn't have bought it if they didn't change the looks. I like being different and standing out from the crowd. the back taillights are one of my favorite things. I had a Prius C and this feels like a luxury vehicle in comparison. I don't think it's sluggish at all. if you punch it, it punches back. the c was sluggish. even with the petal to the metal it would gain speed when it was ready too.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

That's true - the thought had never occurred to me. The big problem with the "bone china" parts are how out of place they look, which would be mitigated by having all the shiny dashboard bits match. I do not know, maybe they thought that would have been just too Gen1Volt-ish. As a practical matter, I wonder how it would be to live with all that shiny white with morning or afternoon sun hitting it. Interesting idea though.

Right - not so much accelerating as gathering momentum. I guess I should warn Prius C fans to skip the rest of this - it ain't pretty.

Welcome to owning a real Prius! Enamored with the idea of a more modest sidekick for our '05 LB, we test drove a C back in '12 and came away aghast. Loud, rough, sluggish, basically a Yaris Hybrid in Prius clothing with a Prius price tag to match. We test drove the much-maligned Scion iQ the same day, and to my surprise I preferred the iQ's driving experience in every way (the "Smart ForThree" form factor was another matter). I was leaning toward going BEV, and those test drives leaned me even further - I wound up buying a Mitsubishi i-MiEV, another media-despised little vehicle, but scads more pleasant for driving around town than the Prius C. I honestly think most buyers considering a C Four would be better off getting a Mitsu Mirage (only slightly less pleasant to drive but loaded with goodies and close on highway MPG for half the price), or for the same $$$ give up the toys and upgrade the platform to the vastly superior LB Two. I vaguely understand the Prius C product concept, but I find the execution painfully bad. Looking forward to big improvements with the next gen.

 

one passed us on the highway yesterday, and my wife said, 'it's growing on me'.

 

So 5K miles into the Gen 4. Having owned a Gen 2 with 200 K of trouble free miles. I didn't look at any other car, because it's hard to overlook the engineering, technology and quality of the Prius. I'm a fan. What I found with the 2016 is Toyota is not resting on there past success with the invention of the Hybrid. The improvements, updates, technology and new stuff blows me away. The video reviews here are great in telling what the 2016 is now.

All I can say when looking at other cars is compare apples to apples. The Prius is a small car, that holds 5 people with room. Doesn't give you a closed in feeling because of the large front windshield. Cruises effortlessly at 80 on the highway, smoothly and quietly. At an average of 65 MPG. At the price point and my past Prius history, I didn't have to look at any thing else. I admit I didn't look but IMO there's no other car out there that's in the same league.

 

I did look and there isn't another car in its league. The press nattering about all the "new competition" the Prius faces leaves me baffled - as far as I could tell, in 2016Q2 nobody else was even trying.

I'm being pretty specific about the timing, first because that's when I wanted to buy, second because Hyundai/Kia look like they're making a serious run for the green-car gold (or at least a solid silver) as they roll out the Ioniq/Niro lineup over the next 12 mos. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on them. Especially given Toyota's aversion to plug-ins and the failure of the Prime to meet wide expectations for the "PiP2", H/K may have a real story to tell on the plug-in side of things, even if the hybrid story doesn't quite live up to the hype (at this point, the Ioniq's going to have to hit EPA combined 50mpg to avoid disappointing). If I'm reading their web site right, it looks like they'll actually launch their ~100mi BEV version first, with the hybrid to follow. I could be reading too much into it, but I'm taking that to mean they expect the BEV to make the louder (if smaller) splash, suggesting the hybrid is on-track to deliver not-quite Prius numbers. To be fair, the BEV's probably been easier to engineer, and they might just want the extra time to smooth out any of the hybrid's remaining rough edges. As for the PHEV, Toyota should be grateful that we probably won't see it until next summer. If the specs and price tag on that car come anywhere near expectations, it's going to highlight the magnitude of Toyota's missteps with the Prime.

But hey, I don't want to oversell all this. After Honda's Gen2 Insight and Ford's C-MAX fell so far short of much-hyped expectations, I'm definitely reserving judgment.