Featured SPOTTED! *UNWRAPPED* 2016 Prius spotted this morning!

I forgot about my lawn/grass cutting shoes. They were from Sears, my wife banished to the garage. A nice pair of loafers in a reddish brown color.

After my big back surgery, they were perfect. Slide on and go. But that was five years ago.

I would like to know how big the foot box/ pedal area of the G4 Prius is? Someone also complained that there is not much much for tall people. My legs are normal but I don't want to sit too close to the steering wheel.

 

This is a better looking Ford Probe then the USA Version. Why do all Euro Fords look so much better then US Fords?

 

Volt, here I come.

Talk about making it uglier than ever.

 

Thats Revolting!

 

Did you join priusmingle.com?

 

Of all the flats I have had experience with over the 40 years of my life, only one was a blow out that required a spare. All the others could have been more quickly and easily been repaired with a $5 tire plug kit and tire compressor. I already have a tire compressor in the car for regular maintenance.

On the flat tires that actually left me stranded, I am embarrassed to say that I may have actually run out of gas more times. The other tire issues were all slow leaks that waited until I got home.

18 cubic feet is very small?

Let me guess. An early eighties era Blazer with a Detroit marine diesel with no turbo. The engine and subsystems, like dual starter batteries, would later go into the HUMVEE, and there were some official military versions of the Blazer for testing, but it is easy to convert a civilian one; it's mostly cosmetic.
Friend had one and offered to sell it to me, but I didn't need an extra truck at the time.

For the same reason the NA Prius didn't get an EV button until later on in the gen2's run?
I and many others agree on the Euro Fords style.

 

Mine too. Except I couldn't make do with a $5 plug kit, had to get the $55 one.

On this Prius the first flat was a nail that'd been lurking in the tire for months. I finally addressed it (with plug repair) when the tires were swapped out for snow tire set. The second flat I noticed when we'd just arrived at Costco. It was significantly below freezing at the time, so even though it was plug repairable, there was no way I was going to do it there, my circulation sucks. Anyway, put on the spare, got home, plug repaired indoors.

 

I was just in a Volt. The distance between the front edge of the back seats and the back of the front seats is like 4 inches. In my gen 2, it's more like 15 inches. I use that space quite often for cargo. The rear cargo compartment of the Volt isn't too bad but the distance from the back of that compartment to the front seats is again a whole lot shorter than it is on my Prius.

This one thing crossed the Volt off my "go and look at" list immediately.

 

I had the plug repair kit but also had the spare just in case. It turned out we got a flat (stranded without cell coverage) by the terrain and a sharp rock penetrating the rubber wall of the tire. It was a slow leak and the tire was completely flat the next day. Do you guys think the repair kit would've worked? The guy at the tire shop sprayed windex on it and we identified the leak. It was a good size hole maybe .2 inches in diameter. But they patched it up and said it should run the length of the tire's life. It was nice to have that spare though which had been sitting in our Gen III non-plugin for 5 years and was fully inflated.

 

Agreed. I read somewhere on the net that there will be a Hybrid Sienna. We already know that the RAV 4 Hybrid is coming this fall.

Now if Toyota offers a hybrid pickup that would work for some folks. I would get a Highlander hybrid but they are really expensive.

 

To Inferno:

If by "wall" you mean sidewall of the tire, not in the tread, you definitely can't use plug repair there.

I initially got into plug repair because of nail about 1" from edge of tread. Even that was deemed too close by the pros. I repaired with plug about 3 years back and it's been fine. Second plug repair was similar location, same outcome.

 

Everybody has different experiences and circumstances, but not considering a car model because it doesn't have a spare is one of the more irrational car selecting priorities. Specially in the arena of hybrids and plug ins.

Let's take a look at the hybrid sedan. You don't have to go far to find complaints about the trunk size and the limited or non-existent pass through in the rear seat. These complaints are rarely followed up with, "but it has a spare tire." The lack of cargo capacity, which can be used day to day, is a much bigger negative than having a rarely, possibly never, used spare is a positive.

The new Sonata hybrid has close to the same trunk size as the ICE model, a flat trunk floor, and full 60/40 folding rear seat. It doesn't have a spare. It would be irrational to discount the car for the lack of a spare, because overcoming the lack of a spare will be simpler than overcoming the lack of cargo space. It isn't difficult to just get a new or used spare and throw it in the trunk.

Need both cargo space and a spare.

• All new cars have TPMS, so they all can install run flat tires. There is a money and fuel economy cost to them, but roof racks also have those costs.
• Installing a hitch receiver and getting a cargo try can solve the cargo space issue, but now the cargo is exposed and unsecured. For more cash, there are locking cargo boxes. Or get the car without a spare, but can hold all your stuff in the trunk, and put a spare tire holder in the receiver. Only the spare tire is out in the elements now. Plus, you don't have to unload the trunk in the event you need the spare.
• Or just buy the ICE model.

As for the gen4, I don't see Toyota ditching the spare. They could gain some cargo space by doing so, but the gen2 and 3 have had plenty of space with it. The only reason I think it would happen is for marketing. Leaving the spare out of a rarely available base trim can save a hundred bucks or two off the advertised price. Ditching the spare's weight might be enough on said trim to also hit a better looking and sounding MPG figure; say 55 over 54. EPA rules would let Toyota use the results of this lighter weight trim for all the Prius trims. I don't Toyota needs to do that though.

Fair enough. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't an off comparison of the car's specs. GM lists the Volt's cargo volume as 10.something, but this isn't the full volume of the hatch area, and leaves the view out of the rear window clear. The EPA lists the full volume as 18, which is comparable to their listed 22 for the Prius.

 

I am not for or against a spare, just relating my personal experience. The one time I got blowout was in the middle of the desert in Baja California, in my Ford Escape Hybrid. No cell phone service, miles from civilization, but no problem, I'll just put on the spare, which I did. It had 5 pounds of pressure in it! but otherwise in good shape. So I roll the spare up to the side of the road and stick out my thumb. Traffic was few and far between, maybe a car every 5 or 10 minutes. The US plated cars passed me by - California, Arizona, Oregon. Then the first Mexican plated car stopped and Jesus (I kid you not) rescued me and took to the nearest village to get some air for the spare (and then drove me back to my car). Well, it made a believer out of me! Oh, and I check my spare more frequently now even though that was the only time in 10 years I used it!

 

"Everybody has different experiences and circumstances, but not considering a car model because it doesn't have a spare is one of the more irrational car selecting priorities. Specially in the arena of hybrids and plug ins."

Well then color me irrational.

 

You may not ever need it, but that one time. I went to another city, about ten miles, and was on my way home. I stopped at a stop light, took off from the light and my daughter says, "Dad, I think you have a flat tire". The Prius remained stable, it tracked well and it even stopped well.

I parked in a motel parking lot thinking to myself I'll look and fine nothing. The left rear had a roofing nail stick out. I got The jack out and the tire tools out. It was a cold and cloudy day. Then, it started sleeting on us

I have never been so cold in my life. I got it changed, we made it home and I drank several cups of coffee just to warm up. I appreciated the fact that I had a real spare tire that day.

A tire patch and inflator would not work for me. My hope is that a spare tire would be an option, I would take the hit on the mpg. Toyota please hear us, keep the spare tire. It is worth it.

 

Those repair kits included with cars that are spare delete are just a warm and fuzzy sales marketing for people that wouldn't change their own flat anyway...and in a few years those kits will disappear as well. I will never leave a Dealership without a spare and I taught my Son the same.

 

Geez Frodo, I didn't notice the quote symbols at first, thought you'd gone over to the dark side, lol.

 

That's not happening. With age and experience comes wisdom.

 

Other stuff too.