Torn about prime opportunity

The red looks sweet. I have the silver, and like your sitch, it was the only one available and that was the color.
I would have liked the red or yellow but I do like the silver a lot.

I say go for it. You won't regret it....well maybe the Prime, haha

 

Go for it!

It's a great color even if it isn't your first choice.

 

I’m loving my red 2024 SE Prime in Canada. The SE in Canada comes many nice features that are not included in USA versions. I was surprised to find auto highbeams, auto wipers, heated steering wheel, lane change assist, traffic jam assist, etc. in my car.

The economics of the Prime are very good in British Columbia where gas prices are high ($1.80 per litre or 4.70 usd/gal) and electricity is available for very low rates at night. Quite different from some areas in the USA where fuel is cheap - I just paid 2.55 USD/gal today on a road trip in Arizona.

 

LCA and TJA are standard on the US Prius SE HEV. So are auto high beams. Canada gets auto-on lights on the SE, too, as it is a government requirement. The SE here probably doesn’t have the heated steering wheel.

 

In any case I found that the SE has a lot more features than I expected. I bought the car unseen, with no test drive and the Toyota Canada site wasn’t that clear on which options were included. The other one that’s been very useful is the 120 volt outlets, good for 1500 watts total. And the heated seats! And heated wiper blades. Sounds like the USA version is also well equipped.

 

Usa SE version does have a heated steering wheel. But, sadly, no heated seats ...

 

I sometimes accidentally turn on the heated seats in my 2021 Prius Prime Limited. I turn them off immediately when I feel like I am sitting on fire. It is a most unneeded feature in Southern California. LOL

 

Over my 50 years of owning Toyota's I usually went with bland colors like white, silver, beige thinking they would appeal to a wider range of buyers at resale time. I don't think it made a difference. In 2018 things changed and I went with a Hypersonic Red Prime Advance. What a beautiful car. Even my wife liked the color very much. She insisted on red when we moved from her white 2013 Venza to a beautiful red 2021 Venza. I recently traded in the Prime for a conventional 2024 Prius Limited AWD-e in Supersonic Red (same as Hypersonic just a different name).
I did a Ride Along with our local PD a few years back and asked if red cars draw more attention and the answer was a resounding "not really".
Just my 2 cents.
J

 

One of the first things Doug Ford did after he was elected was to cancel the Ontario EV rebate.
Just a matter of principle for him; it was just too "Leftish," I guess.

 

I hate that it makes my butt itchy.

 

All the silver/grey, white, black, and beige cars on the road is because the dealers see them as easier to sell. Then most buyers just pick a car on the lot. Often times, a discount won't apply to an ordered car. The thing, those colors, particularly the greys, are the ones that blend into background, and can be hard to spot.

Humans are red/green color blind in the peripheral vison. It's how people can miss a red fire truck along side their car. Something to be aware for red car owners when along side other vehicles.

 

It does appear to have distorted Toyota's supply of cars to Canada. If the Prime is subsidized, it makes sense that more people would opt for a perceived enhancement at little or no cost to them.

I question whether adding the weight to a cheap little car is generally an improvement, but it seems clear that a Prime costs more to make.

Highway Patrol in Ohio used to use sedans that were an approximate match for worn asphalt and bridge concrete, and there is no reason to make an emergency vehicle harder to see other than concealment. One of the genres of bad driving I frequently witness is people who drive as if they don't even see me. After marveling at how nearly invisible our trooper's cars were, it occurred to me that maybe some of these oblivious drivers really didn't see my silver cars.

While I dislike red cars, I like very dark green ones -- but both of those read as nearly black at night. In a world of people on their cellular phones driving three ton trucks, car camouflage on a little car doesn't seem to confer an advantage.

 

I am not telling you not to buy a car at a nice price because of color.

I have kids who are new drivers and I commute on four lanes of freeway about an hour or hour and a half a day. Some days I look out at traffic and see no other cars, just SUVs. I like and have always driven little cars and have been in my share of collisions. My tastes, priorities and driving environment may not be yours.

I do question whether DRLs increase individual visibility when every other vehicle also has them. It's like having everyone in a theatre stand up so they can see better.

 

They do make a silver car easier to spot in the conditions where they fade into the background. Granted, I noticed them making a difference once, but I didn't cut that car off because of it.

Canada also has taillights coming on with DRLs on new cars. That should counter the camouflaging of colors. I'm still finding cars with taillights on at night on a semi-regular basis here.

 

I'm sure it can happen depending on conditions. In heavy two way traffic on a gloomy day, it means I'm looking at a bunch of SUV headlights. In the last, decade the amount of light a lot of vehicle put out seems to have increased and can be taxing to look at. In an environment with lots of electric and reflective signs, it's easier than it might once have been to lose another set of lights in all the distraction.

I made a night trip on a secondary road this last weekend. As a lad, when I drove that road at night in an aircooled VW with sealed beam lights it was easy to read the power lines for headlight reflections of cars on the other side of the hill. I'd have my lights dimmed before the other driver crested the hill, then put my highbeams on so I could see down the road.

Last weekend, the low beam lights illuminated the road as if it were day, and the oncoming lights were bright enough to dazzle even though their highbeams weren't on. Most different though was the amount of reflective sign material, including on the road itself. It's almost like playing a video game. Amongst all this light and reflection, a deer ambled across this two lane 55mph road, and I only saw it in silhouette against the lights of an oncoming truck.

In my part of the country, deer still are not required to use reflective tape on public roads.


I'm loathe to tell other people what to drive; I've certainly been captured by imperfect judgement about cars and only gotten it out of my system by indulging it.

 

It's more than one issue. Down here, I'm certain that a slice of the population has their headlights not adjusted to code. Additionally, a miniscule point of light seems more bothersome that a big yellowed light. The current generation Corolla can be brutal.

When I drive either of our minivans, it's impossible to miss how much more comfortable they are on the eyes.

 

NHTSA cites a lack on conclusive data when asked to make DRLs mandatory, but US roads spans a large range of latitudes. At Canada's higher latitude, the period of dawn and dusk is longer. That time is when DRLs are the most benefit. Thus they are mandatory there.

As for headlights, being trucks, crossovers may not have to follow the same codes for the lights as cars. So the lights are higher up; semis use be higher than they are now. Then I spot plenty leaving their high beams on, even in residential areas. Also have to mention the aftermarket light bars turned on.