Upcoming test drive

The prime will start out in EV mode.

If you want to switch modes, the switches to do so are located next to the shift mechanism.

Enjoy the test drive .

 

If it is charged, it defaults to EV mode. Hitting the EV mode button toggles between EV and HV. (if there's any charge, otherwise it's HV all the time.)

 

EV mode is default, but only available if you have electricity.

Sadly, you'll find a lot of test drives without the battery charged. Fortunately, you have CHARGE mode to address that dealership shortcoming...

 

"If charged" is the big IF. Most dealers do not bother to charge the PRIME. If you can take it longer ride, you could use CHG mode to charge up the battery and try EV mode as soon as some juice is in the battery.

 

Odds are it won’t be charged. If I had to do it all over again I would put the car in Charge Mode for 15 minutes before the test drive. That saves the dealership the embarrassment of admitting they don’t know how to charge the car. After 15 minutes of charge mode you should have enough for a decent EV Mode test drive. You put it in charge mode by pressing and holding the EV/HV button until CHG MODE shows on the dash display. If you did it correctly the engine will start. You exit charge mode by pressing the EV/HV button again so the EV MODE shows on the dash display.

 

Just bought a red w/ moonstone 2020 LE here in sw fl. Last two years, have owned a hyndai ioniq which I enjoyed, but had to get back in a prius, my fifth prius since 2008. Tried the prius prime but I likre the reg. prius better

 

never been to maxcar, never will.

If you have a Toyota dealer around, see if they have the year you are looking for.
Just be prepared to say no, (many times) hehe.
Im sure they will give you all the time you want.
They also allow rentals...dont know much about it, but some of them do it.
For a day or whatever.

 

cars are so complicated these days, you need a week. especially used, to figure out if everything is working properly

 

You should befriend someone here on PriusChat (In Texas) or maybe a friend of a friend that lives somewhat close to you and get a real test drive / evaluation. Heck, I'd even offer to buy that person lunch for helping out.

Try not to miss out on a good thing just because your first date didn't go as planned.

In the end, it's a great car for what it is /does.


Rob43

 

The HUD can't be seen if you are wearing some kinds of polarized sunglasses. It has to be in charge mode some time for it to build up enough charge to use EV. I had to order mine, so I didn't even get a test drive -- but I did all my research beforehand. And I'm very happy with what I got!

I'm not so wild about my purchasing experience though, so it'll probably be my last Toyota. (I'm not going to drive a far distance to buy a car!)

 

We have a 2017 Prime advanced and love it. But when we bought it new, we had to ask the dealer to plug it in overnight so we could return for a serious test drive. Probably took about a half hour, but we got to drive it in EV mode on local streets, country roads and on the Interstate. And we got to switch from EV to HV mode to see what the gas engine felt like. Except for having to beat the salesman over the head to get the thing charged up for an EV test drive, it was a good experience.

(The irony was that the salesman recommended a taco place about a half mile from the dealership. The parking for the taco place was across the street from a free municipal lot which had four FREE level-2 ChargePoint charging stations. The idiot salesman could have had the Prime charged for free while he was scarfing a taco.)

The heads-up display is very nice. Our prior car was a Cadillac STS which had this feature. I originally thought this was frivolous until I lived with it for a short while. The HUD in the Prime is quite nice in displaying not only the speedometer but also the remaining EV range and the navigation directions from the GPS. You should be able to see it in all but the brightest sun but you need to adjust it for your height. The control moves the image up and down, but not left to right. Some people have complained that they would like it to move left to right, but if you get used to sitting directly behind the axis of the steering wheel, it's not a problem. If you like to slouch right and lean on the console arm rest, it could cause part of the HUD display to not be visible.

You're correct in your understanding that the 2017 Prime advanced has lots and lots of features which can take time to learn and to use. There are a few which we never uses (e.g., parking assist) and many other which we use every day (cellphone Entune app to check on charge status, locate where spouse has parked the car, and learn to drive more efficiently with the ECO-dashboard game.)

They only thing I would have done differently in buying our Prime was to get it in hypersonic red -- but coming from a Cadillac STS, I went with the stuffy option on the magnetic gray. It's a handsome color but not reflective of the cool dude I've become since owning the Prime.

 

When I got our Prime I couldn't see the HUD display also. Finally figured that it was adjusted out of my line of sight. I think it is one of the better features of the car.

 

So what's the differences with the Ionic?

 

Turq, the next time you test drive one, (a) tell them to have it charged at least 30%, (b) just leave it in EV and enjoy the drive. Don't look at anything on the display except the speed. Feel the car, don't concentrate on the gizmos.

Yes, the dim witted salesman could have charged the car while he slurped down a taco, or plugged the car in with the included charge cable. If the charge cable isn't included, deduct that cost from the price ($680 from an on-line Toyota parts outlet).

 

I've never heard of anyone not live EV's smooth power band and instant torque. The only con I would be able to think of would be the lack of that sweet V8 sound if you like that. If you liked the way the Prius drove out of EV mode, then I would say you would love it when in EV mode. I know that's really subjective, but that's how I did it. The Prius was not charged for me but I drove it and liked it better than the AWD regular Prius that I had driven earlier.

 

I know that the OP already drove. Just thought I’d add my experience for other buyers going on a drive. I took two test drives of a new Prime. The dealer had not charged it The first time so I made another appointment to come back with it charged. The first was an OK drive, but the car had been outside in winter, so we spent time just getting it warm. The displays were confusing and so I had no clue how to adjust to my preferences. I knew I could learn, but would not have purchased the car based on that drive.
The next day when I came back to a fully charged car, it was pre-warmed in the garage and we could fiddle with it in EV mode before going out on the road. This was the drive that really sold me the car. If you’re considering a Prime, make a point that it must be charged.

 

Do some math on your purchase, also. I think you can get a 2020 for not much more. (unless that 2017 is high mileage)
$4502 Federal Tax credit. Local/State rebates possible and maybe your electric utility, too. Combine with Toyota cash/rebate, any dealer discount you negotiate, and potentially $750 Uber driver incentive (you don't need to actually drive for Uber, just provide an active status - wife got the discount and never did a single Uber drive).

Buying a used Prime won't get you all of these incentives and the used price is not discounted to reflect that the original owner likely received a huge discount. This is one of the very rare times when it makes more financial sense to buy new. Very. Rare.