What are Your Thoughts of the 2016 Prius Based on the Spy Shots?

Will officially wait until 090815 to decide. I have a great looking 2012 PIP that's less than three years old, so I'm not in the market for another Prius regardless of the unveiling/revealing.

 

Just noticed dark blue gen4. Great (bold) color. I wonder if Toyota will offer the gen4 with additional 'bold' colors, as opposed to just the usual 'bland' colors. How about purple? Seems to work on the 2016 Dodge Challenger.

 

As long as we've lost the flying buttress dashboard and at least retained (though hopefully increased) cargo and passenger space (as leaks have suggested), this looks fine to me. Pretty big change, but that's fine after the slight warm-over going from Gen2 to Gen3 - another "new" Prius like that might have been a real wet blanket, which I gather is what concerned Mr. Toyoda enough to delay the launch for last-minute styling tweaks.

 

i actually find the gen II dated looking compared to III. i think it was a good change to the exterior, which still looks fresh, but a downgrade to the interior in terms of functionality.

 

I have to say. I really don't like it. I think it looks like a whimpy cheap looking Japanese toy. The sketches from Japan are distorting the images I see from this photoshoot. I def see the Ford Probe sides and the little pre pre whimpy lets make fun of him front end. In my opinion if they held it to make it more sporty they failed. They should have followed with the corrolla or mirai front fascia or like a lexus grill. I will wait to see the interior and mpg's I have 2010 prius II with 128k still going strong but suffering from electrical problems such as door actuators, bulbs radio and an ac fan motor gliches. Need new tires soon. And according to kbb its worth only 7k. I did talk to a dealer about a 2015 persona and thought the deal was killer deal till they only wanted to give me 5k for my trade. Which of course is why you have to sell it private. My back up plan is to keep this car and buy myself a nice sports car on top of it! From the looks of the 2016 the cargo room looks limited. I can fit 2 passengers and a full 5 piece drum kit and all the stands in my prius. Bass drum is massive 24x18 with a case. It doesnt look like thats possible with the sloped roof line. But I will wait to see.
I like probably everyone else who will buy another prius is saying should I get a 2015 persona fully loaded leather nav etc or a 2016 prius II. Right now I can get a persona for 21700. That is probably the best car deal out there currently in terms of car features, mpgs, reliability etc.
So for approx 5 more mpgs and more than likely close to sticker price (my guess 25700 for a 2) I can get a base model 2016 or a loaded 2015? Oh the dilemma!

 

i would have a hard time buying the old technology, just to get the look. there are so many exciting to look forward too. but if budget is the primary concern, i would absolutely be looking for a '15.

 

My eyes noticed:

• shark-fin antenna - I've removed the whip on both the 2003 and 2010. Best would have been antenna built-in to the rear defrosting traces and something like it in the front glass.
• front lower air-inlet - got rid of the edge 'corners' that looked to me like air spillage, drag generators. I will need to look closer at the real thing to confirm the black insert is not a camouflage artifact.
  • Dodged a bullet by not using those crappy, front-grill, damage prone, bug catchers on other models . . . hate 'em.
• seems smallish - first thought was 'is that the c version?'
• wish the hatch were wider

Based upon past performance, my speculation:

• pedestrian warning sound - whatever it is, the NHTSA will find it inadequate and require a recall
• IIS test change - after getting top marks, the IIS will come out with a new test 6 months later and issue a press release citing the downgraded Prius . . . probably based upon ambiguous operator controls that require eyes in the cabin instead of by feel
• revised EPA MPG test - probably add: the hurricane, cross-wind coefficient; rain storm highway; lower the cold-start temperature test with a 24 hr., cold soak at 10F and/or; Arizona sun-soak 100F for 24 hr.
• panned by Consumer Reports - because someone put a pea under the driver seat
• anti-hybrid tax to pay for all roads - while ignoring improved fleet performance. Also bans EVs.

Bob Wilson

 

When does the Gen V speculation start?

 

That's about the time I will be looking to buy again...pending any unforeseen.

 

I'll probably be picking up a Gen IV in the next to last or last model year (~2020-21?), so most of the bugs will have been worked out.

 

...could be my next car also as I don't think my Gen2 holds out to Gen5 in 2023?. Right I am waiting to see PiP2 as I think that could be cool with the induction charging, and I may be going lightly used, so I wish they's get cracking on releasing these next models cause I'm talking 3-yrs out after the release

...so I said I am waiting until release to say what I think, only because Tony did not give waiting for 1 year as an option

 

THUMBS UP.

 

If the collision avoidance is affordable (i.e., I don't have to buy the 'bling' package,) I may replace the 2003 Prius with one instead of the BMW i3 ER. But I will probably wait until the second year and let the pioneers work through the initial problems.

I fell into a good deal on our 2010 and got one of the earliest ones. It was delivered without the clips to hold the carpet but I got them in before the 'run away' Prius brew-haha. We had the two well known patches and our early model came without the USB interface. We have had one defroster trace fail on the rear window and the audio-jack failed.

We're at 66,000 miles on the 2010 so it remains the car of choice in bad weather or cross country. The 2003 is a nice town car (i.e., Prius c before the c) so that is my commuting car. I've already upgraded the radio with a better, after-market unit with USB/bluetooth replacing the CD drive we never really used.

Bob Wilson

 

Sorry more interested in the plumbing than the curb appeal. So I'll wait for more news and photos from the PCers going there. I'll reserve my opinion on how it looks after seeing better color bearing and higher resolution photos as well as non-glare shots.

Of course I won't be in the market since my PiP hasn't even hit the 20K mark yet.

Oh and TonyPSchaefer gets to pick who stands next to it to make it look good.

 

i should go, i could make the aztek look good.

 

I voted I would wait and see on 9/8 and later in person. I don't have much emotional involvement with the Prius. It has interesting technology and takes me places economically. Five or ten mpg is not going to make a big difference on the economics. The shape to me remains Prius like which is neither good or bad.

So.........the interior is the area that could drive me in a direction to upgrade or stay with the Gen3. I like the flying buttress because it is different and does not get in my way. I dislike the current cheap interior plastic, crummy graphics, little interesting information ( I use a scan gauge) on the basic panel and lack of real integration with my IPhone.

If the interior was better quality and they dumped Entune and leapfrogged the competition on smart phone integration, and had Scangauge/Dashcommand type info built in, I could be very interested. I don't know if the first iteration of the Gen4 will do this.