What is the Future of Prius v (yet again for people, it is a lowercase v for the Prius v wagon)

there has been talk of discontinuing it in the future. it will probably depend on how sales go. some feel that hybrid rav 4 (hyrav) is stealing sales.

 

I can not think of ANY manufacturer who changes all their models at once. That would take a LOT more designers and engineers who would then loaf off for 3 years then be incredibly busy for 2 years.
I expect (but this is just my guess)
2016 Prius
2017 Prius Prime (PHV in old terms)
early 2018 Prius Alpha (V in old terms)
late 2018 (or 2019) Prius Aqua (C in old terms)

This gives Toyota time to find flaws in the new engine before it is in the Prime or Alpha, and still have time for a new engine in Aqua.

For all the hoopla about Fuel Cells and Battery Electric cars, I see about 15 more years where hybrids (with or without a plug) have a place.

 

I hope v continues as I am possible v owner. It is very popular for Taxi's.

I do not know if the slow sales are due to supply or demand but Toyota has high demand for vehcles out the roof so at the moment so v has a hard time competing for plant space I assume.

I am hoping for a v plug-in since Prime took the approach of sacrificing space.

 

Greetings MrMajors – Good question about the future of the Prius v.

As I have opined previously, I consider the Prius v Station Wagon to be a ‘Caddy In A Kimono,’ and a right-sized hybrid vehicle that Toyota got right for my tastes. I have 4½+ years and 45,000+ miles on my 1st GEN Magnetic Gray Metallic Prius v ('vee') Stealth Multi-Role Petrol Warfighter w/ Adv. Tech. Package with no, nada trips to the dealer for any problems. To me, the Prius v Station Wagon is the optimal 'High-Low Mix' of fuel economy performance, driver-vehicle interface instrumentation, driver-passenger ergonomics and comfort, and driving safety with a capital 'Vee' for VERSATILTY.

A critical key to the Vee’s ‘Vunderfulness’ as a ‘Volumetric Vunder Vagon’ is the Hybrid Synergy Drive powered by the 1.8L I-4 2ZR-FXE ICE it shares with its fuel-sipping little sister the Prius Sedan.

For some one like me, who is in daily pursuit of achieving and maintaining High MPG, the comparative fuel-guzzling RAV4 Hybrid powered by Toyota’s 2.5L I4 hybrid engine would not lure me from the fuel-sipping People & Cargo Hauling Prius v to a less volumetric, and thirstier RAV4.

I like the 2016 RAV4 Limited Hybrid’s expanded driver-assist safety features, which includes Blind Spot Monitor (BSM) and Rear Cross-Traffic Alert (RCTA) plus other extra feature ‘Bells & Whistles.’ The perfect evolution of the 1st GEN Vee into a 2nd GEN Vee would be offering a 2018(??) Vee ‘Limited’ with all the 2016 RAV4 Limited Hybrid “Bells & Whistles” while still being powered by Toyota’s Next Generation Prius 1.8-Liter engine w/ 40% thermal efficiency.

We shall see if the Marketing ‘Suits’ in Toyota Town are smart enough to come out with a 2nd GEN Vee for fuel economy pursuing, safety conscious customers like me or will elect to write me off as a Toyota customer, and have me wander off to spend my personal vehicle K-dollars on a other vehicle and brand like the Subaru Crosstrek 2.0i BOXER® 4-cylinder Limited w/ EyeSight® Driver Assist Technology System Safety Package.

 

No factual insights...just comments.

Maybe the Rav4 is stealing sales, yet the Rav is a different vehicle, more like a baby SUV than a station wagon. If I lived where it snows I may pick a Rav over a v.

The v could be considered a mini van as much as a station wagon. Both are not considered "sexy", which may play into buyer psychology.

As for a station wagon, there are not many choices. German makes mostly plus the v.

Only Toyota knows for sure.
Perhaps, lower the roof line, lower the seat height to retain head room, blind spot indicators, add more aero spoilers (flat bottom/ diffusors) and make the handling electronic w/ a sport option.

None the less, as a station wagon (or even a Taxi) the v is outstanding.

 

Speculation: One mild refresh and maybe fade out in 2 years depending on sales. A wonderful car that seems to appeal to a certain demographic. But that isn't a demographic craved by the manufacturers despite being one with money.

Hint: I'm of that demographic and I see lots of my age group driving v's.

 

After recently purchasing av (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon. Only the 2010 Prius used uppercase roman numerals for model designation) , I have noticed many dealerships no longer have a Rav 4 hybrid available on their lot. This is with 5 major toyota dealerships within Southern VA. So their is a demand vs the .v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon. Only the 2010 Prius used uppercase roman numerals for model designation) Personally sitting in a Rav hybrid did not appeal to me largely due to the lower headroom. I can see the take over.

Crossing our fingers and hopefully V does not go away and possible remodel instead. As I was thinking about purchasing another one for my wife down the road.

 

Regardless of the future of the Prius v, I am recommending that my wife get a RAV4 Hybrid Limited when the 2017's become available. I'm pretty sure that a younger family member will want her 2012 Prius v Five/ATP - it is at only 25,000 miles.

We usually keep vehicles at least ten years but there are just too many desirable features that the RAV4 has and that her Prius v does not have. She bought the Prius v at my suggestion. The main reason we got it was that it has PCS and DRCC and is reasonably small and maneuverable. We didn't get it because it was a hybrid but she likes that aspect a lot - maybe because she is a "bean counter" CPA. I originally wanted the Prius v because it is a hatchback but it's cargo opening turned out to be too small. I have since bought a Sienna van and plan to drive something like that from now on.

The RAV4 Limited has almost everything we wanted and didn't get when we bought the 2012 Prius v and most of these features are still not available on the 2017 Prius v Five/ATP.

Some of these features are: power operated rear hatch door, memory driver seat, LED DRL, turn signals on the outside mirrors, sonar parking sensors front and rear, Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist (formerly called Lane Keeping Assist).

I added DRL and Scion mirror turn signals to her Prius v and am still perturbed that I had to add such basic safety equipment.

The size of the RAV4 is very similar to the Prius v and I think my wife will like the higher seating position. She says she is going to retire soon, so she will likely be spending more time driving in more northern areas where the RAV4's all-wheel drive will be desirable.

My wife likes her Prius v a lot - she REALLY likes that panoramic roof. Me? Not so much - could never get comfortable in the seats. I find the RAV4 seats to be far more comfortable and there is still plenty of head room - very slightly less than the Prius v in the front seats and more head room in the back seats.

I really can't see Toyota upping it's game on the Prius v enough to make it desirable to us.

 

The thing with the Prius v is that, ultimately, it's not what people in the US want in the segment of two row family haulers, they want crossovers, and will take the MPG penalty of the RAV4 to get one. (Plus, then they get AWD, too.) That goes from 44/42/40 to 34/33/31, a decently big hit, but at 15,000 miles a year and $3/gal, that's a $292 annual difference, and to Americans, it's worth it to get the height they want, and AWD.

Conversely, for the European market, Toyota's been moving towards more local production, and the Toyota Verso is produced in Turkey (closer than Japan), and could be adapted to a hybrid model. It's not as long as the Prius v, but is otherwise very similar.

And, in Japan, there's a bunch of models to fulfill the Prius v's role - a few vans (which are actually sold in a hybrid variant), as well as the Verso.

 

I do not understand why Rav 4 is being compared with Prius v. The comparison should be Rav 4 vs Subaru Forester or Rav 4 Hybrid vs Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid. Hence Prius v and Rav 4 Hybrid are different in dimension and should not be compared. Prius v should be compared something similar dimension such as Golf SportWagen. In regards if Prius v or any station wagon vehicle gets removed from manufacturer product line, will be decision of the consumer and the manufacturer. What I would care more is/are spare parts availability for several years regardless if the product does not exist. In my opinion the station wagon product line is a nitche that Toyota, VW, Audi, Mercedes Benz and others have available to consumers. I'm being told several times "You are in Texas, you need a pick up truck"

There is an upgrade that is available sort of be cross over トヨタ プリウスα | カスタマイズカー | CROSS STYLE Ver. | トヨタ自動車WEBサイト

 

I don't disagree that a wagon isn't a crossover, but in the US, wagons don't sell, crossovers do, so a crossover is effectively the replacement product. The real trick is to convince Americans to buy a wagon, and right now, it seems that the only markets are automotive journalists. (Gas needs to be more expensive to make people buy wagons over crossovers.)

In Europe, they've got a tall wagon already, and the Prius v is redundant.

(And, the Golf Sportwagen is much smaller, both in passenger area length, and in height, than the Prius v. Volkswagen's closest competitor to the Prius v would actually be the Touran compact MPV (read: mini-minivan, although IIRC it doesn't have sliding doors), which is slightly taller, but not as long.)

 

IIRC, parts availability is mandated by federal law for 10 years. Toyota will go beyond that. My last car was 17 years old and I have never heard of a single part not being available.

 

Manufacturers are required to fulfill their warranties. There are many posts on the Internet about a supposed 10 year parts availability requirement but I've never seen anyone find a statute that says that.

From personal experience, I could not get a phone system part for a 2000 LS400 at just over the four year mark and a replacement audio system part at seven years.

 

There's some claims that there's a German law requiring parts be available for 10 years, but that only applies if you're in Germany, with a German-specification vehicle. And, the ACEA, JAMA, KAMA, and CLEPA claim that it's article 242 of the German Civil Law Code doesn't seem to hold up: https://www.acea.be/uploads/publications/ACEA_JAMA_KAMA_CLEPA_position_paper_on_RaP_in_the_context_of_the_REACH_regulation_20140331-final.pdf

 

I figured I'd ask here, is the 2017 Prius v different than the 2015/2016? I got an email about it and it seemed like they were indicating it was updated? We are definitely leaning towards a v over getting a Rav4.

 

The availability of Siri Eyes Free appears to be the only update.

 

Ditto...
During Cash-4-Clunkers we looked at every SUV on the market and decided there was no equal to a minivan as far as potentially hauling 4x8 lumber from Home Depot. We got a Routan(Caravan) due to 20 MPG rating to qualify for C4C. But minivans are no longer "mini" and my wife hates driving it. So she would want a v over RAV4, I think. Taxis use a lot of v's so that says something I hope they keep making v's.

Meanwhile, I will be watching the new Chrysler hybrid/plug-in minivan (Pacifica) with interest.

 

We had a 2013 Toyota Venza that we traded in for 2014 Pruis v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon. Only the 2010 Prius used uppercase roman numerals for model designation). My kids are in lots of sports and we needed more room than what the regular Prius's had to offer. There was NO difference in loading the car up with all of our things needed for that weekend between the Venza and the Prius .v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon. Only the 2010 Prius used uppercase roman numerals for model designation) We have 37,000 miles on it and enjoy driving it. My kids do not like riding in the other 2015 Prius because the seats do not recline. lol We started to test drive a new Rav 4. We did not like how the seat position was. We liked how the v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon. Only the 2010 Prius used uppercase roman numerals for model designation)sat lower to the ground and just a better ride and handling car. We have been thinking of buying a upgraded one. I hope they do not phase the v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon. Only the 2010 Prius used uppercase roman numerals for model designation) out.