Would I buy it again?
Excellent vehicle using technology and consideration for human comforts. Lane keep assist is developing each year. Cruise control distance features are well designed. Would I buy it again? Absolutely.
Toyota Prius Prime plug-in gets phenomenal mileage
I purchased a brand-new Toyota Prius Prime XLE plug-in just a month ago on February 2022. The very first thing that I noticed was that the car feel swell-built, i.e., top quality. I wanted a plug-in car so that I can charge the hybrid battery using the solar panels on my home’s roof. A full charge for my Prius Prime using 120v takes about 5 hours from no charge to a full charge. The full charge allows the Prius Prime to run completely on electricity for 25 miles; after that, the hybrid components of gas and electric take over. EPA rates the Toyota Prius Prime plug-in at 133 miles per gallon. I only drive about 6,000 miles a year. After one month the car is getting 200 mpg. I always drive in ECO mode. The interior looks good and feels like it is top quality. The suspension feels solid. I like that the front panel displays mpg automatically, which encourages me to drive conscientiously. Additionally the front panel displays a numerical rating ( of the quality of my driving with respect to ecological value and I like that. The sound/music system is an important component of a car for me. The Toyota Prius Prime sound system is pretty good – I would rate it as a B+/A-. I like that the car comes with free two years of maintenance! The MSRP was reasonable. Mine was $31,284 (February 2022). I had to pay $2500 above MSRP. I would have preferred to pay MSRP. Some Toyota dealers are charging $4,000 to $8,000 above MSRP and that is price gouging that I do not respect. One dealer charges no markup, but they did not have a new XLE car available for several months. I plug in my car every other night to preserve hybrid battery life. An expert recommended this practice. It is OK to charge the hybrid battery every night but, I was told, that will shorten the life-expectancy of the hybrid battery. Before I purchased the Toyota Prius Prime, I called the owner of a local repair shop that works only on hybrid cars (there are many hybrid car manufacturers). I wanted his independent, unbiased opinion of which hybrid car, plug-in or otherwise, was the best and most reliable. He strongly recommended that the Toyota Prius was the best, either the regular hybrid (Prius) or the plug-in (Prius Prime). My opinions are based on driving the Toyota Prius Prime plug-in for only a month. What is important is how well the car will hold up, that is, will it be reliable with minimal repairs and how long the hybrid battery will last. Toyota’s warranty for the hybrid battery is 10 years or 150,000 miles, whichever comes first. Note: The Toyota Prius Prime has three models: LE, XLE, and Limited. I chose the mid-priced XLE. Bad: The only built-in music streaming is Sirius, which is free for 3 months then $10 a month. Sirius is good but I prefer but Spotify for music streaming. Unfortunately, I have to have my smart phone attached to use non-Sirius music streaming services. The car has a pad on which we can place the smartphone, but my phone has a case which prevents that from working (phone case is too large). So I have to use a cord to connect my smartphone and that is irritating. One day I may forget to remove the smartphone and someone might break my car’s window and steal it. I wish that Toyota would make adjustments so Spotify and other music streaming devices can play without a smartphone. Also, I wish Toyota would adjust the pad so that a smartphone and case can activate without having to plug in with a wire connector. I traded-in a Camry through Toyota Financial, but they claim they have no record of my pay-off. There is no reasonable excuse for a one-month delay in clearing the Camry payoff. So my recommendation to folks considering buy a new or used Toyota, try to get financing via some financial institution other than Toyota Financial.
