Disappointing G3 exterior

[yardman 49]

I brought my 2009 G2 in for scheduled maintenance today. While I was waiting for service, I found that my dealer had just got in a shipment of new G3s. Most were model IIIs.

I was really anticipating finally getting to see one in person! They had black, red, the gray, and the blizzard pearl, still with their shipping wraps partly in place.

But I have to say that I was really severely disappointed by some of the lack of attention to exterior detail. Granted the cars had not been cleaned yet. But even looking past that, here's some of the things that immediately stood out to me as real "negatives".

• What were they thinking with the gray "fog light opening blanks"?? There is nothing on the exterior of the car that color! Couldn't they have made them to match the body color, or even made them in black! (I know that this has also been mentioned by others).
• The wheel well openings appear larger than those on the G3. As others have noted, they really, really need much more extensive wheel well liners. the suspension components and other items just kind of hang out in the open. They look for all the world like someone forgot to finish building out the wheel wells. The G2 had smaller wheel wells and seemingly more substantial liners, so this was not anywhere near as noticeable on the G2s.
• On the front lower edge of the rear wheel well openings, a rather large piece of body sheet metal wraps into the wheel wheel. On the red and white cars this looked really bad. I can't exactly remember now as I'm typing this, but I think that the rear lower edge of the rear wheel wells were treated the same way. On the G2 these same areas were covered by black plastic flaps, which blended in with the black of the wheel well liners and coatings.
• Up about a third of the way on the rear wheel well openings there is a black plastic tab that helps secure the wheel well liner. It sits right on the body sheet metal lip that forms the wheel well opening. This just looks bad! At first you think, "Gee, someone didn't tuck that under the lip", until you realize, "oh no, they actually made it that way".

I really just couldn't get past how bad these details looked. They "cheapened" the look of the entire car, especially the blizzard pearl and red units. On the black and gray, they are not as noticeable (well, except for the need for better wheel well liners, which looked bad on all colors). I was disappointed, as after seeing the photos here on the forums, I really wanted to say that I liked the new exterior looks of the G3s. I walked up to them expecting to be wowed; instead I was underwhelmed.

Hopefully when the G4s comes out they'll get it right.

[yardman 49]

Originally Posted by yardman 49

....I really just couldn't get past how bad these details looked. They "cheapened" the look of the entire car....

Before seeing the exteriors of those G3s today, I already knew that there were design features of the interior that I definitely did not like (the cluttered "floating bridge" center console, low color MID, etc). But I could eventually "look past" those kind of items, and maybe even make peace with them, as they are mostly just preference, and I can change my opinion (even though I am a man ), when necessary.

On the other hand, the exterior deficiencies that I mention in this thread seem to me to fall out of the range of "design preferences" into instead that of "cheap" or "poor" design.

I'm already a Prius fan, and so I want to like the G3. But for someone else who has never owned one, and who has an eye towards detail, they may be really off-put by such things.

I was indeed glad to see my beautiful Seaside Pearl G2 when the service was finished.

[Tideland Prius]

Well the larger wheel well is to accomodate the 17" alloys. The Gen 2 had smaller wheel wells because it only had to accomodate a 16" set.

Hmm, never noticed the other things. I'll take a closer look next time!

[gofast]

Originally Posted by yardman 49

I brought my 2009 G2 in for scheduled maintenance today. While I was waiting for service, I found that my dealer had just got in a shipment of new G3s. Most were model IIIs.

I was really anticipating finally getting to see one in person! They had black, red, the gray, and the blizzard pearl, still with their shipping wraps partly in place.

But I have to say that I was really severely disappointed by some of the lack of attention to exterior detail. Granted the cars had not been cleaned yet. But even looking past that, here's some of the things that immediately stood out to me as real "negatives".

• What were they thinking with the gray "fog light opening blanks"?? There is nothing on the exterior of the car that color! Couldn't they have made them to match the body color, or even made them in black! (I know that this has also been mentioned by others).
• The wheel well openings appear larger than those on the G3. As others have noted, they really, really need much more extensive wheel well liners. the suspension components and other items just kind of hang out in the open. They look for all the world like someone forgot to finish building out the wheel wells. The G2 had smaller wheel wells and seemingly more substantial liners, so this was not anywhere near as noticeable on the G2s.
• On the front lower edge of the rear wheel well openings, a rather large piece of body sheet metal wraps into the wheel wheel. On the red and white cars this looked really bad. I can't exactly remember now as I'm typing this, but I think that the rear lower edge of the rear wheel wells were treated the same way. On the G2 these same areas were covered by black plastic flaps, which blended in with the black of the wheel well liners and coatings.
• Up about a third of the way on the rear wheel well openings there is a black plastic tab that helps secure the wheel well liner. It sits right on the body sheet metal lip that forms the wheel well opening. This just looks bad! At first you think, "Gee, someone didn't tuck that under the lip", until you realize, "oh no, they actually made it that way".

I really just couldn't get past how bad these details looked. They "cheapened" the look of the entire car, especially the blizzard pearl and red units. On the black and gray, they are not as noticeable (well, except for the need for better wheel well liners, which looked bad on all colors). I was disappointed, as after seeing the photos here on the forums, I really wanted to say that I liked the new exterior looks of the G3s. I walked up to them expecting to be wowed; instead I was underwhelmed.

Hopefully when the G4s comes out they'll get it right.

You got to be kidding.The Blizzard Pearl is one of the hotting saleing Prius.You belong over in the Gen II form because your not going to find any love here.

[yardman 49]

Originally Posted by Tideland Prius

Well the larger wheel well is to accomodate the 17" alloys. The Gen 2 had smaller wheel wells because it only had to accomodate a 16" set.

Hmm, never noticed the other things. I'll take a closer look next time!

Hello TP:

Maybe there are pieces that the dealer is supposed to put on the wheel wells when they prep the cars? Kind of doubt it. But I'm going to stop in when they have some cars prepped and take another look. However, I seriously doubt that they will look any different.

[yardman 49]

Originally Posted by gofast

You got to be kidding.The Blizzard Pearl is one of the hotting saleing Prius.You belong over in the Gen II form because your not going to find any love here.

I guess you mean "hottest selling".

Look, I'm not knocking the Blizzard Pearl. It is a beautiful color!! It would be my top choice if I were to buy a G3.

It's just that the problems with the bad design around the wheel wells look worse on the bright colors like the Blizzard Pearl, the Red, etc., since the colors contrast with the wheel wells, and make the deficiencies with the wheel well trim standout more.

[Bruno_S]

If I would have a 2009 Prius, I would be seriously trying to find flaws on the 2010 to justify my purchase. Keep trying, but the fact is that the 2010 sells for the same price and it has been vastly improved. If you are seriously concerned about details like that, go buy a BMW.

[yardman 49]

Originally Posted by Bruno_S

If I would have a 2009 Prius, I would be seriously trying to find flaws on the 2010 to justify my purchase. Keep trying, but the fact is that the 2010 sells for the same price and it has been vastly improved. If you are seriously concerned about details like that, go buy a BMW.

Maybe you would. But I'm not trying to justify my purchase. I could have waited a few months longer to get the G3. I chose not to, for various reasons.

I've actually been trying to find things that I like about the G3. And there are many, especially in the improved mileage, horsepower, etc. I don't like some of the interior aesthetic design changes. But as I already said, that was not the point of this thread.

The point was not to criticize their design choices. It was to criticize poor execution of some details that cheapen the overall appearance of the exterior of the vehicle.

[Radon]

I'm the reverse to you I bought a smart due to the shape of the G2 and now have a 2010 on order. I didn't look at the black tab he was talking about and no doubt liked the fact you could see the suspension so didn't take notice of the difference. My colour of choice is blue so I no doubt didn't notice the issue with the white/red choices I didn't like the colours so didn't really look at the vehicle.

Upside you made the right choice in the 2009 it fits your eye.

[cycledrum]

It seems to me Toyota needed a center console for the numerous control buttons.

I'm not a huge fan of the MFD in my car. It's a bit of a reach to touch the screen and takes some attention just to set the fan on low for example.

Don't think I like the full plastic wheels covers on the II - IV. I like the Gen2 alloys and trim rings better. I thought the trim ring was alloy until looking very closely. I like the Gen2 touring wheel covers a lot too. They look so much like alloy wheels.