Different model years

[sunnysandiegan]

Now that we have decided to buy an '06 Prius, I am seeing them (Prii in general) EVERYWHERE! Even more than before! LOL I live in San Diego and there are definitely a lot of them here. We have a black one that parks within our line of sight and I see at LEAST another one every single day. Anyway...my dad and I were out and about today and he parked between two Prii...blue and gray/silver.

I know the first generation Prius was a sedan, but what year was that?

I know the 2006 models have a chrome piece on the front grill.

What are the other easy-to-identify differences between the various years?

Thanks!
Karin

[tochatihu]

Originally posted by sunnysandiegan@Dec 19 2005, 08:43 PM
...
I know the first generation Prius was a sedan, but what year was that?
...

[snapback]176002[/snapback]

From 2001 to 2003. Cute as a button, too, especially in aqua ice opalescent. Salutations from Escondido.

[sunnysandiegan]

Originally posted by tochatihu@Dec 19 2005, 11:18 PM
From 2001 to 2003.  Cute as a button, too, especially in aqua ice opalescent.  Salutations from Escondido.

[snapback]176066[/snapback]

Thanks! I see a pale goldish color one (champagne, maybe?) in our neighborhood often and I like the looks of the sedan better than the hatchback. (The hatchback is more useful for us, though, so I am happy we are getting what we are getting.) I am just down I-15 from you a ways...

[prius2006rocks]

Cute as a button? HAHA JK I just think the newer Prius' look SO much better. But I respect your opinion and I am sure others agree with you 100%

Originally posted by tochatihu@Dec 19 2005, 10:18 PM
From 2001 to 2003.  Cute as a button, too, especially in aqua ice opalescent.  Salutations from Escondido.

[snapback]176066[/snapback]

[tripp]

I like the look of the Gen 1s myself. Before I knew sh*t from shine-ola about the Prius (OK, OK I still don't) I thought that perhaps you could pick different body types and was thinking that if I had the choice I'd pick the sedan over the hatchback. Later I realized the true difference and besides, the hatchback is just SO functionally superior to the sedan.

[KMO]

IMO, I think the 2001-3 Prius is one of the uglier cars I've seen produced recently. It looks 5+ years older than it is. But then I'm European - we've got somewhat different tastes in cars. The new Prius is much sharper, but it looks far more conventional to European eyes than it does to US eyes (hardly anyone ever gives it a second glance).

[Jack 06]

I don't know any way to tell an '05 from an '04.

With the '06, the easiest way to tell one from the other years, besides the chromed grille bar, is the "hybrid" emblem on each front quarter-panel. The other, less obvious changes are the headlight and taillight treatments (inside the lenses) and the tiny rear-facing camera lens near the rear license plate frame. Those who know about the new '06 colors will be able to tell by that, too.

It's funny how perceptions can change in a short time. I never liked the looks of my '01 or '02. The car looks pretty conventional from the rear, but I think the front echoes a VW Beetle more than anything, with the radically-sloping hood. I liked the interiors of mine a lot---more than the Gen 2. Better-looking dash and door materials (I have no use for black plastic), plus smaller MFD, recessed into the dash.

The Gen 2 exterior struck me as so radical at first that, as KMO says, it quickly made the Gen 1 look older than it is. It looks even more "vertical" than the Gen 1. The placement of the rear window, necessitated by the aerodynamic shape, looks almost bizarre to me. (But I quickly got to love the hatchback functionality!) With the tinted plastic in the rear, together with the other features, the Prius is now easier to spot from the rear than almost any other car.

But it still looks "ungainly" to me: something perhaps designed as a college engineering class project by a committee with wildly different tastes. But it sure raises the bar for "functional design".

[seasalsa]

Rear wiper was not standard for 04 and was not on lower packages. It became standard in 05.

[Liam]

Originally posted by Jack 06@Dec 20 2005, 03:52 AM
I don't know any way to tell an '05 from an '04.

With the tinted plastic in the rear, together with the other features, the Prius is now easier to spot from the rear than almost any other car.

Good news! It's not plastic! It's tinted glass.

[Tempus]

Originally posted by Jack 06@Dec 20 2005, 03:52 AM
I don't know any way to tell an '05 from an '04.

[snapback]176131[/snapback]

The 05 will have little plastic buttons holding the head-liner up.

Also, if the Center Console cover is peeling off or the Brake Light Vanes are melting it's an 04