Toyota Plots Comeback for Prius After Tesla Takes Spotlight

'if they come out with something affordable'. don't expect anyone to pull a rabbit out of a hat.

 

I read Edmunds 17 month long term test of the model S 85 they bought for $105k put 30k miles on and sold.
Check it out

 

comparing prius and tesla is pointless.

 

certainly ...............give me a break/

 

I love my Prius, you can keep that overpriced Tesla. My Prius is a fully loaded 2010 hatchback in blizzard white. I tinted my windows so it looks really cool. I got it last summer. I got turned onto them when my next door neighbor got her used 2008. I researched hybrids for a year before I bought mine used. I test drove them all to include the new ford C-Max. Although I really liked the Camry hybrids comfort and acceleration I really wanted and needed the hatchback so the Prius won out.
I have since grown to absolutely love my car. I drove huge pick-up trucks my entire life before getting my Prius. However there are some things that I would love to see changed before I buy another one. The mirrors absolutely suck. They are too small and don’t cover a safe viewing range. Needs larger wider mirrors. Mine has navigation, the radio search button is placed on the right hand side of the stereo forcing me to awkwardly reach over to scroll through stations (I travel a lot and scrolling on the steering wheel just stops at my preset stations from home). Move the scroll bottom to the left side of the stereo. The little storage area under the center console needs illumination. You can’t see in the dark where your stuff is. Need to figure out a better placement for cup holders. There is no grove for cords that go into the center console glove box USB port. When you try to close the lid with an IPOD out and plugged in the lid just smashes the cord. I am almost 6’3”, the telescoping steering wheel needs to telescope out at least another inch if not more for me to not have to scoot my seat up and smash my knees to hold the steering wheel. The seat also needs to be able to scoot back another inch or two. I wish there was a way to reduce the rear corner blind spots. The rear view mirror is simply pointless. I have to really crank my neck around to ensure there is no one in the blind spots when I change lanes. More than once I have received the universal half peace sign for almost hitting people. Lastly the seats; they just suck. I have the pin hole leather, they get hot. They do not have enough padding, they are hard and I feel like after a long drive that there are numerous poke points in my back. 220 mile trips are about as far as I want to travel sitting in those seats, and I feel fatigued.
That’s it. Everything else I love exactly as it is. It accelerates just fine, handles pretty good as long as it’s not grooved highway otherwise it tracks side to side with the groves. I even love the way the dash is set up, I like the digital odometer, I like my steering wheel shape. The windows roll up nice and fast. I love my sun roof and would spend the extra for it. I would pass on the solar top next time. It’s really an expensive novelty. It doesn’t really keep my car that cool parked on hot days enough to justify the expense and added weight. I absolutely love my mileage that I get other than I forget to put gas in it. After spending all my grocery money keeping gas in my pick-up at about 100-130 a tank my used Prius pays for itself and I have money left over. I even found a Kayak rack that fits over my solar and sun roof. I travel on average 40 to 60 thousand highway miles a year. I love how quit it is other than I don’t realize it is running and have left it running in my garage and the parking lot at work a few times.
I travel on average 40 to 60 thousand highway miles a year. So the most important thing to me is seat comfort. In town and home to work isn’t so bad but extended highway trips can be torture. I can’t wait to see the 2016 Prius. I hope they make changes that really make a difference besides just aesthetics and if so I will be a buyer. I live in the Midwest and take a lot of ridicule over my car however I am a forever Prius person now. I am moving to Portland soon and hopefully my little Prius will fit right in. I will say the talk of an AWD model would almost be a guaranteed sale for me as long as I could turn it off when not needed and still get good mileage. White knuckle snow storm driving in the Midwest is no fun when you drive an ice skate. Some neater color options for the exterior and interior would be nice.

 

You make some good points about your 2010 Prius: The TUNE-FILE knob is out of reach for me without leaning forward. I mentioned in June 2009 about steering wheel a bit hard to reach, one of the first things I noticed.
I've been having a good look at the new Rav4s and the current Prius interior is sadly downscale and too full of unsightly hard, grainy plastics.

 

agreed, but i'll buy another until something better comes along. nissan? nope. honda? nope. mazda? nope. hyundai? nope. gm? nope. ford? nope. chrysler? ha ha ha.

 

Not in the market now or in the near future, but if they put out an AWD PiP I may just change my mind. Right now though I have two of best cars you can own, paid ones.

@ALEX ALEX you probably should put those ideas in the PiP Wish list thread. I like the idea about illuminating the storage area under the center console.

 

It is nice to hear good things about the next gen Prius.
It is getting a bit old though without actually seeing something.

Pictures would be nice.
Specifications would be nice.

I don't need both, just either one.

 

seeing that the 4th gen speculation thread is over 4,000 posts, i would say you're in good company.

 

Prius needs a comeback. Here's the Prius US year end sales rank among all cars, truks and SUVs from GOOD CAR BAD CAR back to 2006

2006 Prius ranked #43 of about 250 models
2007 #14
2008 #15
2009 #16
2010 #18 (liftback only to this point)
2011 #21 (includes Prius v)
2012 #14 (includes v, c PiP)
2013 #25 (liftback + PiP only)
2014 #37 (liftback + PiP)
2015 #49 (lb + PiP YTD)

March 2015 YTD U.S. Vehicle Sales Rankings - Top 273 Best-Selling Vehicles In America - Every Vehicle Ranked - GOOD CAR BAD CAR

 

why do you not include c and v after 2012?

 

Too lazy to look down the chart, add and figure where it would fall

 

These may be so low in the charts..............

 

Toyota was leaking gen III / 2010 pic's all OVER the place prior to release ... and compared to gen II there was definitely a lot to show. Now? Nothing. Regarding the PiP - with so many wanting more range, and with Toyota refusing to sell it in all 50 states, I hope that doesn't imply there's nothing here to see.
.

 

well, they've already said it's coming...

 

Well, ya ... we know it's coming ... & I find these alleged leaded pic's - they've been around for a bit ... so I'm going to have a friend translate it for me

http://masterbeaters.com/2015prius/2015priusfront.jpg

http://masterbeaters.com/2015prius/2015priusback.jpg
.

 

Surely, the front grill will not be like in this pictures.......
http://masterbeaters.com/2015prius/2015priusfront.jpg

 

Do you find it that different from this 2014?

Seems to me it's awful close ... other than rounding the corners a bit. That'd make sense for reducing drag cd ... smaller frontal area.

 

surely, we have no idea.