2016 Prius - let's hear from buyers

Congrats and thanks for your point of view on the new Prius. I find it helpful for someone like me who has never owned a Prius but really wants a 4 Gen. It make me think about the different trims and the plus and minus issues that I might overlook.

Thanks again.

 

Vike,

Yes your post is very helpful. I found it very confusing to try to figure out the differences between the various versions of the Prius. We might be buying my husband a Prius V when the time comes, so I now have a better idea. I also didn't have the luxury of much time unfortunately.

I'm also considering buying a spare tire for my four. I just have to figure out how to do that. The cargo space in the trunk looks like it has space for a spare tire. I also have to go to the dealership again on Monday so I hope to peek at the spare tire of a three while I'm there.

 

It won't help if you find yourself needing that spare tire, but you might find this list of cars which don'have a spare to be interesting:

http://newsroom.aaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Vehicles-Sold-Without-a-Spare-Tire.pdf

 

great write up Vike.

 

Wow that is interesting to know.

 

congrats and welcome! she's gorgeous, all the best.

 

Nice write up. I got here following your pointer. I posted something similar in another thread and it properly belongs here so I'll post a link back to it.

Visual Tables of Gen4 Package Combinations | Page 12 | PriusChat

In general, I find your observations spot on. I could not agree more.

 

Regarding the lack of spare: I have yet to need the use of a spare in my 2012 PiP after 4 years and some 96K miles. In my 2005 Gen2, I needed the spare once in the 7+ years I owned it, and that was early on in it's life. My son now has that one, and in the 3 years he has had it so far, he finally needed to use it last month. Of course, as luck would have it, I needed to the use the spare on our new Highlander Hybrid after less than 400 miles on the car. Thankfully it was a) a slow leak that the TPMS alerted me to, and b) easily patched. Had I had the portable air-compressor in the car, I probably could've pumped up the tire and gotten to a tire repair shop to fix me up instead of having to use the spare, but I opted to call Toyota and get them to put the spare on.

Of course, now that I've opened up my big mouth, I'm due for a blowout in the PiP...

It's a crapshoot whether you will need to use the spare in the lifetime of the car. Some people want it for piece of mind, even though they may never need it. And other people live in areas where it's a necessity because they are more likely to need it. And then there's people like me who are willing to roll the dice and take the risk.

 

I have quick question, what does persona mean in terms of style? I noticed on my paperwork that the style was marked as persona, it also says that on my key. I see that the 2016 prius c has a persona style and 2015 prius did but I don't see one mentioned for 2016 which is why I wasn't sure what it really meant.

 

Black SofTex interior with directional signals in the side view mirrors.

 

Ok thanks, I mean I have a 4 touring, not sure why it says that but doesn't matter.

 

can you post a pic?

 

Yeah but I don't see much of a difference between my car and other Prius

 

I think he meant of the "Persona" designated items...

 

Oh ha, I mean it is only what someone wrote down in their handwriting. Like the tag that they put on the car keys and one of the papers someone wrote it down but I guess they wrote it down because that is what the tag on the car keys said.

 

gotcha, i thought it was on the fob. sounds like a typical dealer employee. probably thinks a touring is a persona.

 

I am in Los Angeles and shopping for a Red/Black Prius 4 with both AT (ATP) and CX (Premium Conv. Package) options in SoCal. MSRP is $34062. I am going to contact a few dealers and try the Costco car buying service. I'll update my post as I get a feel for the numbers that are out there.

 

According to Toyota's inventory search tool, there's three cars in SoCal that match what you want.

Toyota Inventory | New Toyota Inventory Search