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2017 Prius prime Advanced lacking many good features

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by AJDL, Oct 30, 2019.

  1. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Hummm, maybe you should have purchased Premium trim instead. ;) After 2 years of driving, I don't have any complaint on my 2017 PRIME Premium. I initially thought the cargo space is going to be an issue, but turned out with no one to use rear seats, the cargo is plenty large for my need with rear seats folded down 99.9% of the time.
     
  2. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    Until one has/drives a car with it; phone integration is worlds better and eliminates the need for poor and very expensive factory navigation.

    Good intel for used car shoppers. Current prime owners looking to upgrade/fix things. Prime owners with base sound systems (double din) have options and may not know this without discussion.
     
  3. smyles

    smyles Active Member

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    Don't Teslas miss carplay as well? You'd think based on all the whining from iPhone users not a single model 3 would be sold, and yet...
     
  4. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    Yes there is some bitching but also the effect of the cult/early adopters is working too. After some times goes by and the shine wears off (like the OP in this thread), issues rise to the top. This is why many folks wait a year or two after a new model is introduced.
     
    #24 fotomoto, Oct 31, 2019
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2019
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I see Honda's making a Fit Hybrid, hopefully will make it across the Pacific. I like the Heat/Vent controls on it: so far they're resisted the urge to put a $6400* iPad in the dash to set vent mode or temp.

    * There's a thread here this morning: someone got so exasperated with the Prime touch screen he punched it out.
     
  6. AJDL

    AJDL Junior Member

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    Thanks a lot for the comments.. Someone asked earlier what I liked, I definitely liked that it is very quiet and vibration free when you start the car, also first 25 or so miles are really quiet.. It's not that I am not happy, but kind of feel that Toyota could have done better for their top of line car in that model, the price is not cheap, its 35k MSRP.

    I think the major issue I face on daily basis is Apple carplay, that is why I stated discussion on this thread to see if someone already has a solution for this, second if not, then we all can send emails to [email protected], so that they can do something about this. I do understand that the solution may not come in a week or month, it may take more time, but then we won't need to upgrade the car just for that.
     
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  7. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    I thought that was Volkswagen
     
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    ze new peoples car. vdumb's are now ze mechanics car
     
  9. mister2cool

    mister2cool Member

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    Even if you go to the luxury brands and sitting in a car that's $100K, you'll still find things you feel they could have or should have done better. Toyota has had a reputation being a bit behind when it comes to electronics.. remember the cassette player debacle on Toyota\Lexus cars?

    My other car is a 2012 Infiniti M, which was and still is the flagship sedan in its line up. Mine was fully loaded with tech package and MSRP was over 60K. In that model year guess what wasn't offered even as an option? Parking sensors! Every other model got AroundView parking assist and cameras and sensors watching all sides, and all I got was a reverse camera. They did add those sensors for the next MY but it still pisses me off till this day. Fast forward a few years, my wife got a new QX60, again, fully loaded.. only afterward we got the car, I noticed that they took away adaptive headlights and hill start assist. I was like you have got to be kidding me. I haven't seen a car rolling backward on an incline in decades.

    Car companies purposely don't make the car absolutely perfect. One is it's likely impossible to do, two is cost as they do have a cost ceiling to adhere to, third is that they have to leave you the itch to come back for a newer and better one with what you wish they didn't skip earlier.

    Carplay wasn't announced until March 2014 according to Wikipedia, and 2019 Toyota Avalon became the first Toyota model with Apple CarPlay. It's really not fair to expect 2017 MY to have the support for it, and I am sure you drove around just fine before CarPlay as even a thing. My old Prius or any other car doesn't have Android Auto, neither does the newest Prime. Oh well.. it works off my phone and I can live with that. The reluctance for automakers to adopt those systems is so that they can still bundle the costly GPS with some other desirable features and capture all the revenue associated with it such as updates. Prime with HUD might be an additional challenge for the adoption since direction is given on the HUD as well so they would have to make that able to work with phone app.
     
    #29 mister2cool, Oct 31, 2019
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2019
    Marine Ray likes this.
  10. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    The other option is to all in on the Android OS as Polestar is doing with their cars. It’ll come with Android for its headunit with built in Google Maps and access to the Google Play Store.
     
  11. Rieuk

    Rieuk Member

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    Why only Carplay and not Android Auto? I think the prime is reliable but the implementation of the 11.6" display is horrible.

    Another gripe is the wireless phone charger — puts out an abysmally low amount of power, all it really does it just overheat your phone.
     
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  12. GSK

    GSK Active Member

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    Yep. Not everyone uses Apple.
     
  13. MTN

    MTN Active Member

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    How about the fact that it took until 2020 to put in visor extensions!?!

    That is something insanely cheap for a Manu to do (similar to auto up/down on ALL windows). My "base" model VW Golf Sportwagen had all of that plus Android Auto and Carplay in 2016.
    I don't know if they think they can "force" people to upgrade by withholding features that are quite cheap to implement or if they're just that bad at realizing what consumers really appreciate.
     
  14. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    they just don't want to sell that many cars
     
  15. Sarge

    Sarge Senior Member

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    My question about the Qi charger and CarPlay is thus; I know CarPlay in the Prime (and most vehicles except a BMW or two?) require the phone to be plugged to USB to use CarPlay. So what’s the point of the wireless charger if I need to plug my phone in to use CarPlay?

    Second CarPlay question - if I am using Waze or other phone Nav with CarPlay and I have the loaded trim with HUD, can the HUD display Nav instructions from the iPhone, or only factory Nav? I am assuming only the latter, it thought I would throw it out there.
     
  16. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Well if you have an Android, or you don't use CarPlay, you could use the wireless charger (like me!)

    No. HUD is only from factory nav.
     
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  17. Rieuk

    Rieuk Member

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    Ok I tried emailing this address and it got bounced. It doesn't work.
     
  18. Sarge

    Sarge Senior Member

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    Thanks Tideland, that is what I figured.
     
  19. Tha_Ape

    Tha_Ape Active Member

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    I just put all my music on a super tiny usb drive and leave it plugged in. The only thing I really miss is Waze on the big screen. But I just leave it running on my phone and listen for the turns. The stock navigation isn't bad for long trips.

    My biggest pet peeve is with the speed limit data. I have the same data from a 2019 and it's often off by 10mph (not just in school zones). Some places it says it's 35 when it's really 25 and others it's wrong in the opposite direction. This is most likely just my area, but it is quite annoying and most likely not Toyota's fault. It's whomever is selling the database. It's not like these were recent local changes, the limits have been what they are for years.
     
  20. CharlesH

    CharlesH CA HOV Decal #5 on former PiP

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    My understanding is that the issues are not technical; rather, Toyota and Google have Android licensing issues. Apparently, Google wants access to all sorts of information that Toyota does not want to release (after all, Google is basically an ad company), and/or are demanding licensing fees that Toyota does not want to pay.

    I agree completely with the comment about the Qi charger: it is effectively a phone warmer that dribbles a little bit of charge into the phone. If I am using my phone for navigation with Google Maps, the Qi charger does not keep up with the battery drain; it just slows it down a bit.
     
    Tideland Prius likes this.