How did Toyota f*** up the Gen 5 so badly?

Seems like to me that you're just used to some familiar locations of controls or ergonomics that aren't familiar anymore. Driving the vehicle once and having such a harsh opinion seems a little rash and subjective. I've never owned or driven a Prius and I just test drove one recently and am in the process of buying one. I would have never even considered a Prius in the past because IMHO, they were just not very good looking vehicles, to put it mildly. I think the biggest draw to these vehicles is the gas mileage and Toyota quality and now they look a whole lot better, even if they sacrifice a little in visibility and familiarity to prior Prius owners liking.

 

My 2023 Prius XSE Plug-in is a great car with two exceptions: 1. tire size is ridiculous, especially limiting replacement tire options if you live in snow country and don't want dedicated snow tires (no CC 2); visibility is poor. I still love the car and getting in and out is nice physical activity. Third exception might be no spare, but I guess that is pretty standard in many cars these days.

 

Perhaps they should have moved the traction battery outside the passenger compartment like they did no the RAV4. There is a PHEV version of that and my son is very happy with his 2023 RAV4 Prime.

 

I thought it was outside on the Gen5 Prius PHEV.
Probably gets in the way of any rear motor.

 

I'm no fan of Toyota....but they didn't F-up the G5.
FAR from it.
It's probably one of the best (if not one of the most expensive) 5-pax compact cars out there - all things considered. (**)
It gets close to 60MPG, it no longer has 'same day' 0-60 acceleration profiles, and it actually looks like it was designed by somebody who does not hate cars.
The PHEV flavor has nearly usable EV-only ranges and if you live where fuel is hideously expensive and have a long commute to work you can almost cost-justify a G5's added price if you can fold yourself into one for the morning drive.
It has problems, it's about $5k more expensive than some better (IMHO) alternatives, it's as fragile as a Fabergé Egg, and Toyota has a Ferengi-like approach to corporate culture BUT the G5 is a well executed car that is three years into what will almost certainly be a six year run.
A SUCCESSFUL run, if you can avoid dealership up-sells and you pay the least bit of attention to the difference between maintenance and a repair, and take OWNERSHIP of the ownership experience.



(**) I's a compact. The only reason the US government sometimes calls it a "mid-size" is that it's a hatchback instead of car with a rear bulkhead and a trunk, in which case.....it would be a Corolla.

 

I believe there is a prius subculture that's proud of the sluggish homeliness of the prior cars, and sees alacrity and an attractive shape as "selling out".

 

losers

 

My car was well tested in snow yesterday. I had no trouble getting around in 6 inches of fresh snow, that kept falling all day.
I appreciate the few extra inches of ground clearance, compared to my Gen 3, which was always getting mired in deep snow.

 

Some preferred the utilitarian nature of gens 2&3.
Others prefer the sporty nature of gen 5.
Still others like both.
No harm in any of that

 

This is the Gen5 forum, so there's that.

 

I forget, do you have snow tires, or are you running the 19" all-seasons that came with the car?

 

My 2025 Camry which is a Gen 5 has the battery under the rear seat. My son's 2023 RAV4 Prime has the rear motor and the traction battery beneath, outside the cabin,

 

From what I've read, I believe that is the case for the Gen 5 Prius PHEV.

 

The Prime/PHV does have the battery outside the cabin space. Maybe it and the low ground clearance meant no AWD. Or Toyota had another reason to decide against AWD. Pricing or efficiency/range penalty could simply be enough to not offer it.

 

Ground clearances:
My 2010 Prius: 5.5 inches
My 2012 Prius: 5.3 inches
2024 Toyota Prius Prime SE: 5.6 inches
2024 Toyota Prius Prime XSE: 6.0 inches

I would consider the 0.7 inch spread significantly less than a "few extra inches". For that much extra, one needs to move to that vintage's RAV4 Primes, at 8.0 and 8.2 inches, respectively.

 

I quit using the snow tires when I found that they lose all traction in wet snow.
Since then, I have been using all-seasons all year around.
I ran the factory tires until they wore out. I'm not sure what I have now, but I got them from the dealer.

 

I'm not lying; I have a few inches more clearance now.

 

Not as originally configured from the factory. Subsequent change was needed.