Drove a 2012 from the Bay Area to the Los Angeles area yesterday, first time with this car on a long trip. This was my mother's car and will now be my son's - her vision is now bad enough that she wouldn't pass the DMV test. The 2012 was pretty much the same as driving the 2007, but there were a few differences. 1. Coolant on the 2012 moved up to around 195F and just sat within spitting distance of that number, even up a long hill. On the 2007 it goes up to 185F on the flat but went up noticeably going up long hills. Looks like Toyota moved the set point up, but also may have improved the cooling somewhat so that it stays closer to that. (Also Torque Pro needed a different set of PIDs for the 2012, only a handful of the PIDs being read for the 2007 worked before the new PIDs were entered.) 2. The cruise control on the 2012 takes longer to make speed changes than the 2007. If a "+" is entered on the 2007 it immediately starts to speed up, so that the acceleration is felt, and then settles. The same operation on the 2012 is smoother and slower. I could never feel the acceleration for a single click, and it would often go to 72, then a few seconds later, settle on 73. A single "-" was also slower. This was really obvious on I5 where I drive pretty much the whole way in cruise control. Accelerating slowly wasn't an issue but the delay in deceleration was, on the 2012 I often had to cancel cruise control to get the car to decelerate as rapidly as desired. (Brakes are always a last resort, right?) Long story short, bizarrely that makes the 2007 feel "zippy" in this mode of driving compared to the 2012. 3. The 2007 has "current MPG" in two places, one numeric, one graphic. I'm sure the 2012 must have this information somewhere, but I didn't see it. I did like the much longer MPG history display in the 2012 though. Additionally the power flow display up on the top of the dash in the 2012 has a color palate such that I generally couldn't see the arrows from the ICE on that sunny day wearing sunglasses. Without the sunglasses I could just see those arrows, which are sort of a reddish brown color. The equivalent display on the MFD was easier to read but I don't like looking down and inside the car that far while driving at speed. For me quicker/safer to read at the combination meter. 4. The 2012 (Prius 4 trim level) was quieter at highway speeds than the 2007. The 2012's JBL sound system is better, not that that matters much given the state of my hearing. It did scare the crap out of me at one point in a song when suddenly it sounded like the car had broken and something was banging. That turned out to be a part of the song which was playing. Played that same song many times in the 2007 and the sound there was more obviously a drum. 5. Windshield nozzles on the 2012 were anemic and odd. Checked fluid level before leaving and it was half way up the plastic dipstick. It would first squirt on the passenger side and then after a short delay on both sides, but less than a foot up the glass. Wait a minute and do it again and it was just the same - like there was no backflow blocking valve in the line. Is that normal? The 2007 has incredibly fiddly nozzles with 2 independently aimed subnozzles on each side. Anything touches them and I'm back out there with pins trying to aim them again. When set just so they do a good job, and they always push the same amount of fluid at the same time on both sides. I give the 2012 the win here, it did work to get the windshield clean eventually, but it feels like they should aim a little higher. Other than that... Dr. Prius tested the pack (the original) at 52% capacity. Resistances were all 24 or 25 and the 14 voltages were very close each time I checked. So the pack is not a spring chicken, but it is aging well. The 2012's brakes squeal when backing up, but not while moving forward. Not sure what is causing that yet. Dragged my fingernail across the outside face of all the disks and didn't feel any grooves. Car tracks straight as an arrow and doesn't feel like anything is dragging. The 2012 only has 72k on the odometer.
Good plan on giving this to your son. I did the same in giving my daughter a 2012. I do suggest you change out the HV battery though, it looks like it can fail at any time.
I agree about the 3rd-generation windshield-washer nozzles being misaimed. A friend re-aimed mine higher by heating and bending them.
Was the car in Normal, ECO, or PWR mode? This setting should make a difference in cruise control responsiveness, just as it does with gas pedal foot response. ECO slowest response, PWR "zippiest" response. I nearly always left mine in ECO, other drivers had other preferences. After getting my 2010, I quickly ditched the power flow display and moved to the HSI display, which seemed more useful. After switching to a 2012, left it on HSI display permanently.
Um, ECO? I didn't set it, but there was a light on the dash that said ECO most of the time. I'm not familiar with the HSI display mode. I very much liked the power display on the Honda Civic Hybrid 1, which showed everything I wanted except current mpg (which was on the next display over) in one circular display. See the rightmost display in the dash picture in this article: 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid
I suggest you do not use Eco mode, it's the worst setting. Your accelerator will feel sluggish, AC will be less cold, it's just a very poor setting made to save you a drop of fuel but with a horrible trade off.
That is very likely your cruise-control zippiness culprit. Try it again in the other modes. The Gen3 had more displays in its rotation than did the Gen2. I didn't own a Gen2, so came into Gen3 with no preference. For my needs, the HSI display was the most useful. Other than the 'relaxed' AC and cruise control (and an engine temperature threshold), ECO mode is just a different accelerator user interface with different "touch and feel". "Sluggish" is just a matter of personal feel. The car has the exact same power available in all modes, just with different pedal movement mapping and slightly different filtering. Different drivers will get their best MPG in different modes (some even in PWR!), while some find no difference. For a theoretically ideal driver with perfectly precise foot dexterity and instant reaction time, there will be no MPG difference. But when real-world human factors and frailties are present, some see a difference, and ECO was expected to be helpful to the most people.
