Purchasing first Prius

Before you buy a used one, look for a year old model that is still new. I see them here in Houston when I look during the spring. That is how I got our 2013.

It is a model three. Has the 17" wheels with Michelin Primacy MXM4 on it. I average just under 50MPG according to fuelly.com I don't baby the Prius, but don't drive the *>*T out of it either.

Model Three has more than enough for most drivers out there IMO. Unless you just have to have the leather. Also the solar roof won't help you when the car is in Ready mode. It only runs the fan when the Prius is parked and turned off. It simply circulates the air inside with the ambient air outside to lower the cabin's temperature. A good solar shade and window tint will benefit you and cost a LOT less than paying for the option of the solar panel and the step in the model range.

Just saying...

Ron (dorunron)

 

On Gen II Prius, package #2 came with the backup cam. On Gen III Prius, you have to purchase at least a Model Three to get the backup cam. The beauty of the backup cam on the Gen III Model Three and higher is that it also comes with the factory navigation.

Some folks don't like the nav unit because of the way you have to enter data into it. It is not easy like a Garmin is. It is similar to a Magellan IMO.

Like I said, try to find a "last year's model" if you can. If you are not in a hurry to buy, wait until the end of the month and the end of the quarter. That is when you will get your BEST deal.

Look at my post's on the new one I bought, then you will have a good idea of what I am talking about.

Ron

 

Do you know that it doesn't have the camera?

I bet it's a 3 and they don't know that. It's unlikely that the JBL was even available on a 1.

 

I just looked at the 2011 brochure--it's a Three.
You had to buy a Three to get JBL; you had to buy the JBL with Nav option on the Three to get a backup camera in 2011.
I believe the camera came standard with the 3 and above starting with model year 2012.

 

Exactly! Cam came with Model Three. Two and lower did not have it, also the display on the Model Two and base model looks radically different from the Model Three and above. I looked at all of them. It is worth the extra bucks just to get the bu cam. The other's goodies are just icing on the cake IMO.

 

another thing to look into is three door sks.

 

not the back doors. sks allows you to open the door with the fob in your pocket. some are just drivers door, others are passenger and hatch. otherwise, you can take the fob out and press the unlock button like a regular fob.

 

SKS will unlock all doors IF you touch the passenger side front door. At least it does on our 2013. Drivers side only unlocks driver's door.

Ron (dorunron)

 

correct, and you can program it to do all from driver as well, if you want to. that's how i set mine up, but left my wife's as driver door only, for safety.

 

Sorry, got all confused on model years.
The rapid accumulation of miles on the Persona wouldn't bother me at all. It probably means lts of easy highway miles.
I find the Persona wheels very attractive but I'd be reluctant to get a harsher ride than with the 15's.

 

The backup cam is nice for when you're in a tight space. I used it to parallel park near Pink's in LA a few weeks ago, but that's the only real time so far.

 

FWIW, I don't think I would have bought a Prius without the power adjustable seats, leather or cloth. We go on 3 road trips a year that average 6,000+ miles each with several days of 600 miles or more. I rented a 2010 without and we drove 1,100 miles over 3 days. We liked the car, but both said "only if we can get better seats". Of course, I also wanted to options available on the Four, so it all worked out for me. If not for the road trips, regular seats would be just fine.

 

No. I wouldn't trust a third party site to accurately list standard features or what's available in a package. It's easy enough to search for the brochure. Every year some feature is added, dropped or moved.