Order went in today

Interesting, that regular white is available is Britain. Miss that in North America. Also, see this, seems a lot less painful that the hoops buyers are going through over here, on models that don't come with spare:



Just tick a box, lol.

 

Congratulations! I too have been taking a second look at everything else... and have come to the same conclusions: nothing on the market offers the same car costs and associated fuel benefits as the new Prius!

Style wise: many other new car interiors seem stuck in the past - i.e. the dash design are uninspiring, old looking... nothing new. Although the new Gen 4 is not perfect... to my eyes it's pretty darn close.

Same for the exterior. While some may have trouble warming up to it... (like I felt about previous Gen's when first released) in time they will become the new norm. To me the exterior is slightly futuristic. As more and more new ones hit the road... eventually they will be the future and not look slightly strange to some eyes.

Overall, I can't find anything (with comparable fuel benefits and styling) that I like better... at any price!

 

White, White, White, White!!

There are 5 x 2016 Prius, all white, as demonstrators only in my city in Australia. As well, there are 6 new Gen 3 - all white, and 16 white and one grey Prius v. (Prius c are available freely in multi-colours.)

I think Toyota Australia has no imagination (and the salespeople are disinterested in Prius too, judging by the 6 I've spoken to).

 

Congrats with your order!

Pure white is the basic 0€ paint you get a Prius in Germany. Then you can change "color" by adding 4-700€ and get a shade of black, or 2 real colors: red and blue.
In total here we have: basic plain white, pearl white, silver, dark grey and black, red and blue. And one (black) interior only in cloth (no Softtext here) and leather (black) as an option. The cloth was, to my taste and to the touch pretty good and felt of good quality, when I tested the car (white) back in March.
I ordered mine in dark grey on March 21st. Waiting still for a delivery date. I have seen only 1 Prius Gen4 black on the road.

PS: regarding exterior design - for sure it is not conventional, in the same way the Prius is not (is it not anymore?) - but if you look the Audis, or the BMWs, they are essentially all looking the same - the same design carried over between models. Except for the i3 and the i8 for example. Which are not really mainstream cars, are they? Even the Tesla, very elegant, sure, but dull (at least for me).
Mercedes is the only brand that has interesting designs especially on its current line.
Renault went ballistic a few years ago, in comparison Gen4 is conventional and dull... . Renault now is back to more conventional designs. Gone are the days of the original Twingo. That was a fun, unconventional pleasant designed car.
Peugeot and Citroen have some interesting things. But quality...

So, everybody can complain about how the car looks, but as my father says "you are sitting inside of it and you don't have to look at it continuously, do you?". And I prefer to have something unconventional that packs the best technology there is in drivetrains today, than have a dull "Golf" (which essentially looks the same for the last 10-15 years - ever checked their interiors? the same exact set up since 20 years) or any equivalent spewing out fuel and CO2 like there is no tomorrow.

As in my signature, "When you will pay for my fuel, I will drive as you want, on whatever car you want.".
The Prius is unconventional, but way far to be considered ugly. For sure it is not a dull, same old same old BMW3 or Audi A4 or VW Gold/Passat design...They all look the same within the brand, and even among brands sometimes the look the same....

 

I like that description. Exactly how I feel about the Gen4. Then again, unconventional and pleasant is how I would describe myself!

Congratulations on your order!

 

Real leather? I am envious.

 

As much as I delight in the overall mileage just now topping the 60mpg mark (3.9l/100km) with the warming weather, sometimes I think of how much more I would be delighted if fuel costs what it does in Europe or New Zealand rather than the $2.20 per gallon range it is here at this time.

 

Here currently E10 is selling at 4.6€/L....

 

BWAH!
You just sent me off to search gas price sites. It would seem 1.6 Euros/liter is what you meant. ?
$5/ liter is a bit much.

 

Now you can probably understand why the sooner I get the new gen4 the better it is!
Bear in mind though 3 things:
1) we drive on average less km compared to you guys in the USA
2) the price include VAT (I think it is 19% even for fuel in Germany)
3) a good half of the price is actually additional taxes

Net of this, we pay like you

 

I am of the opinion that gas should be taxed this way here. It would encourage conservation, we would have more money to make our roads as nice as the ones I enjoyed in Germany. There is an insane ideological bias in the body politic in the USA that says taxes are a waste, government is never good. We can afford an ever growing billionaire class and absurd military spending on absurd military hardware, but not infrastructure and (quoting the Constitution's Preamble) "promote the general welfare".

 

I agree with stipulations (we waste money in the military and welfare). We all need to downsize. We have too much stuff on borrowed money! Poor countries put guns on reliable 4X4 Toyotas.

Unfortunately taxes are wasted by poor government management. I think road construction could be more efficient as I watch what is going on during my commutes. Also the military buys stuff that does not work. Taxes are good if spent for the correct purpose and properly managed. We also need a better train system with more industry for the national welfare and good defense.
Throwing tax money around to buy votes has become a large industry in the US. It is unsustainable in the long run, as some one has to work and pay taxes to give away. Borrowing to buy votes has undone us, I am afraid, for ever.
No work no eat! If you collect a government check for anything you have no vote.
One thing the old USSR did right was everyone had a job and if you did not do it you did not eat.
Inefficient system but I like the work ethic aspect.

I remember as a kid seeing able old people like me sweep the streets on the news. Of course in those days you had to work to eat in this country.
Instead we eat ourselves to death requiring electric carts in Walmart because we are too fat to walk.


All of this is Prius related. You must be small enough to fit in a Prius and waste not/want not.
BTW I could go for a pound of bacon right now. All this talk of eating has made me hungry.

 

Yeah and pay for medical requirement or die trying.

LG-H901 ?

 

Lately in Germany I ask myself if they are using the taxes they get from fuel to actually set the roads straight or not. Because it doesn't really seems so.
I don't know when you were last time here, but in the 15 years I have been here, I can tell you there is an unmanned ever lasting road work everywhere.
Here in the city of Munich it took them 7 years of works to complete a tunnel, and once it was finished, after almost one year, some points of it are still not finished. And nobody is working on those places most of the time. A tunnel close to where I live, has been a construction site for the past 2 years with no end to be seen (or even communicated with a sign). They upgraded it and there are new LED signage which is wrapped and not working since 6 months. If I see 2-3 people working on it after 10pm, is a miracle.
The highway between Stuttgart and Munich has been a construction site since 15 years (essentially since I moved here). To add a single lane. Sure it is complicated, but some highway in Italy have started after and have been completed before and on time....! (See the Milan-Florence A1). And going through the Appennini mountains with a brand new section of highway, not really trivial.
So, again, and ADAC is asking the same question too, I wonder really where all the taxes on fuel are really going.

 

Reminds me of when I lived in London. Just constant roadworks on the already small contested roads. All the wires pipes and stuff was not under the sidewalk area but under the roads. Bad initial design plan.

LG-H901 ?

 

Reminds me of the ticket I got two months late from the rental car company for driving in an unauthorized zone without a sticker.