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Dealers Don't Know what a Four Entails?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by kyoo, Apr 21, 2017.

  1. kyoo

    kyoo Junior Member

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    Been doing a lot of searching for Prius for the last few weeks and I just wanted to check - all Gen 3 Four's have leather & heated seats correct? I'm getting a lot hits of "Four"s that do not have leather/heated seats - these have to be Three's or lower, correct?
     
  2. maurices

    maurices Member

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    I have a 2013 series 4. It has heated seats, but leather was not available in this year. It has the faux leather that I actually prefer it over genuine leather. It also has a head up display. Good luck.
     
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  3. kyoo

    kyoo Junior Member

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    right, not leather, just not the cloth.

    Thanks!
     
  4. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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  5. tonycd

    tonycd Member

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    In my observation, dealers seem to be consistently wrong in their listing of which trim level Prii of this age are.

    I've seen cars with power windows listed as "One." On a lark, I scanned one of the two big used-car search sites for every 2010 or 2011 Five available in the nation. A solid 80%+ of the listed Fives visibly were not Fives.
     
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  6. ShaAnn

    ShaAnn Member

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    My Prius C is a Four.....it has nice seats but they are not leather....it has rims and a moon roof....the dealer thought it was a two and I bought it for a steal.......it is a 2014
     
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  7. kyoo

    kyoo Junior Member

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    This is what I'm finding as well. Just a little frustrated searching for Fours and seeing dealers post cars with cloth & manual seats & no heating.

    That's great - most times I'm seeing it goes the opposite way (in favor of the dealer) - it's pretty fluid in that for used cars, the prices are not consistent since mileage and location can be big factors. Just feel bad for anyone buying a "Four" from a dealer when it's actually a Three
     
  8. egg_salad

    egg_salad Active Member

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    It's never been clear to me why Toyota seems to have gone out of their way NOT to put trim designations on Prius. Virtually every other Toyota model sports an LE/SE/XLE etc. badge.

    Given that, it's not at all surprising that at least 50% of Prius ads get the trim level wrong. Even Toyota used-car stores get it wrong; it's less surprising when a non-Toyota dealer gets it wrong. Frankly, I can hardly blame them. They may sell dozens of different makes and models of cars, and can hardly be expected to memorize what features were on what Prius trim levels in what years!

    Just today I drove a 2010 Prius at a local Dodge, etc. dealer. It was advertised as a One. It had navigation and solar roof, among other things. I'm pretty sure no One ever had those features :)
     
    #8 egg_salad, Apr 24, 2017
    Last edited: Apr 24, 2017
  9. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Probably because it's not a traditional car but a futuristic car - LE/SE/XLE seem to normalize it (I have pitched the idea before but I can't remember what the response was).
     
  10. egg_salad

    egg_salad Active Member

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    Okay, I feel like we're not communicating. I understand that Toyota doesn't want to use their traditional trim levels on Prius models.

    Instead, they created futuristic trim levels. Okay, that's fine.

    But it still doesn't explain why the car lacks trim level badging.
     
  11. kyoo

    kyoo Junior Member

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    Okay been doing a little digging here - may be picking up a Five tomorrow, but one without the Advanced tech package - so really the only difference between this and a Four is the headlights & bigger wheels, right?
     
  12. Kenrico

    Kenrico Member

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    Yes, and lo I did ye search for a Plug In Advanced because EVERY Prius search for Pkg 5 resulted in everything but a package 5 .

    When I tried to shift to a 3 or a 4 was the same mess. Enterprise had a fair amount of pkg 3 and 4 on their used car listings and from the car pics they all looked like pkg 2 . Every so often will search for 'solar' with Prius and half the ads don't have the solar roof ..but stuck it in the keywords so their ad will come up.

    While shopping I did have to refer to the specification pdfs with the options 'S' and 'O' as a reference , sometimes it would look like SofTex and didn't really have the package but someone had upgraded the seats . I ended up looking for NO cd slot in interior pics .. to confirm the higher end pkg car.

    Kenny
     
    #12 Kenrico, Apr 27, 2017
    Last edited: Apr 27, 2017
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  13. The MCA

    The MCA Member

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    I was just in the same boat as you. Sold my 2013 Prius 4 and spent 5+ weeks hunting for a 2013+ Prius 4/5 (ended up with a 2014 5). It was astounding how many *Toyota dealerships* mis-labeled their Priuses, even the CPO ones! Probably 80-90% of the alerts I had set up on various websites (Craigslist/Cars.com/CarGurus/Edmunds/Autotrader/etc) for newly-listed Prius 4/5's were Prius 3's.

    The differences between the 4 and 5 are that the 5 has: self-leveling HID headlights, headlight washers, fog lamps, and 17'' wheels. That's it. The headlights are AMAZING at night-time, and it drives very differently with the 17'' wheels. They are heavier/harder to turn at the wheel, tires are more expensive and the turn radius suffers, but they provide a much more "planted" ride and solid feel on the highway.
     
  14. kyoo

    kyoo Junior Member

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    yea i was under the assumption it got all the good stuff they bragged about, but i guess it's just a package. all that stuff is good, save for actually the 17" wheels - it looks like they're an inch wider with 20mm wider wheels which isn't great for MPG, but that's ok. and def more expensive. Oh well, that's all right. Thanks for the input. Oh oh - does it still have the HUD? for 2012 five?
     
  15. The MCA

    The MCA Member

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    I've been getting excellent MPG on this new car, it's within 1-3mpg of my old 4 that had the 15'' wheels.

    The HUD is only included with the solar or advanced technology packages
     
  16. JDW91479

    JDW91479 Junior Member

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    I had the same experience at a local Jeep dealer. Used 2012 that they had listed as a Two but was actually a Five. I didn't mention it the entire time (even when the salesman fell asleep during the test drive. He was surprised by how well the brakes worked) and only the finance department caught it, which was to late for them to do anything about it.

    If you have a Toyota Owners site account you could try adding the VIN number to see the trim/model.
    Log into Your Toyota Owners Account | Toyota Owners
     
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  17. tonycd

    tonycd Member

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    No, that is not the case. The Five has LED headlights and 17" wheels, but it also adds fog lights, spray headlight washers, and a quicker steering gear for sportier cornering to take advantage of the extra traction afforded by the wider tires. None of these is available on any Prius level below Five, either as standard equipment or as an option.
     
  18. CNYhybrid

    CNYhybrid Member

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    Headlights, 17 inch wheels and fog lights. :)

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  19. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    While shopping for my Gen 3, I drove one that the (non-Toyota) dealer had listed as a V, that was unquestionably a IV. It had leather, heated seats, solar (which I don't think you could even get in the 2010 V), halogen headlights, base wheels, and foglights only because of an aftermarket kit. The guy was adamant that he had looked it up and it was a V.

    I used the Toyota Owners website, put in the VIN, and it came up a V. I can't explain it, but that's what happened.

    -Chap
     
  20. ShaAnn

    ShaAnn Member

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    Just bought another Prius C....Moonglow White....We ran the carfax and it is a one owner....dealer said it was a two but we knew it was a three....moonroof and GPS....out the door at 11,000 dollars.....85,000 miles and runs like a moon beam...toyota.com had all the service records on her yes it is a three.....hate to sell my 2000 Camry but I think its time. Our new to us Prius C three is a 2013...excellent condition
     
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