Prime trim level - advanced or not?

Click on "more images" here:


NAVIGATION & FRONT MONITOR DISPLAY. 2017 Toyota Prius Prime Four HYBRID | Toyota


$6265 jumps out, for the GPS Navigation System.

Part number: 8680447421

That's full retail though. Plugged in at McGeorge Toyota Parts, discounted to $4889:

Display Unit - Toyota (86804-47421) | Toyota Parts

Both levels of display listed on this page:

Navigation System Components for 2017 Toyota Prius Prime | Toyota Parts

The base display is only about $700 less.

Some gargantuan numbers, even the difference, lol.

 

I was going to say that either display would cost an arm and a leg to replace with a new one. Thanks, @Mendel Leisk for digging up those prices.

I've seen some reports here of Gen 2 displays going out. But they generally get replaced with used ones. I would think the same would be true with these once they are out of warranty. And since two of the three trim levels use the big screen and those trims seem very popular, used screens might just become more available down the road.

Another thing about that big screen ... I'm not sure there's anything it does that is essential to driving the car. For me, it's 95% entertainment and 5% useful information. At least one person here (@Salamander_King) keeps his turned off.

 

There was thread, someone with a cracked display needed to replace it, the bigger one I think. He gradually disclosed: it was cracked cus he'd punched it, lol.

 

I think the only frequent nuisance might be HVAC controls. I realize you can control them to some degree through the MID, but that is certainly more cumbersome than through the screen. Physical HVAC was one of the top reasons I went with the LE trim.

 

Yeah physical, intuitive and ergonomic heating/venting controls is one my "quests", and I use that term because most all the manufacturers have tiptoed away from it. Ideally I'd like a system where the mode, fan speed and temp controls are easy to put your hand to, and set, without ever taking your eyes of the road. Period. In the eighties and nineties they managed it.

But they gradually got more "clever", introduced LCD displays, rows of uniform buttons, up and down shifter buttons, one button for scrolling through the modes on a display: everything that pulls your eyes and attention off the road, longer and longer.

Oh, and an "all the air to the windshield mode" would be nice, Toyota. Not the hell's-a-popping AC enhance front defog button, just a regular mode. Most other manufacturers have it.

Ranting....

 

I have been using the screen more often lately to experiment the precise setting I want/need for the HVAC. But I think I found it for now. Read below.

You are correct that some essential HVAC functionality is embedded into the 11.6" screen so that it is impossible to do all of controlling without turning on the screen. But I got quite use to using MID function for changing temp and fan speed now.

I thought the physical buttons are better than touch screen, that is until I had to drive our newly purchased but used Nissan Pathfinder. Yeah, it came with physical buttons and dials, but it is placed way too low down on the center console, and having triple area controls (Driver, Passenger, and Rear seats) it is a nightmare to figure out which button corresponds to what area. Both I and my wife ended up with setting everything on AUTO and don't change much of HVAC settings anymore.

That brings to my current situation with PRIME. If you are not concerned with fine tuning HVAC setting for the maximum efficiency, for most situations, leaving the HVAC setting to AUTO with A/C ON will do fine. I had mine set like that for almost two years and did not have to change the setting much. However, this setting does use quite bit of traction battery for both heating and cooling if it is left up to the car. I have experimented quite bit now and found very good compromise to the AUTO setting. Now I keep my HVAC setting mostly manual fan speed 1 or 2, air flow direction to the window for defogging, or to the cabin for heating or cooling only, A/C off, Auto off, Recirc off, S-flow Driver priority, Eco mode. Switching of fan speed and air flow can be accomplished by MID only. With this setting, I rarely need to change HVAC setting and A/C load stays relatively low. Oh, one thing I do now is that I intentionally use HV mode during heating season to use it's heat so that heat pump does not use excessive amount of traction battery.

 

Yeah there are bonehead physical buttons too.

Still, if you got all these control options, but have to resort to auto, to keep from running off the road, that's an engineering fail.

 

Here is a screen capture of the Pathfinder Climate control switches. All four switches (red arrows) are ON/OFF switch. As you can see, it is located way down on the console, you are almost looking down the floor in order to change any setting. I think there maybe a way to control the setting using the touchscreen up on the dash, but I have not explored that option yet. For now, it is going to stay on "AUTO".

 

Just like eye-level vs down near-near-the-floor product placement in the grocery store, lol.

 

Of course without looking down, I have hit the Audio ON button so many times. Same size and same position just slightly above the Climate control switch.

 

@Robert Holt chimed in on this once comparing to airplane cockpit controls: there tactile, intuitive ergonomics is paramount.

 

Those settings in your picture are close to what I'm using right now with the cooler weather. But in the afternoon I still usually need AC. In the summer, I need AC every time I drive, so I just leave it in auto.

 

I have found with this setting and using HV mode for heat generation, I almost never have to change the fan speed or temperature setting from 70F even down to 14F ambient temperature so far this season. Only thing is that if I don't mix HV mode, the heat pump in EV mode is either too weak to generate enough heat or if it does, it uses way too much traction battery power.

 

Yeah, your heating needs are WAY more severe than mine.

 

Your input is very appreciated here! Another question I have, is it true that there is a lot of cabin noise in 2020 Prime? I'm still debating between 2020 Prime vs regular Prius... I realize I won't be able to charge regular one but it has more room though. Anyway, if you had to buy a new dependable/good MPG car these days which one would you go with?

 

Thanks for the kind affirmation. <blush!>

For me the Prime is as close to perfect as I could ever hope for in spite of the occasional "Well THAT was stupid!" notion that pops into my head. It's costing me somewhere around two cents a mile to drive day to day. And on our vacation in May, we drove over 6,000 miles and spent just $305 on gas with two people, a fully loaded car, and lots of nasty headwinds. We averaged 56.6 mpg calculated at the pump. So that was about a nickel per mile with almost no charging. With the 5th seat and a couple of the other minor enhancements, if I could trade straight up for a 2020, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But this car is so good that the trade would need to be very nearly even.

As for cabin noise, I can't compare, but I don't see why the Prime would make more noise than a regular Prius. It is far, far more quiet than my PiP or the gen 2 my wife loves so much. In fact, since I do over 90% of my driving without the engine, there should be less noise in a Prime than a gen 4, assuming the tires and road surface are the same. But any hatchback (Prime or regular Prius) will be likely to have more road noise than a sedan since the "trunk" is open to the cabin area. One review of the hybrid Corolla observed that it had less road noise than a Prius. And less cargo space.

As for room compared to the regular Prius, I was initially concerned, but it has not been a problem yet. I recently bought a 21" lawnmower and brought it home in the box with gobs of room to spare. See this thread if you haven't already. All the stuff I&#039;ve loaded into my Prime&#039;s cargo area | PriusChat

My main beef is the lack of space for a spare. The 2020 Prius LE comes with a temporary spare. No other Prius has one that I know of. So I keep one strapped into my cargo area which does cost me some space. But we still had room for everything on our 3-week vacation trip. If you haven't already seen it, I've been recording some of my thoughts on the car here. https://priuschat.com/threads/jerrys-evolving-thoughts-on-new-to-me-prime-premium.204469/

I've put 14,000 miles on it since May and, aside from the vacation in May, I've only bought gas three times and the tank was no where near empty on any of them. But it's getting close to gas time again because we're taking a couple small trips in the next few weeks. Some people here practically never buy gas.

 

The Prime is a very quiet car, especially when running in EV mode. It's not luxury vehicle quiet like a Lexus or Audi (there is still some road/wind noise) but it's more hush than an ordinary compact like a Civic or Corolla would be. I've never run into a situation where the trunk in the Prime has been a limited factor. The seats fold down which offers up substantial additional room. It only really struggles with taller items due to the reduced trunk depth, but unless you're frequently moving tall items which can't be placed on their side, it shouldn't be a huge issue. If you can charge the Prime at home, I think it almost certainly makes more sense than an ordinary Prius. The 25 electric miles is enough for many commutes, and is a big boost to efficiency. And because the battery is relatively small, its perfectly feasible to charge daily off of the included 110V charger, given that empty to full times are only 5.5 hours. This, combined with the fact that Prime can actually be CHEAPER than an ordinary Prius once tax credits enter the equation (make sure you qualify for the tax credit before depending on it tho!) make it the one to get in my mind.

In terms of big vs small screen, I owned a 2017 premium (big screen) and now a 2020 LE (small screen), and prefer the small screen layout much more. I hated the touch controls on the big screen, especially for HVAC as previously mentioned. Having a volume knob is also a welcome bonus, and the smaller screen is still plenty large for maps on Carplay. I found the factory maps on the big screen to be useless - the 2020s with the big screen now have Carplay, so that may improve it. As much as I prefer the smaller screen layout, I DO miss the softex seats and 3 door smart key access. If there was a trim with the softex seats but the smaller screen, that'd be my sweet spot.

 

Ditto!!

 

I've considered getting leather seat covers (the Clazzio products look nice and are well reviewed), but they aren't yet available for the 2020s with 3 seats in the rear. I also worry about their impact on seat heater performance. I miss the softex, but advantage I've noticed with the cloth seats is that the heaters are nearly instant!