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About to purchase Prius Prime Advanced 2017 I need your advices

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by mmerchan, Apr 27, 2020.

  1. mmerchan

    mmerchan Junior Member

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    Hello Forum.

    I am about to purchase a used Prius Prime Advanced 2017 with 19k miles I need your advices with the following questions and of course I am open to hear your suggestions, as a little background from me, I leased brand new Chevy Volt 2012 for 3 years since that I fall in love with the EV drive, but at the time to return the car the gen 2 wasn't unveiled yet so I moved to Audi A3 2014 and lastly now I got Audi A4 2017 (those cars are nice but I missing the sensation to drive on EV like I did on my Volt), so I did my research and test drove a used Volt gen 2 but I do not like the legroom for the back seat and neither the hard plastic material in the car, I walked to the Toyota dealer and test drove the Prius Prime Limited 2020 and like how feel but for me does not worth to lease or finance the whole price for new car since I understand Toyota is one of the best and reliable cars so I feel I will be ok getting a used one, now what I like from the 2020 is the ability to have Apple Carplay and the 5 spots for the passengers.

    Here the questions:

    1) What are the typical problems found on Prius Prime?

    2) Does any one has replaced the tires with something like Michelin Energy and gain any benefit?

    3) Any chance to have or upgrade the software to gain the Apple Carplay on models pre 2020?

    4) How good are the GPS, can I send address to my car from my iPhone instead to type on the car's screen?

    5) I understand you can see the real time traffic on the GPS, do I need to pay any services to do that or the car use my data from my Cellular to get the traffic?

    6) Can I upgrade the Map database on the car?

    7) Does the car follow the lanes and keep the car on their course when the Dynamic cruise control is engage due the car have the LANE DEPARTURE ALERT WITH STEERING ASSIST ?

    8) I heard there is exist in the aftermarket a system called OpenPilot for $1000 has any one has tried on Prius Prime?

    Thanks in advance and sorry for my english.

    Respectfully.

    Manuel.
     
  2. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    1. Right now, we haven't noticed anything major
    2. If you replace the tyre with a low rolling resistance (LRR) all-season tyre, it will improve mpg. If you replace it with a regular all-season tyre (like a touring tyre), mpg will decrease (but of course you may benefit with something else like ride comfort or quietness or dry grip or wet grip). The original tyres are usually Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus or Toyo NanoEnergy A29
    3. No. They're on a different system (Entune 3.0 vs. Entune 2.0)
    4. Decent but it depends on your tolerance. I'm in the minority camp where I'm ok with Toyota's GPS (and I've owned a TomTom handheld unit as well as used Apple CarPlay on rental cars). You can't send destinations to the car. (You'd think Toyota would include it by now... it's 2020!). You can send destinations to the car via the Entune app.
    5. Data is supplied by HDTraffic so it's free over-the-air information.
    6. Yes. It's done via MicroSD from the dealer.
    7. No. Lane Departure Alert w/ Steering Assist is a semi-active system. It does not actively keep the car centred. It's a warning system that has the ability to nudge you back into the lane if you drift out of it but will not keep you centred.
    8. Yes. You can search the forum for "Comma ai" or "OpenPilot". There are a handful of members that have installed this system
     
    #2 Tideland Prius, Apr 27, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 6, 2020
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  3. schja01

    schja01 One of very few in Chicagoland

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    1. it seems (some) Primes left idle for an extended period deplete their 12volt batteries.
     
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  4. Rob43

    Rob43 Senior Member

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    I'll second this thought, take a voltmeter with you & measure the 12v battery.

    I'd tell you any 12v battery measurement at or below ~12.30 volts means you should bargain for a better purchase price. If you have to buy a new 12v battery anytime soon, it will cost you roughly $150 dollars.


    Rob43
     
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  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome!

    keep in mind, there's a $4,500. fed tax credit on a new prime, so take that into account on a used one.

    energy savers will maintain similar mpg, providing a smoother, quieter ride.

    the gps is horrible, but semi useful

    all the best!(y)
     
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  6. PianoBench

    PianoBench Member

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    I actually prefer the 2017 Prius Prime 4 seat maximum capacity. I don't like to cram 3 passengers into the back seats. It is already cramped back there! And I almost exclusively driven alone in the car. So the missing 3rd seat instead are cup holders and have an added storage tray in there! I think that is a better bonus then a 5th passenger!

    Other than that the 2017 Prime is fantastic! Mine has 33,000 miles and absolutely no problems. Brakes are maybe 85% worn from new? At the 30,000 mile mark I had averaged 101 mpge from new. So I maybe filled her up less than 30 times.

    But then I switched over to a 225/45r17 tire and mileage has dropped a lot. I now average about 86 mpge! But I like the larger and gripper tires. =)
     
    #6 PianoBench, Apr 27, 2020
    Last edited: Apr 28, 2020
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  7. mmerchan

    mmerchan Junior Member

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    Thanks for the prompt answers, good to know

    Thanks for the answer and of course I expect better grip but you will sacrifice mpg, now how many miles last the original tires on your car?

    Thanks good tip I'll keep in mind
     
    #7 mmerchan, Apr 28, 2020
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 28, 2020
  8. mistermojorizin

    mistermojorizin Active Member

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    11" screen rebooting, screws in rear tires, no tire monitoring, no spare tire, little space, creaks, easily dented sheet metal, easily chipped windshield, everything's expensive to replace (there's sensors in the bumper points that often get hit, windshield has to be calibrated with camera, rear windshield an unusual shape), re-engaging adaptive cruise control can be tricky (compared to my last car which was a '15 sonata), tough using 11" screen for a bunch of basic functions like AC, fastest type of charging still takes 2hrs for 25mi. i love the car, just thinking about things i've been apprehensive about.

    On the plus you can replace the headunit. The advanced headunit seems to be a different generation hardware than 2020. But I keep hoping (for android auto in my case).
    No, because it doesn't have lane keep assist (LKA). I've read some older gens have that and TSS-2.0 has that. Prius is compatible with comma.ai though as an aftermarket solution.
    lots of people on their discord report good results, but not as good as with TSS-2.0.
     
    #8 mistermojorizin, Apr 30, 2020
    Last edited by a moderator: May 1, 2020
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  9. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    No but it can!

    comma.ai – Introducing openpilot
     
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  10. PT Guy

    PT Guy Senior Member

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    2) The original tires are low rolling resistance tires. Even if they weren't, throwing away decent tires to replace with LRR will never pay off. As Tideland said above, replace the tires if you have a good functional reason to do so, not to gain a couple of mpg or a mile or two of battery range.

    There is no industry spec for LRR tires. They are whatever the tire maker wants to call them.

    We like our 2017 Prime a lot. I did replace the Toyo NanoEnergy tires with Bridgestone's 3rd generation DriveGuard run-flat tires. The Toyos (and maybe the Bridgestone Ecopia) have a very light, thin casing to be part of the LRR. The size of one screw hole in the Toyo got me to dump them for the RFT. The RFT is heavier, but the battery range/mpg hasn't taken a big hit. Alternately, some carry a full size spare or a compact spare strapped down behind the seat or in the back. A Corolla spare fits the Prius.
     
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  11. heiwa

    heiwa Active Member

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    4) Yes, you can send address from your phone via Entune app to your car if you have a Safety Connect subscription.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  12. schja01

    schja01 One of very few in Chicagoland

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    Pretty sure the sync occurs via Bluetooth or usb.
     

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  13. mmerchan

    mmerchan Junior Member

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    Finally I pulled the trigger and got my Prime from Carvana, took the car to the dealership and get full inspection, also the car still under full warranty from Toyota until April 2021 so I hope I can keep the car a long time free of problems.

    I really love the HUD, the JBL is sweet, power seat with lumbar support, looking forward to activate the remote apps and know I can survive without the Apple carplay, I test drove a chevy Volt 2017 Premier and I loved how they improved from the first generation but don't like the hard plastic everywhere, the Bose audio system is not impressive, they could add power seat with lumbar support so this time I preferred to go with Toyota reliability.

    Once again thanks for all your advice and feel free to ask me questions regarding Chevy Volt.
     
  14. Washingtonian

    Washingtonian Senior Member

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    I have a question concerning your car being under full warranty from Toyota until April 2021. I also have a 2017 Advanced and it was warranted for 36 months from when I purchased it in March, 2017. Did you purchase an extended warranty?
     
  15. AldoON

    AldoON Member

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    Congrats on the purchase! I got a used 2018 Prius Prime a few weeks ago... Has the big screen but not the HUD or BSM.

    I'm super happy so far.

    One thing I hate is no physical knobs to turn the AC on or off. Takes a couple of presses on the touch screen :( I seriously debated getting the base model instead because of it...

    Warranties are a waste of money in my opinion... Dealers make money on them and it comes from your pocket ;)
     
  16. t_newt

    t_newt Active Member

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    I have the basic 2017 (Prime Plus) and I can send destinations to my car.

    The EnTune App on the phone opens with a search bar 'Where would you like to go?" Enter in your location, and when you find it on the map, save it.

    The trick is in the car's menu, don't go to Navigation. Go to 'Saved Destinations'. It gets the list of destinations from Entune on your phone. When you find the desired destination in the list, press it, and a 'Map' button will show up in the corner. Press that and it takes you to that destination in Navigation. Now you can tell it to navigate to that address.

    I don't know if this works with the Advanced Prime.

    I usually use Google Maps on my phone though. I'm not spending > $100 to update the maps in my car.
     
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  17. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Ohh I see. Ok I'll have to amend my previous post. Thanks!
     
  18. mmerchan

    mmerchan Junior Member

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    I have the opportunity to find this car built on 2017 but was sold on April 2018 so I still have some miles under warranty, I didn’t get any extended warranty.
     
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  19. mmerchan

    mmerchan Junior Member

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    I happy to hear you got your 2018 Prius, I have the good luck to find one 2017 sold on April 2021 and still under warranty with low mileage, I agree with you regarding get extra warranty and more for such car with this long history from the previous generations in terms of reliability.
     
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  20. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Congrats on new to you PRIME. I just traded my 2017 Prime with 2020 Prime and thinking who would actually buy used 2017 Prime when I can buy a brand new 2020 Prime cheaper with a total of $9500 rebates and discounts. I am suspecting many of the used PRIME from CARB states with heavy discounts are sold in states where no PRIME inventories. Do you know where your used PRIME was previously registered?
     
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