New 2024 Prime XSE Premium - Hotdog's ramblings

So, some of you might have seen me complaining on the "recall" thread:
Safety Recall Rear Doors | PriusChat

I was one of the 'lucky' ones who put ~500 down on a car in February, the car *physically* arrived in Ohio in April, and... has been sitting since While other cars have been repaired 'at the dock', as of 2024-08-25, the 'ones at the dealer' showed no real signs of being fixed. After 130 days of waiting, my wife asked (the car is hers):

"So, do we need to look for another one?"

In my mind's eye, I never... 'thought' about that? I might not be the smartest man, but I honestly never pondered that. The one we had 'reserved' wasn't anything super special: It was literally a random "red Prime XSE Premium that just happened to be local". The dealer, to his credit, was incredibly kind throughout the whole ordeal of waiting, giving me updates which amounted to "we have no idea", and I did feel bad canceling my order with him.

As I watched the multiple forum threads, it was clear cars *WERE* coming over, from Japan, fixed. This pissed me off. I mean, I understand the LOGISTICS of it all, right? But still. I wanted a damn car.

So with that in mind, I hopped back on Toyota's site. Jacked the distance up to '500', and added one specific thingy: I wanted a solar roof. Why not? Why shouldn't we get a solar roof? I knew my wife would never use the sunroof (she doesn't like wind, and it'd literally never be opened). Her commute is ~35 miles a day, roundtrip, and she parks outside. the *idea* of a solar roof intrigued me. I demanded it. She didn't care. She just wanted a car. Ah, love.

Around Ohio, it was actually shockingly easy to find one: We had 4 within 400 miles. Called the closest one; it was sold. Second closest? "Sure, it's available" "Okay, I have money" "Good, we like money" "Let's do it!"

And with that, we are now the owners of:

2024-08-25 06_00_35-silver.jpg ‎- Photos by Hotdog453 posted Aug 25, 2024 at 6:01 AM

I mean, it's silver. And has a solar roof. You can all guess what it looks like...

Now, I broke my own rule, and did put a few hundred miles on it right off the bat. Not my finest, mechanical sympathy moment, and part of my brain is insanely angry at me, but hey: We needed a car.

We had rented a Prius from Turo prior, and had one for a week in San Diego from Turo as well, so we 'knew what it was like'. We like it, a lot. I would say the biggest thing we both noticed, coming from a Subaru (my car, a 2020 STI) and her car (a 2013 Mini), is just how much... 'more better' a modern Prius is than those cars. I know: It's not exactly shocking. But really, when reading reviews of cars, it's hard for context. It really depends WHAT you used to have. And for us, it's hilariously nice. We're not simpletons, hah, but like... I love my Subaru, right? But it's a loud, buzzy, plastic piece of crap on the road. This is... "nice". It has soft things. It's quiet. It's nice. It's a nicer car than a Subaru. Deep thoughts with Hotdog453 - Available now!

The one thing I do personally loathe is the rims: The 19/195 stuff I just find insanely enraging, and we've already fixed this: While the 'other' car was on order, I ordered two sets of the 17" "stock" rim, as well as tires, and those are sitting at the 'other' dealer. I debated pretty heavily about buying non-OEM rims, but it came down to:
1) It's my wife's car
2) She wants it to look normal
3) She was fine with the stock 17" rims
4) Aftermarket stuff looks... weird, on these cars. Sorry, not sorry, it's a Prius. I understand the love for Enkei and such, but it's like putting lipstick on a pig, IMHO. Each to their own

I ended up watching this far too many times: Prius vs GTI – Can tires help the Hybrid be a Hot Hatch? | Everyday Driver (youtube.com)

And ended up buying Michelin Pilot Sport 5 (lololz) in a 215/55/17, and for winter (since we've always run winter tires, but also since every car we've had, including her Mini, always had summer tires, making it a fairly self-fulfilling "you need to buy a shit ton of tires son" type prophecy...) Michelin X-Ice 215/55/17's as well.

Given it's still August, I plan/hope to get the Pilot Sport 5's installed this week; I'll update this thread with photos/thoughts on the tires. My tentative plan is to get them on this week, and then take a trip to "Triple Nickel": Motorcycle Guide - Map - Muskingum County - Zanesville, Ohio (visitzanesville.com) And then later this year, we will legitimately be down in North Carolina/TN again, and will run it through The Dragon: Exploring US 129: the Tail of the Dragon - Dreams Abroad

Do I expect amazing things? Nah. But I find it hilarious in general. I self amuse. That's very important in life.

My personal opinion of the 19s: They ride too rough. It's 'jarring', IMHO, in comparison to the 17s on the two Prius' we rented. Is it worth the MONEY to replace them with 17s? That's a personal opinion. You can all do the math on OEM rims and 'tires' for a brand new car, so realistically and 'logically', no, it's not worth the money. To me, it was just more of an annoyance/"I watched that damn YouTube video too much" sort of thing. Do not do what I do; my financial sense is warped.

Anyways, given it's my wife's car, and the fact it's... well, a Prius, there's only so many clever things we'll be doing. Tires/rims being the main one. For us, it's going to be the primary travel car; road trips, jaunts downtown in Columbus, trips in general. While I like my Subaru, she doesn't drive stick, and it's just... not great to drive long distances. It's mildly modified, running E85/tune, and gets about... 14MPG. It angers me to drive anywhere over '10 miles', as you can literally watch the gas gauge drop. Self-induced pain, I know.

I've already done the first oil change, at 450 miles. Did it need it? Probably not. Did I take great pleasure in changing the oil? I did. I am very easily amused. I am also *shocked* by how thin 0w16 oil is. I literally had never seen it before; all of my prior cars ran 0w-40, which compared to this stuff looked like damn SYRUP coming out, even warmed up. Jesus God almighty, it's like water. Pure water. I grew up on EvoX forums talking about oil, so I won't bore everyone with my ponderings on it all; I've gone down the rabbit holes of Mobil 1 vs OEM and the moly content, I have a damn spreadsheet of oil filter sizes/costs, but the main takeaway is: 0w16 is really thin. It scares me. The oil change was super easy, I tossed on a Fumoto valve for my later, far-too-often oil changes, and life goes on. Nothing better than working on a brand new car: Everything is so clean!

One thing I will re-iterate again, simply because I was truly shocked: The context of car reviews. I watched a TON of reviews on this thing, and all of them mention 'buzziness' or 'loudness'; while I won't disagree with the less-than-sexy tenor of the motor, so much of this is COMPARATIVE. For us, coming from a 2013 Mini and a 2020 STI? It's quiet, smooth, beautiful, and 'super nice', even with the 19s. I 100% recognize if we hopped in <a BMW> or something 'else' new and modern, then the comparison would be different, but I find some of the reviews almost... insulting, about how 'bad the engine sounds'. I mean, sure? But it's all relative, and it's just a weird comment at times...

Anyhoogle, Hotdog's rambling complete for today.

 

Thanks! Yeah, it does seem super solid. There's an overlap of 'things I can do that don't piss her off' too much, and she's used to the tire dance at least I am legitimately curious to know:

A) How much the Michelin summer tires, in 17s, will impact/change mileage, over the 'larger' 19s. It should 'increase' by being smaller/lighter, but might be 'offset' by the summer/less rolling resistance...
B) How much it will impact the ride quality

The former is directly measurable; the latter is more subjective.