Whoa. Past a year with this XW60... The actual fuel economy has been, well duh, amazing. 65+ is quite easy, and I'm probably not taking advantage of the more hardcore, nickel-hydride-era tqs yet. Currently 62.4 mpg indicated. Things I like (hopefully not echoes from the 11- and 9-mo updates... but that's being near 60 for you): -- Jesus, this seat is far better than I expected for a Prius. Nice subtle yet effective bolstering, for the oft maneuver around jerkoff ICE-only heaps around me, seeing a Prius and figuring 'well I'll pull in front of him and slow way down, *that'll* teach him a lesson'. Um, not with the same power-to-weight of a 3rd-gen Supra, you won't Have them wrapped in Skechers (steadyyy ) memory foam seat covers... which surprisingly haven't fallen apart yet, quite the opposite actually. May buy another set tbh, before they disappear in this ongoing covid-era scorched-earth of product quality / value in this country... -- my last car, the 10th-gen Civic hatch, needed alignment every 3 - 6 mos, on 40-series tires. The XW60's remained quite stable over a year (just got it looked at last svc & didn't need it -- so yay 60-series tires on Maui), as well as handles with the same precision now as from the showroom. Tires will need to be replaced late next year probably; the OEM Toyo Extensa IIBs are a rather pink-eraser-like 300 B A UTQG (vs. the Civic's Continental Contipro Contact's 500 AA A). -- was a bit down seeing juuust this side of orange-peel in the OEM paint on delivery... but apparently not faring too bad with all the rock-flinging lo-profile knobbies on every lifted pickup here. Helps I gap a bit which reduces the closer-I-am-slower-you-go douchery... but have heard some pretty hard hits from one or more of these on the front clip... and so far, only two actual breeches of the clearcoat, in a year. Have applied at least 30 weekends of ceramic sacrificial ablative coating to the car to protect its unfortunate silver-flake paint (one day, I'll actually get a color *I* want, buying a new car ). But helps the OEM paint's pretty durable, esp compared to the Civic's. Things I don't like: -- what on earth is in the dash buzzing? Intermittent, but when it's on, Christ-on-a-stick it's obnoxious. Make my Prius lightweight, Toyota engineers... but don't slap plastic labyrinth HVAC door actuators in it with tonnes of clearance to make them work before they dry up their lube and shatter, like in late-2010s Lexus RX350s (which btw, take 10 hrs of shop time to REMOVE THE STEERING WHEEL / CLADDING PLUS ENTIRE DASH AND ALL COMPONENTS INCLUDING THE STEEL BAR SUPPORT AND CENTER CONSOLE, to replace one stupid broken plastic tchochke... which btw is accessible from the passenger footwell but unitised for no good reason but profit). Rather low-rent sound I'd expect in an Echo, not an XW60 (and probably the same system in the $35K Prime wailing like that, a giant dragonfly center-mass about a foot deep under the dash). -- have been seeing a tendency for the shifter to just shift when it wants, despite very intentional push-to-side-then-forward for R. Just R, never D. Not slamming on the shifter either, so wondering if it's an adjustment issue I need to address at the dealer. Disappointing if it is... because if it went out from working fine off the dealer lot to intermittently ignoring me in 13 months... it's gonna do it again. -- who decided I can't open the door and drive at walking pace? Need to see the white line if I'm going to park straight, Toyota -- call off your klaxon bloodhounds pls. -- parking sensors, especially the rear ones, squawk when trees are 10m away from me, or people are walking across the street, or when nothing's there at all. This is esp jarring, when the system decides to intervene, by mashing the figurative brake pedal to. the. wood. Happened twice now, once in traffic (thought the lady behind me had tapped me, until looking at the pristine bumper and her metal plate holder that defo would've scratched me), and once in an empty parking lot. Give me an OTA update for this, for eff's sake -- TPSes are getting less accurate over time vs my JACO ElitePro electronic tire pressure gauge (top product in a Project Farm YT review)... but that's not a Toyota problem methinks. Still get best mpg / performance compromise F 38 / R 40, so see no need to change it... just can't trust the TPS readings anymore. More later
To your problems with the shifter: Pay attention to if it only happens just after you've started the car, or if it happens at other times as well. If it only happens just after start, it's you and not the car. I've noticed the gen5 takes a fraction of a second longer to be ready to shift compared to the gen3. It took me months to retrain my muscle memory to give the car just a little bit more time to finish its startup routine before trying to shift, and I still rush it every now and then. If you're only having the shifting problem immediately after startup, you're probably doing the same thing. Just slow down your startup routine the tiniest amount and your problem will go away. For those coming over from a gen3(maybe also a gen4 - I don't know), another tiny difference is the brake pedal and starting. Either you need to press the brake pedal just a touch harder, or the time between pressing it and then pressing start needs to be just a little bit longer. In any case, I had my timing down just perfect after 13 years in a gen3. That timing is just the tiniest bit too quick for the gen5(like a third of a second too quick) and I had to do a bit of relearning. This wouldn't apply to someone coming from a non-hybrid or a non-Toyota because everything would be different in those cases.
I agree with this, and I find it very annoying. There is also a similar slight delay in opening the back doors.