Disappointments in my 2025 Prius Plug-in XSE Premium

And what's up with all the FUGLY color choices on new Toyota vehicles lately?

Seems to be going to the Henry Ford model of you can have any color you want as long as it's black. If I'm paying $50K for a vehicle how about a little more choice on exterior and interior colors instead of black on black or muddy blue w/black interior

Maybe it's a Canadian problem with Toyota shipping us a limited sh*tty color pallet. Or maybe being a dust or salt spot magnet is the look they are going after.

 

That's Reservoir Blue. A wonderful color.

 

If you'll notice, it's not just Toyota but cuts across many brands and products other than cars, like clothes and appliances. It's determined years in advance. You can imagine the size of Toyota's paint order and the lead time it takes to fill it. Having said that, I can't explained the popularity of battleship gray. I've read that white is the most popular color historically and it's not a particularly attractive one either.

 

You get the yellow on the Prius PHV. We don't.
Toyota has always had a drab palette for most of their models in North America.

 

I couldn't believe that red or white were $500 options!

 

This is what I was told is the reason for the extra cost over the other colors.

 

And yet a nice glossy black will show Orange Peel type defects the drop of a hat

 

Lexus gets the cool colors

 

maybe. ...... if there are really that many folks that want their car to look like their ride is straight out of Compton (Coincidentally my childhood stomping grounds - where I had to run for my life on more than one occasion LOL)



- even though most peeps prefer colors that are likely to sell quickl-y some 7 to 10 years down the road - versusa non-standard color. Ever wanted to buy a house right next to somebody whose home was painted purple?

 

Some know, & some don't. But yeah it is the trend.

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2025/08/chevy-silverado-ev-trail-boss-and-rst-lack-this-important-feature/

Don't be surprised if this continues through other models & manufacturers

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If you keep your tires properly maintained and avoid giant potholes, you will never have a catastrophic tire failure and never need a spare tire. For nails in tires, a digital tire pump in the trunk is what you need, not a spare tire.

 

Sure right. No such thing as rain or fog or congested traffic or combos thereof - that causes untold drivers to accidentally blow tires in big big holes? That's funny



That $1,200 set of Goodyear wrangler above - w/ <22K miles went byebye due to pothole sidewall damage that happened in the dark. Just try & pump 80psi in sidewall damage.

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Did you call AAA to put on the spare?

 

One of the first things I did after purchasing my GMC was to op-test the jack and the spare - because as it turns out, there are other road hazards besides potholes - which are usually not a hazard at all if you're the least bit attentive as a driver.
It also helps if you have adult-sized tires.
As mentioned above however - even attentive drivers hit potholes which CAN take out a large tire, and AAA is not always readily available (30++ year member.)
In addition to holes - road debris can also destroy a tire beyond the ability to repair.
If somebody is comfortable driving without a spare?
More power to them!
Tow truck drivers need to eat and raise their families too.

I attempted for a few months to buy a Toyota truck instead of another full-sized GMC but one of the strikes against them was the fact that most Toyota Tacomas come with a "convenience spare" rather than a true full-sized matching wheel and tire.
Price, dealerships, and Toyota's corporate culture ultimately ended my three month search for a Tacoma.
I don't give a crap about the wheels matching, but their spares are only convenient for the manufacturer.
My company Jeeplet does have a spare (and a jack) but it's one of those eensy-weensie useless little doughnut spares so the last time I took a nail in a tire with that car I did a roadside repair with a plug kit and the jack that came with the car - and a 12vdc pump.
I've used a doughnut spare in other company cars over the years - but only to immediately limp the car to the barn for a proper replacement.

 

Those truck wheels/tires look quite sporty. Low profile? On a truck? Not a great trend.

I blew out two sporty Bridgestone 'run flats' on a granite curb in the dark. Another in a pothole. Those tires were the worst.

I had a used truck once, for a few months, so I'm not qualified to talk. But, here in upstate NY, land of salt galore in winter, I can't imagine those spares come off easy. Unless you're very diligent, who dismounts that spare periodically to lubricate stuff, maybe even air up the tire, lol?

 

Full size & heavy duty truck spare tires crank down from underneath - using a 3ft or so long handle. The handle is inserted through a 3ft tube



The tube has a locking cap (which utilizes the ignition key hidden in the fob) that theoretically protects from theft. Oh yeah, it protects from theft all right. What a stupid idea. Driving one too many a dirt road - the lock was full of road crud. Setting up the 4 ton jack & changing the spare was a 20 minute job. But trying to WD40-douche out that stupid tire lock? & remove the plastic tube that prevented access in order to crank the spare down? In the dark? Yeah that took another 30 minutes or so. Still faster than waiting for AAA.

Probably just the angle of the pictures. They're full size but when a truck is lifted I suppose it makes the tires look smaller than they are.

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The extra height sure make it easier to crawl under to pull the crank lock off

 

My original dodge Dakota tires were 20 years old and had 30k on them when I sold it.
Never rotated and never touched the spare, which was probably rusted to the under carriage

 

I got the supersonic red (with black molding) on my 2025 RAV4 XSE plug in for no extra charge over the gray model they had on the lot.
Its pretty shiny, but I don't regret the choice.

 

I had a red '76(?) Fiat 128. It turned pink in 2 years. No more red cars for me.