3 years in to Prius C ownership. Mostly love, a tiny bit of hate.

sounds about right.

 

One beef I'd have, just vicariously, from what I've read here: 12 volt battery access, under rear seat. I believe early c's didn't even have a jumpstart point under the hood.

I keep thinking that Toyota's fondness for unconventional 12 volt locations is some senior exec's pet preference; no one's got the nerve to go against them.

 

i'd say some engineer is getting too 'germanic'. when i drove mercedes, i used to take them to a specialist for service. part of the fun of ownership was chatting with him while he did his thing and explained things to me. (yes, i paid for that too) but whenever i asked 'why would they do that' his standard answer was, 'because they could'.

 

Those seem like things you can improve on.

For wind noise try rain guards
For road noise, a different tyre when replacement time arrives

 

and sound deadening matte.

 

Toyota is not the only marque that puts its 12V batteries under the seat. I was down in FL and my 92 year old uncle's older GM car (can't remember the year and make as they all look the same to me) had a dead battery. I looked under the hood and in the trunk. Luckily he had the owner's manual, the battery was under the rear seat and was a pain to change. The Volvo station wagon my X now owns has a battery under the rear cargo area.
Having said the above, I wish my 2012 C had jump start terminals under the hood, but, that's a small complaint against an almost perfect car for my needs.

 

Agreed +1.

 

there are some threads here in detail, an easy one is under the spare tyre, maybe the rear fenders. might be worth a try, but then it gets into removing door panels and carpeting.

 

Finding a car that you love: Great.
Finding out that that car is both very frugal and very reliable: Priceless!

Good Luck with the "C"

I look forward to the first 100,000 mile report!

 

Must have been added for the 2014 "refresh".

Accessing the 12 volt battery simply requires removing the passenger's side trim which is underneath the rear seat cushion (removing the two remaining trim panels, middle and driver's side, gets you to the traction battery.

There is a non-intuitive protective cover over the +'ve terminal, which is towards the outside of the car. The -'ve terminal is towards the inside of the car, and which may require an additional trim panel removal.

 

and to swap the battery?

 

Pull up on the cushion's releases, one per side, and lift the cushion up and off.

The complete procedure can be found in the Toyota Prius c Dismantling Guide, a PDF which is available on the 'Net.

That procedure covers both the 12 volt auxiliary battery and the traction battery.

 

i prefer it in the trunk, but i suppose with the c, trunk space is valuable real estate.

 

I’ve had my C4 for 3 years also. I came to my senses this week and aborted a trade in on a V. The V is an awesome car, but my C is nearly paid for, 41k miles, 4 years left on the warranty, ultra-reliable and efficient. I would have lost too much $ in the trade.

1) One thing that has bugged me for a long time was the passenger front door squeaked when closed and driving. Very irritating. I figured I would have to take it to the dealer for repair. Just this week I read about lubricating the door seals with silicon spray. I sprayed it on a cloth and wiped down the door seals. Could not believe that cured the squeaking. So I lubed all the door opening seals and it is now like driving a new quiet car.

2) The road noise generated by the factory Bridgestone tires. I have lived with it long enough. Local dealer has Ecopias on sale with a $70 rebate for four. It is time to bite the bullet and get new tires. These are supposed to be much quieter tires, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

3) The right front passenger door sounds hollow when you slam it closed. The other doors do not, so I want to dynamat the interior sheet metal to see if it cures that.

4) I put Weathertech mats up front and in the cargo area. Those mats are great but for some reason I did not do the rear passenger areas. So will get one of those soon. I have the original like new carpet mats so will craiglist them I guess.

Overall I am happy with the car other than the above items. The AC is fantastic, the sound system is great, and the navigation sucks so I use my smartphone for that. Fill-ups every 3 weeks or so is priceless.

 

Funny, that.

Both my 2014 Prius c One's and my 2014 Prius LB Two's driver door makes a hollow sound, when shut.

The c was bought brand new. The LB was bought used, and has not been in any wreck, all body components bearing the car's VIN number on their respective certificates.

I believe the windshield may have been replaced at some time as there is no Toyota indicia on it. But, there is Toyota indicia on every other component.

Here, we have to compete on our roadways with lots of heavily loaded trucks, both agriculture product transports, and even some aggregate product transports, and these can be very hard on windshields.

 

i always try to shut my door, before my wife slams hers, air being compressed inside the car cushions the blow.

 

This is a real problem. Whenever I start to think I might want to make an automotive change, regular ICE gas mileage seems so unacceptable.

When other models are bragging about how great their gas mileage is, and at it's best it doesn't match The Prius at it's worst.

Then I sit in my car at the drive through, and notice my vehicle is the only one quiet, not running and burning gas. How can you NOT like that?

 

What kind of silicon spray are you using?