4 Touring Test Drive First Impressions

I've had my eye on a new Prius for some time now. In Sept I start a new job that will have a 25 mile freeway commute and my 2004 Sienna has 285,000 miles on it so time for a newer and more reliable commuting car.

Yesterday I did the Costco car search thing and went down to the local dealer who responded. Took my wife along as she'll be driving it some, although she has a 2014 Highlander Limited so in no need of a new car. Based on the forums I wasn't sure whether I wanted the 4 or the Touring. We do like all the safety electronics that come with the 4 models and are used to them on the Highlander like the cruise control and lane change indicator. So pretty much were trying to decide between the 4 and the 4 Touring.

Only test drove the Touring and was pleasantly surprised. Did not feel like a tiny car at all the the tires were quite quiet on the freeways. Salesman said he had a guy who test drove both the 4 and the 4 Touring with a decibel meter and they couldn't detect any difference in road noise. I was a bit leery of the larger low profile tires on the Touring but didn't find any reason to dislike them. Car handled very nice. I didn't drive the 4 so I don't know what the HUD looks like but I don't want a sunroof so not really looking at that car.

Based on the brochures I thought I'd prefer the light interior but my wife quickly vetoed it. Too "storm trooperish" she said with the black and white combo that she called "unfortunate" So all black it will be I guess. I'd rather have a lighter color like a natural leather such as we have in the Highlander but that doesn't seem to be an option.

I walked in thinking that I'd prefer the silver but looking at them on the lot I think I like the white better. It would match our white Highlander. It will be one or the other.

I haven't studied the packages yet to figure out what choices I have with the 4 Touring.

Oh, and the salesman came out with the Costco Price sheet which was a straight $650 off the invoice. I haven't shopped around yet. I'm in the greater Portland area so have lots of dealers with lots of Priuses on the lots. Don't feel the need to squeeze out the last dime but want a decent price. Is that reasonable with the current offers or should I dicker around with other dealers?

 

Thanks.....

Sounds like reasonably useful features but nothing must-have. I learned to parallel park 35 years ago.

I did notice that one of the models on the lot had nice looking black rubber cargo area liners on the backs of the rear seats and on the bottom of the cargo area. I forgot to ask about that at the dealer but seems like something I'd want. That is the biggest hassle with keeping the highlander clean with the light tan carpeting on the back of the rear seats and in the cargo area.

Is that a package thing or something you need to get separately?

 

What is this center console cover of which you speak? Some after market accessory? Because I didn't like that white plastic look either.

As for the tires, I'm ambivalent. Frankly this is mostly going to be a commuting and local city car and our local roads in the Portland area are OK for the most part, especially by Northeast standards. For trips up to the mountains on forest service roads and the long road trips we have the AWD Highlander so I don't think I'll be driving it too aggressively in remote areas.

I've been watching Priuses for the past couple years and been thinking it will be my next car. I held out for the new 2016 revamp although my dad bought a 2015 last January which he really likes. Been sort of thinking about waiting for the plugin version later this year but I don't think it really makes sense for me as my drive is 25 miles one way and my job site has no charging available. So it wouldn't really work I don't think/

I may end up with a 3. I need to study the features quite a bit. We got the most fully loaded 2014 Highlander that was available sort of by accident. We were in Texas at the time but shopping for an AWD and all the dealers only had FWD Highlanders until we found the lone AWD Highlander in the entire Dallas metro area on a lot that was the white color my wife liked but that was the most fully loaded limited platinum edition available. She loves it but now we kind of like all those additional electronics that I probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise.