Can't decide between Prius v Five or Prius v Three

First of all, the "leather" interior in our Prius v Five is really "vinyl". It feels more "leather-like" than some other vinyls but it does not have the appearance or feel of real leather. I would have preferred cloth seats over the vinyl ones but the ATP package was available only on the "Five" with vinyl seats.

It might be difficult since we are nearing the longest daylight periods of the year but you might want to test drive cars with halogen and LED headlights. There is nothing magic about LED or HID headlights. Some of the best headlights I have experienced were the halogen headlights on the $15,000 Smart ForTwo I rented last fall for a month which also had seats that were incredibly more comfortable and supportive than the ones in our Prius v Five.

An important (to us) aspect of the Prius v LED headlights are that they are auto-leveling - similar to the ones on our other primary vehicle.

IMO, the "big bang" of the Prius v Five is that it available with the Advanced Technology Package which we bought due to it including the "automatic braking" radar Pre-Collision (PCS) safety feature. Actually, the only reason we considered a Prius at all was that it was available with PCS - will never again buy a vehicle that does not have it or a similar system.

 

My 2009 Gen 2 Prius had the 3 door Smart Key, I really miss it in my v Three, it only has one door Smart Key.
(So just grabbing the passenger or hatch does not unlock them, only the driver's door is 'smart')

 

Also, the v5 is the only one which has all the electronic goodies available. So if you want those features, the v5 is the only option.

I have the v3, love it. Never been fan of leather (even softex) seats.

 

The dealer had a kit from the Toyota distributor installed in my v3 so I could get Softex. Ne seat heaters though.

 

Softex also emits fewer vocs than leather if you are concerned about that.

 

The v5 does have a bigger screen but the v3 navigation system is fully functional. I am very happy with my v3 since I did not want any leather or fake leather. My old Camry had leather and the kids would all complain bitterly in cold weather about how cold the seats were.

 

Only with the AT package AFAIK. I'll add that the 7" screen in the ATP is a huge improvement. Plus you get the very cool robotic disc loader.

 

You can always replace your halogen bulbs with HID bulbs. xenonsupply.com - H.I.D. kit. My personal review. | PriusChat