Got my '14 PiP

Well, I made the trip yesterday to get the car, and am now officially part of the PiP family.

Car had 39,916km on pickup, and the previous owner had only driven 8% in EV. Seems it was never reset (except for a 7km delta) so that was essentially lifetime. A bit disappointed they didn't think to charge the car before I came, so there was zero EV charge.

Car is in good shape and very clean interior, however there are a few minor scratches on the passenger side they "missed". Rubbing against brush type of scratches. All light surface scratches except the rear passenger bumper right behind the tire, which looks like someone may have lightly scraped against something. Again, very light, and in fact easily missed (they are very hard to photograph, a lot of camera would not even pick it up, such as you can't see it in the picture above). No door dings or dents at all. The sales rep said she is ordering me a paint pen and will send it to me.

One thing that is a bit more irritating is that the tonneau cover was missing, as well as the driver floor mat. They did throw in the Prius rubber floor mats, and the windows are tinted, with the hatch especially dark. Seems the previous owner decided to tint it very dark rather than use the cover, and who knows what happen to it.

I argued that the cover should be a 'given' since the car comes with it, and tried to get them to throw it in, but they wouldn't. They said 'used cars come as they are'. In the end, I did get a number of concessions from them, and I as just tired of negotiating with these people so I let it go, and I will get a used one. I wasn't about to walk away from the car for this, as annoying as it was.

On this note, can anyone confirm that the tonneau cover in the PiP and other Gen 3 is identical? I assume so. Unfortunately, my Gen 2 cover is about 3" too short.

Car has the original Ecopia tires, so I am probably good for one summer, maybe two before I need to replace them.

I had a 700km drive home, which took about 8 hours. Drive is very nice (DRCC is great!), and I averaged 4.2L/100km with zero wall charge, running on Eco most of the time (and A/C basically the whole time). I think my average speed was about 95km/h according to the car.

So, aside from the above minor quibbles, I am quite impressed with the car.

Cheers!

 

Thanks for the reply. I understand your viewpoint but I feel more cynical about the general public, since I am often downtown, and fairly often need to store valuables like a laptop computer, which I am rather partial to...

Yes, I did look in the small storage at the back, it is not there either. The EVSE was stored there and it was tested to work. The space is the perfect size for all my emergency items I used to carry under my floor in the gen 2. (Washer fluid, air compressor, traction aids, folding lug nut tire wrench, toque/gloves/scarf (for winter), and of course the EVSE). I do plan to pick up a tire plug kit to keep there as well, and I will keep the spare from my Gen 2 in the garage. No plans of using the tire goop, ever.

 

I like that it is an exclusive colour for the PiP. Makes the car stand out a bit more than it already does.

 

Yes, I know there is a kit under the seat, though I haven't checked it out yet.

I have heard it ruins the sensors (whether it is true or not), I don't intend to find out.

I just keep a portable electric compressor in case I have a soft tire, and I will keep a spare at home (and have CAA (Canada's AAA)) should I ever get a flat that I cannot just pump air back into temporarily.

I generally stay in well-populated areas (and I generally pay attention to my car and things like tire pressure) so lack of spare never bothered me.

 

Me too, I always pulled the cover closed on my '06, except if I had something large or tall (like a trunk full of groceries or Costco purchases) in which case I would fold the lip backward and have the added vertical space up to the glass. When my kids were younger and one of them was in a stroller, I used to take my full-size Graco SnugRide stroller in the car by folding it up, standing it on the right side edge with wheels facing the back of the rear seat, with a single bungee cord running from one headrest to the other to hold it upright. Plenty of vertical space, and that left ~ 50% of the trunk for other stuff. The tonneau cover folded back was part of this (thus the relevance of this story ). Sorry I don't have a picture handy (and gave that stroller away last year), but a great example of the versatility of hatchbacks, and the Prius Gen 2 in particular.

As far as durability, I often used the cover as a convenient place to lay out my suit jacket between meetings, if I didn't feel like hanging it. It is fairly durable on the Gen 2.