Mice issues in Gen 5?

Listen to your wife... Or buy a Gen4 Prius... Gen5 are not available to purchase without a long wait and are ridiculously overpriced. They also have significant design defects, currently undergoing a recall for months that's shut down production. They also are more expensive to operate than a regular Prius and have less interior space, as well as lots of people are having problems with the control panel and entertainment system.

 

It's not that deep. It's a rear door issue, it's not that big of a deal since the "lock doors while in drive" is default enabled and negates the issue. And it seems like a fairly quick fix where they swap the module for a better sealed one. There's the rear trunk plastic breaking for a few people but it's not critical nor is it widespread. So why make it sound like these things are rolling disasters? It's not a cybertruck lol.

 

I had the same response to this post as Soft_R had. I've had none of these problems. The production shutdown that was mentioned was implemented so that the new door parts could be obtained.

Even so... Every time in the last year that I've been to a dealer to evaluate a Prius they have had one available, and when I decided to buy I drove one home that day. For that matter, In 2002 my local dealer told me that there was a 6 month wait for a model shipped from Japan. The next morning I picked up the exact car that I wanted at a dealer 15 miles away. In 2019, I was told by a different local dealer that it was hard to find a Gen 4 Prius Prime. I drove one home that afternoon. In January of this year I was told that they were hard to get. I noticed one in the sales lot. My wife OK'd the color and I traded my 2017 for the new one, then drove the Gen 5 home.

If you only look once, they may seem hard to find. If you check daily you are likely to find a car quick than you expect.

 

The issue isn't the size of the holes in the undercarriage that allows mice and other rodents to get into the engine bay. It's the soy-based plastic harnesses that they like to chew on which attracts them.

Your best bet is to make friends with stray cats or set mice traps around the car.