Prime premium vs advanced

The Advanced has all the premium plus the below.

• LED fog lights and LED accent lights
• Rain-sensing Variable Intermittent windshield wipers
• Entune™ Premium JBL® Audio with Integrated Navigation, App Suite and 11.6-in. HD Multimedia Display
• Heated steering wheel
• Auto-dimming rearview mirror with HomeLink® universal transceiver
• Cargo area heavy sliding tonneau cover
• Color Head-Up Display (HUD) with speedometer, navigation, Hybrid System Indicator, battery charge, and Toyota Safety Sense - P™ alerts
• Intelligent Clearance Sonar (ICS) with Intelligent Parking Assist (IPA)
• Blind spot monitor (BSM) with Rear Cross-Traffic Alert (RCTA)
• Prius Prime Apps - Includes Charge Management, Remote Climate, Charging Station Map, Vehicle Finder, ECO Dashboard, Push Notifications

 

I settled on the Premium for the $4500 price difference, but would have liked to have a heated steering wheel and the mirror with the garage door opener built in. I have wondered if there is any reason for me to get the Toyota app for my phone- is there much it will do for me with a Premium rather than the Advanced features?

 

I have driven my Advanced for two months and have used and enjoyed some of these and will probably never or seldom use some.
LED fog and accent lights - Haven't used fog lights and don't see the accent lights
Rain-sensing wipers - I enjoy this in our wet NW climate. Was thinking about turning on the wipers when a few drops of rain fell and they automatically came on and then off. Made my day.
Entune - Maybe the superior JBL speakers and audio is worth extra. When listening to FM radio is is nice to know that I have the best system.
Heated Steering Wheel - I will probably never use this.
Auto dimming mirror and HomeLink - Not sure about auto-dimming mirror, but used homelink from day one. If it didn't have it I would have to figure out a way to add it. It was standard on my Miata which cost $10K less than the Prius.
Cargo area sliding cover - useful, I use it, but could live without it.
HUD - I really like this. I set it to show hybrid system, miles to go on battery and how much I am adding to or subtracting from it as I go up and down hills, plus a speedometer.
Intelligent clearance sonar and RCTA - I like that it shows how close I am to something when parking, but so far I have been afraid to use the intelligent parking assist.
BSM and RCTA - BSM is really helpful when driving on the freeway. the RCTA saved me one day when backing out of a parking space at Costco and I didn't see a car coming by. It told me to STOP and I think it helped me brake, too.
Prius Prime Apps - The vehicle finder might be useful, but I will probably lose my vehicle before I figure out how to use it.

 

Auto park is my least wanted feature in the advanced. It's all the other safety stuff and the HUD that I opted for the advanced, plus the entune stuff (and remote climate).

I have auto park on my 2010 Prius and I don't even know where the switch is to initiate it. (I've never even wanted to try it)

 

I got an Advanced about 10 days ago and I'm glad I did. When I got a 2011 Prius, I got a 3 because I didn't think I wanted the extras in the 4, and was almost immediately sorry. I went to the dealer with the hope I didn't want the Advanced, but it took only a few minutes to decide it was worth it to me.

It depends on how much you like techie stuff I suppose. I know the parking will come in handy for me, when I have time to get comfortable with it. I am already finding the blind spot monitoring fantastic, and I thought the HUD was silly but I LOVE it. The rain sensing wipers are cool, and honestly the audio alone is nearly worth it for me. I don't care about safety connect, but the extra apps I can't imagine being without.

There's no right or wrong answer. What I learned last time is that just because I think I won't use something does not necessarily mean I won't regret it later. Very glad I did not repeat that mistake.

 

I was pretty much just like you. My 2014 was the three. As I usually do I went through the manual and found something that I wanted to adjust. No luck. The four had it. Mine didn't.

I test drive the Premium and immediately looked for the blind spot monitoring. I hate blank spots on dash and steering wheel. Asked my sales man. What about an Advanced.... I'm happy.

 

also, dealers are often willing to discount loaded cars, so the difference may be less than $4,000.

 

The HUD and blind spot monitoring were a big factor for our choice of the Advanced. For many years we've been put off by Gen 3 and Gen 4 Prius' due to the shift of the speedometer toward the center of the dash (more than in Gen 2). I'm sure you get used to it being toward the center but the HUD eliminates the issue entirely. Agree with the self-park, may try it once but not really a must have item.

 

If BSM and RCYA was on the premium then I would of bought it. But it wasn't.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I drive mostly on DRCC, so the speedometer in the middle (gen3) was just a mild annoyance. (I still haven't figured out why!)

 

Loaded by what?? Its standard factory equipment. Not additional accesories. The difference between MSRP and invoice on the advanced is $700. Dont expect a "discount"

 

I'm an expert on buyer's remorse when not buying the higher end package. Started with the 2001 Prius - I added a new steering wheel because the base model came without cruise control. Both my 2004 Prius were package 9, but the 2005 was a package 9 with leather. 2010 package 3 sat around since it didn't have the bells and whistles my wife liked in her 2004. Another 2010 with solar, leather, JBL, etc convinced her to move up to the 3rd generation. Bought fog lights to install, but that project has been on hold for a year. Had remorse with the 2012 plug-in base model...bought a factory homelink mirror within a week of buying the car. I also regret not inquiring about changing the wheels out on my 2017 Prime advanced. I am planning to put 215/45/17 tires and wheels to give me another 1/2 inch of ground clearance to avoid scraping the garage entrance dip. My wife still likes her 2010 because no sunroof in the 2017, although she drives both. Maybe the 2018 model will offer a solar sunroof option. I'll have to get one of those and replace the 2010 (to which I added the 2011 black stock rims, looks good with Blizzard Pearl).

Forgot to mention I added XM/Sirius factory (Pioneer brand) radios to both 2004 models and LED bulbs in the 2010 (has the factory defective wiring, so was going through bulbs every few months).

 

You have quite a Prii managery! 17" wheels is one thing I didn't want to get, but we'll see on the ground clearance when it will get here.

Good point about the homelink, I think that's only in the advanced and I really like that.

 

What is the cost for the mirror from Toyota and did you install it or have them do it? I take it the wiring harness in a Premium will already have the wire in place to bring electrical power to the new mirror, or there is another power source near by that it can attach to?

 

I sent you a PM- I purchased a premium and the only things I wish it had were the rear homelink and blind spot monitoring. That said, I purchased a homelink mirror out of an earlier Prius and installed it myself. Installation went smooth with no issues. They require power, switched power, and ground. I ran wires down to the fuse panel and used ATM-LP fuse taps (not the cheap kind that are unfused circuits) into the radio for switched and a 12V source for constant. I then grounded the ground wire to a bolt. I was not able to fit the fuse cover back on so I put it in the glovebox for reference.

I liked the setup so much I bought an extra mirror to do a friends car but they decided against it so now I have one laying around with everything to install it. PM me if interested in buying it-