Reviewing the Prius Plug-In Base after 550 miles

This review is intended for people who are about to purchase the Prius Plug-in Basic model, who may have experienced the same love/hates, and who are trying to debate between buying a basic or advanced model..
Updated at 2000 miles.

A little bit about my previous vehicle experience as a baseline comparison -
Previously owned a Toyota Corolla 1998 LE (cloth seats, CD, powered window), then a Nissan Altima 2010 SL with rearview camera, leather seats and moonroof. No GPS.

Prius Plug-In 2012 basic package.

Pros

1. MPG - Save gas. No doubt about it.
   1. No more guiltiness when pressing the brake.
2. EV mode - quiet and reasonable speed up time from 0 to 50mph (maybe even 60).
3. Handling - like any Toyota car, Prius has a very responsive handling.
4. Exterior style - A huge going green icon, although out-green by the LEAF and others.
5. Stable turn due to lower center of gravity compared to Nissan Altima
6. Adequate interior head and foot room compared to a similar compact or mid-sized sedan.
7. Trunk space - adequate when pulling down 2 back seats and removed the retractable shade.
   1. 4 little hooks inside trunk for ropes to secure luggages.
8. Easy to get in/out because this car is taller than a regular sedan.
9. Price + gov rebates = Cheaper than Volt, Ford Fusion Hybrid, LEAF, etc....except that Ford C Max Energi is catching up.
10. Fun to drive - for the tech savvy drivers and hypermilers.
11. Keyless entry on front 2 doors + trunk. No buttons to press.
12. Interior lights will illuminate when you approach the car with key in pocket.
13. Automatic day/night brightness on MID,HSI and entertainment system screens. When headlamps are on, the brightness automatically reduced. On cloudy days with headlamps on, brightness can still be manually adjusted to be in day mode easily.
14. California specific - HOV lane sticker
15. GPS map deems reliable, more so than the current Apple Map. Oh, Google Map is already back to iOS 6.

Neutrals

1. I used to love the auto-dimming rearview mirror in the Nissan, but the Prius rear windshield bar does the job blocking high beamers. I thought I would miss the auto-dimming but not really.
2. Backup camera works, but produces grainy images at night. (more grainy than the Nissan's backup camera..)
3. USB and audio port - they are at the right place (center compartment between front seats). I dreaded to see these ports exposing above the glove compartment in the Prius C...
4. Annoying control mirroring (touch tracer) on the ODO meter dashboard - Luckily I can turn this feature off. Thank God!

Cons:

1. Lack of individuality!
   1. Nobody in my family recognize MY Prius over other Priuses...even after 2 months...
   2. Only few exterior colors to choose from. No black or navy colors. Update - my work garage has 5+ plug-in Prius and 2 of them have an identical exterior color as mine. I might need to stick a tennis ball on the antenna as someone suggested.
   3. Lack of interior color options. Everyone ends up with a dark gray cloth or leather seats.
2. Powerless in hybrid mode, especially on a windy uphill freeway when a BMW (or Mercedes etc.) flashing behind you.
3. Smaller battery compared to Volt, LEAF, Tesla, etc. Very short EV distance. It only lasts 10 ~ 15 miles according to this forum.
4. Unresponsive entertainment system in the basic model-
   1. Takes 5 seconds for the system to realize that I pressed the "next/previous song" button on the wheel.
   2. Takes 5 seconds (or even longer) to boot up navigation
   3. Old school style to enter address in the navigation (city->street->#...), and it is responding so slowly (5 seconds to process each part of the address) that I have to go back to iPhone...
      1. Note: PiP Advance model allows turning off auto-complete in settings when entering address. Basic model does not.
   4. Takes 3 seconds to display the audio source selection panel on the touch screen
5. Old school style cruise control - it can be a pro if you are used to this. I would prefer the control to be mounted on the wheel as buttons like Nissan does.
6. Confusing windshield wiper control for the rear windshield wiper - Have to look at it in order to change the setting. A minor issue though.
   1. Update - I finally got used to it and can control it without looking after 10+ rainy days.
7. Trunk space - Very limited considering you have to hide your stuffs under the pull-on shade in the City.
8. Cheap looking trims in the basic model. It doesn't appear to be a 30k+ car at all. A basic Infinite G37 costs about the same.
   1. Someone argued that Prius is not even made to pretend to be a luxurious car anyways. Prius does pretend to look like a high-tech car, at least to my friends.
9. LOUD beeping INSIDE the car when you backup, not outside. - Luckily it can be turned off at the dealer. Wish the cars just come with one beep by default, and whoever needs it can go to the dealer and turn it on.
10. Oh, the air vent blades are much deeper than other cars - that translates to fewer options when getting a car mount for smartphones. I am getting a CD mount made by Mountek.
11. Fan system - Even when auto-fan button is OFF, but the fan setting will reset itself every 5 minutes or so if the temperature is set to be different from the outside temp. For example, at minute 0 I switched the air to come out from the top vents, and lowered the speed to 1. Temperature was set to higher than outside temperature. A/C is OFF. After 5 minutes of driving on freeway without touching any buttons, the fan would SET ITSELF back to come out from the bottom vents, and speed becomes 3. Very annoying!
    1. Update - Fellow PIP driver pointed out that the inside temperature setting actually triggers Auto-mode.
12. Cup holders - Only hold 2 cups, wallet/cell phone/keys space down below the cup holders. I just never leave these things there because I am worried about forgetting them when leaving the car. The bottle holder on the door is tighter than the cup holder. My water bottle actually does not fit in the bottle holder. Prius' cup holder is also too deep for frozen yogurt cups.
13. Smaller gas tank. 10.5 gallons last only about 500 miles if no plug in. No charging station at work for me so I must fill up every week.
14. During rainy days, backup camera is blocked by raindrops most of the time, unlike Nissan Altima, which does a better job in this.

Problems

1. ROAD NOISE - I am not sure if it is only my car or any Prius. It is much noisier than the 3 year old Nissan Altima when driving at a speed of 70 MPH and up (am a speedy person). At high speed, the Prius is almost as noisy as my 1998 Corolla with very old rubber and poor insulations.

Overall, a very decent, affordable, feature-packed plug-in hybrid car for daily commute. Basic model interior trim is a disappointment for people who come from luxurious cars. There are some nice little details in the car to be discovered after driving for a while. Entertainment system is below expectation. Interior trim needs some improvements.


*By the way, I think Nissan designers paid a lot more attention to detail in the Nissan Altima than those in Toyota Prius in interior design and entertainment system performance.
*Why I didn't compare a Chevy Volt? Missing the middle passenger seat in the back was a deal breaker. I sometimes take a nap in the back of my car, so the Volt has a center cup holder and battery pack to prevent me from sleeping comfortably - not because I carry 4 passengers often.

 

The temperature setting may be the answer I guess. However, why would it go back from top vents to the bottom vents? May the bottom vents be more efficient at boosting the cabin temp?

 

Will test again when driving next time. Thanks for your reply!

 

Very good question! If I have $80k budget, I would get a Tesla.
If I have time, I would wait for a couple more years to buy a better built EV.

If I were back to the same situation - no big budget and no wait time, I would buy the PIP again. Advance model is not for me. I would love to shell out extra $4k to get the advance package if it comes with solar moonroof. Too bad they wanted to keep the weight down, and the advance package is $8k more expensive without the moonroof.

BTW, my dealership offered a regular moonroof option for $1600. How many people would want it at this price?