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Test drive of Prius v / 5 today

Discussion in 'Prius v Main Forum' started by rico567, Jan 17, 2013.

  1. rico567

    rico567 Junior Member

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    My wife and I drove the Prius v, level 5 today at Toyota of Danville, IL. Very positively impressed by the dealership. No appointment, just dropped by in the afternoon, ambushed them, told them we wanted to drive a 'v.' Good drive, very impressed by the interior room and smoothness. The driver's position was better than I could have imagined at 6' 6", except for the door armrest, with its obligatory panel of switches, which provides an unwelcome corner intruding into my left leg. The seats are......questionable, with no power, height adjustment, etc. in a $30K car. With the amount of long-distance travel we do, this may prove unacceptable. Hard to say at this point.
    We are not far along in our testing and comparisons yet, but the thing that may not be resolved is the tradeoff of economy for performance. Compared to our '04 SAAB 9-5 sportwagon, with its turbocharged 220 hp 4, the Prius comes off pretty weak. Well, that's a clear choice, and one we may well make in the end. Moving along now....lots more test drives in the upcoming months.
     
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  2. Aptos Driver

    Aptos Driver Junior Member

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    Will the dealership rent you one? Our Toyota dealer rents all models. I plan to rent a v from them when I take my '07 RAV4 in for 45K service soon. When you're in for a major service like that they'll rent any car to you for $25/day.
     
  3. rico567

    rico567 Junior Member

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    We inquired about rental.....they'll be happy to do an overnight / extended test drive, but they had to give up renting, citing ruinous insurance premiums.
     
  4. RonKo

    RonKo New Member

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    I just had my v model 2 @ the Danville dealer for the 5K service. All went well. I bought the car elsewhere, so my first and only Danville experience was fine. We've had our car for about 5 months and made a trip from Urbana to DC, about 750 miles one way. Comfy, economical, and plenty of room. I am not as statuesque as you. I make many cross country trips from Illinois to Tucson and my previous car was an Accord. I like the Prius better. I also wanted to invest in the next generation of fuel economy, so I don't stress too much about the spongy response when in the ECO mode. I got used to it. I am about to turn 60 so maybe driving a bit slower with greater economy is more of a buzz than being laid back my seat back (maybe it speaks more about my bank account/or lack there of). It may be sad, but true. I also like the idea that maybe this is better for the earth. I am not exactly a car nut or aficionado, but I like this car. It's quieter on the road than any other car I've owned. My brother turned me on to the car, but then turned around and recently bought a Jetta TDI. He's reluctant to give up the manual trans and response.
     
  5. Big Dude

    Big Dude Member

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    I bought a '12 Prius plug in Advanced. It comes with the 8-way power drivers seat. I too am 6'6" and quite heavy. The power seat really gives you much more leg room and adjustment. I drove a base model and the manual seat was a deal breaker. Couldn't fit. Do they offer the driver's side power seat as an option on the Prius v?. Try one and see how that works for you. I've put 2K on my PIP now and couldn't be happier.
     
  6. rico567

    rico567 Junior Member

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    That's a good idea.....and with all the plug-ins coming onto the market, I suspect a round of testing (including the PIP, is in the cards for us. I haven't gone and looked it up, but it seems improbable to me that a car with this much other sophistication would lack power seats with all the adjustments. It's encouraging that there are more models and therefore competition in hybrids all the time. I'm sure we'll find something that suits us.
    And, yes, "RonKo," we are determined to find something that turns better fuel economy than what we're driving now. It's amazing to me that no manufacturer has really produced a conventional car the size of our '04 SAAB (with an engine brought to market in 1985) that has significantly better mileage. That's the fundamental reason we're exploring the hybrid market, the only other comparable choice out there with significantly better fuel economy than our SAAB being the VW Passat TDI.....and it has its issues.
     
  7. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    Did you try the "POWER" setting? Think aircraft carrier catapult launch...
     
  8. mikefocke

    mikefocke Prius v Three 2012, Avalon 2011

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    In the end, different people are going to make different choices based on different experiences, expectations and needs. Good luck with your search. Seems like you are approaching it by doing research and then trying the "qualifiers" which is exactly the way I went about it.


    My reasoning went something like this:

    Subaru - no dealer anywhere near me and 50 miles away just had no appeal. I sold my Porsche for partly that reason.

    BMW - ditto

    Ford c-max - cargo area too small, MPG questionable, new to the hybrid world, dealer close, more HP

    RAV4, CRV etc - I got about 20 MPG on my CRV and the one I had was in perfect shape, why bother.

    Prius v - dealer close, not new tech to the mechanics, son's experience with hatchback excellent, kinda different, MPG promising, regular gas, interior storage cubbies galore, technology kinda fun to replace the Porsche's different fun, I seemed to fit, it seemed fast enough (I had driven cars with lots less HP in the '60s), seemed quiet (compared to the CRV with very aggressive rain/snow tires. As it turns out, I wouldn't say the v is quiet especially on concrete. My test run was over new asphalt. Fooled me.), my 6'5" 300lbs son can fit (barely). Since the wife has an Avalon, this is really 97% my car and it was time.

    3500+ miles later how do I feel about it. I like it. I would make a dozen little changes but then I never saw a car I didn't feel could be improved. But on the major functions, it just works. I've been surprised how (at age 69) it now seems like just a car and I drive it that way. ECO mode and just drive it with little thought to getting the last MPG out of it. In the beginning I was hyper-conscious of the gauges, now they are largely ignored. At your height, I'd be paying attention to the seating. The center console allows splayed legs that way. Can't say I've ever had contact on the door side but then I'm only 6'.

    Curious what you ultimately come up with.
     
  9. Jzerocsk

    Jzerocsk Member

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    FWIW, the driver seat does have a height adjustment lever near the recline lever. Check for it when you do your extended test drive.

    I seriously considered a Jetta Sportwagen TDI...I prefer driving a manual so the 6-speed was appealing. Plus you can get a fully-loaded Sportwagen for about what a v3 would run you. But I don't have a lot of faith in VW reliability still. Also in my area diesel costs as much as premium unleaded which erodes any cost savings, and even "clean diesel" is not as clean as hybrid in terms of emissions.
     
  10. rico567

    rico567 Junior Member

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    The NMS Passat TDI is defnitely on the table (the Jetta is too small), but I'm leery of the VW reliability issue, too. The idea of 40+ mpg in a more or less conventional ICE is appealing, but the new clean diesels have added several whole layers of complexity to the old blue smokers. Then there's the fuel price differential (currently around 60 cents/ gal. around here), and higher diesel isn't ever going away. It's coming to seem more and more a tossup, the more I investigate hybrids. And if it weren't for the fact that they haven't been around as long as the "regular" hybrid, today I'm feeling like going "all in" and researching / test driving a plug-in. That'll probably depend to a very significant degree on what tax credits, etc. are available.

    As far as relative "green-clean" and all that, well, there's an awful lot of argument.....and the one that goes "It costs so much in environmental terms to manufacture a car that the greenest thing you can do is drive what you've got now." is still very persuasive.
     
  11. Quentin

    Quentin Member

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    I love your avatar. Bubs FTW.

    FWIW, I'm very happy with my v5. We rarely drive our '10 4Runner or '05 MINI now because the v is such a great all arounder.
     
  12. Jzerocsk

    Jzerocsk Member

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    Yep...I still feel that buying a hybrid or a diesel or a plug-in JUST to either save money on gas or to be friendlier to the environment is a losing proposition. But, if you're already going to buy a car either way, then its worth considering if there are hybrid/PHEV/diesels that happen fit your shopping criteria for size/body type/price.