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Test Drove a Prius Prime today in NC

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by SR-71, Aug 3, 2017.

  1. SR-71

    SR-71 Member

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2017
    97
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    Location:
    NC
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    I got lucky today and found a local dealer in eastern NC that had a Prius Prime on their lot (a rare occurrence!). Turned out a customer had ordered the car, left a deposit, and now the dealership can't find the guy. Strange, eh? Anyway, I was finally able to see and test drive it, thankfully without having to drive to another state to see one. Here's my take on the car...

    The silver exterior was nice, and probably my color of choice, but I absolutely hated the white interior, especially the white shiny plastic parts. Even my salesman mentioned customers are telling him they feel like they're sitting inside a porcelain toilet, but color aside the interior quality is nice. Not over-the-top-nice, but ok nice. (Sitting right beside the Prime was a new Camry. The interior of the Camry was considerably nicer, even though the Camry was less expensive. Higher price for the plug-in hybrid expected I guess.)

    The 11 inch color monitor held an impressive amount of information and was easy to read. A much improved Nav system over my old Prius. Touch screen sensitivity was very good and screen refresh was very quick. I even surprised myself and quickly got used to the near center mounted speed-o. I'm 6' tall and found I had plenty of head room, even in the back seats, and even with the front seats all the way back, leg room int eh back was tolerable. I did notice I could only see the bottom 25% of the HUD speed-o numbers, but I'm guessing there is probably a HUD angle adjustment somewhere. The seats were fairly comfortable and the ride was surprisingly quiet. As for handling, body roll seemed a tad excessive, but for what it is, acceptable. Acceleration was fairly peppy, and I never felt it lacked enough power to merge into, or keep up with, traffic. I was also able to confirm the weirdly shaped rear hatch window was not optically distorted (a major concern I had). Rear hatch storage is somewhat less than my old Prius due to the extra batteries, and there's no spare tire either, but I understand some sort of one-time-use tire repair kit is included. Use it once... buy another one. I could put a space saver spare in the back, but securing it down might prove to be an interesting task, not to mention the space saver tire would take up more of the valuable hatch area space.

    My salesman demonstrated the self parking modes (both parallel parking and straight-in parking). In both cases the car did park itself but ended up being poorly centered in the parking spaces. After watching 3 parking demo's I'm pretty sure I'd never use the self-parking feature.

    This dealer is claiming to date (early August 2017) there are only about 2,500 Prime's in the US, so I felt extremely pleased I was able to test drive one today. Am I going to buy one? I haven't quite decided yet. My plan is to wait until October to see if Toyota adds any other features, or [hopefully] a bit more EV mileage to the 2018 Prime. Also I have an early Reservation for the Tesla Model 3, so I plan to test drive it as soon as it becomes available.

    So far, between the Tesla Model 3 and the Prius Prime, I'm leaning toward buying a Prime.. mainly due to the Model 3's minimalist interior, plus its nearly $60k+ price tag (after all the goodies are tacked on). All things considered, the Prime looks like it provides a lot of bang for the buck.

    My 2 cents.
     
  2. dalcon95

    dalcon95 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2011
    512
    652
    2
    Location:
    Easley, South Carolina
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    Fyi, HUD does have a height adjustment.

    #1 in Easley,SC
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    there were over 11,000 prime sales in the u.s. this year alone, i doubt they all left. (unless he's talking about available for sale)
    there won't be any new features or ev miles for a long time.
     
  4. HPrimeAdvanced

    HPrimeAdvanced Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2017
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    Location:
    Anaheim, CA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    Couple of comments: The HUD is easily adjusted up and down using the right side controls on the steering wheel.
    I now keep my Prime Advanced on Power Mode all the time with no apparent reduction in EV mileage. The car accelerates very quickly compared to a regular ICE powered car; there's no downshifting or otherwise puttering around like an average internal combustion engine. The Prime just goes! The difference is that the strength of the push, although quicker, isn't as profound as more powerful cars. With the car in Power Mode, this nervousness is maintained. The bottom line is, this car is a lot of fun, quick, quiet, and very economical. It is also extremely reliable. I keep saying it, I Love My Prime!!

    .
     
  5. huskers

    huskers Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2005
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    Location:
    Nebraska
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    One thing to keep in mind is the $4500 credit. We are pretty sure it will be good for 2017. Who knows about 2018.
     
  6. PT Guy

    PT Guy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2016
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    Location:
    Washington, the state
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    The wife's cousin had a Tesla Model 3. He liked it but sold it because it was too difficult to get service, things like brakes, window motor, etc. Nobody will touch them except the Tesla shop, and they haven't ramped up the service facilities to match the sales. The Porsche dealer wouldn't even take it as a trade-in. The service capability is one thing to check before you buy.

    We like our Prime a lot.
     
  7. Washingtonian

    Washingtonian Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 26, 2017
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    Location:
    Western Washington
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    I thought the Model 3 just became available a week or two ago. Doesn't sound plausible that the wife's cousin would have sold it already.
     
    priuscatprimeguy likes this.
  8. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2004
    44,768
    16,017
    41
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I'm guessing he means S.
     
  9. Riversong

    Riversong Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2017
    28
    48
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    Location:
    Broadalbin NY
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    I went to just look at one for consideration in a year or two, but ended up test driving one. The next morning, I started researching and deciding what I wanted to buy, and within a week, I'd made a deposit.

    For me, the Prime us the best balance of EV and hybrid (and price) today. In a few years I am sure that advances in plug ins will make the EV range and battery size of the Prime seem silly, but hey, I need to drive something until then!
     
    huskers, Mark57 and priuscatprimeguy like this.
  10. huskers

    huskers Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2005
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    Location:
    Nebraska
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    Nice.