Trying to choose between Three & Four for first Prius

You got JBL with the III in '10 and '11. Now it seems they're pushing Entune and you don't get JBL until the IV. But the "leather" (I use that term loosely, lol) seats still don't come until the IV. I think the leather seats are the only heated ones in Gen3/4.

I'm looking at their site right now about your question about the solar roof.

 

My guess is that the JBL Nav unit which comes with the "Solar Roof Navigation package" in the IV costs more than the Nav unit that upgrades the III.

 

Standard equipment on the Four not on the Three:

1) Power drivers seat
2) Softtex heated seats for driver and front pass.
3) JBL Greenedge technology audio with 8 speakers
4) Autodimming rear view mirror with homelink

Solar roof is not necessary to have JBL on the Four, but is required to have the Premium HDD Navigation and HUD display.

 

2012 Four's Softex driver's seat is also power adjustable, the first power seat ever in any factory Prius. The benefit is power adjust allows you to fine tune the seat bottom tilt at any height adjustment. With mechanical adjust, the seat bottom tilt cannot change at a given height setting.

We have a few around here talking about doing radical things like putting washers and longer bolts under the front seat mounts. There are prongs that go into the floorboard to stabilize the seat horizontally in case of an accident, so raising those prongs out of the floorboard doesn't seem wise. But, I digress. A power seat is pretty much always better than a mechanical seat. Or you may not need it.

Prius Three with fabric never had heated seats. No Prius is any years with fabric were heated, unless someone added them aftermarket.

If you have two drivers and the seat needs a big adjustment often, it can be a little more of a pain with a power seat unless there are memory settings which the Prius Four does not have.

 

There appears to be errors on the toyota.com build your own here too.

On the '12 Four, it shows $3820 for solar roof option, but does not list HDD nav or HUD.

That $1500 solar option list for '12 Three is copied from the 2011 model. It cannot be correct. Why does it show a 4 disc changer? Where's the Entune? Besides, no way you could add both solar roof and JBL for $1500.

You'll need to look at window stickers or dealer option printouts for now cause build your own has bugs.

 

I'll try to give some subjective opinions that may help in your decision.

I had a long sit in a 2012 Three with quite a listen to the base audio. Well, some people know how to upgrade audio, pull off door panels, pull up trim and carpets to add wires, etc... but I wasn't up for that. ... to the point ... the base audio is a kinda weak. But that depends on how you like your sound. If you want to turn it up sometimes and get some, won't get much with base.

The JBL can sound good. It depends on the source. FM radio is not so hot. XM radio sounds alright, but not great. Good CDs sound the best in my car. I've listened to the base and JBL back to back and the JBL is a lot better to me. It's about as good as my Accord 'premium audio' was.

I haven't sat in a '12 Four yet, so I don't know if I like the range of seat adjustment. Does it go as low or high as the mechanical seat?

The 10/11 used to have autodimming rearview mirror and Homelink. I think the Homelink buttons are gone and that might be a good things because they cause the mirror to hang a little farther down into line of sight, something I do not like. My '11 rearview mirror doesn't block my view.

The Four will have wrapped steering wheel which is nice. The plastic wheel could use a little better feel. Aftermarket wheel covers don't look so hot on the plastic wheel.

If it were me, I might get the base Four. I'm not into sunroofs much.

 

They are good cars. Not a lot of acceleration power, but Power Mode can give the impression it has more. I've had gobs of short trips like 3 1/2 miles, sometimes less and the gage is still reading a little over 50 MPG, which on mine translates to about 48 MPG. We'll see how it goes at the pump, bout due for fillup. Should be 47 or 48. If I had lot longer trips, I'd be over 50 actual MPGs.

 

http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/options.html

This should put the Solar Roof debate to bed. On the Three, you can only get the Solar Roof Package. On the Four, you can only get the Deluxe Solar Roof Package (with JBL and Premium HDD Navigation).

And of course, on the Five, the only option available is the Advanced Technology Package.

 

I just got a Four because I wasn't interested in aftermarket leather. Some might say I have more money than sense. Anyways... I like having the power seat (without memory grr), auto-on headlamps (everyone should have this), auto-dimming mirror (even though it works about as well as the voice nav), and homelink (not sure if this is available with Three). I had them in my old car and glad they got thrown in with the Softex. Heated seats might be nice but I haven't tried mine yet.

 

Homelink is available in ANY vehicle because it's a function of the mirror. And auto-on headlamps aren't so awesome because...ALL Gen3's come with auto-OFF headlamps. So if you leave it turned on all the time, it will shut off shortly after the car is turned off.

I thought I NEEDED the autodimming mirror (because I loved the one in my Mazda6) but the standard one works just fine.

 

I thought I'd read that homelink is only in Four and Five. Yes, every car has a mirror but I don't think every mirror has homelink.

While I probably wouldn't notice the lights during the day (although I usually see the DRLs reflected in the car ahead), I have auto-on so I don't need to work around it by leaving my lights on all the time. Again, more money than sense?

My point was more that some cars don't have it in any version but probably should. Some people seem to forget that at some point during their evening commute, it became dark enough to need lights.

I'm not sure need is the right word. I didn't need a car but I like having one.

 

Yeah, Homelink is only from the factory on Four and Five. Other models, it is available as a dealer-installed option. Hence, any vehicle can have the Homelink mirror installed. That is what I meant to say before

 

The main thing I miss on my Three is the three door smart key. It is only on the driver door. On the 2011, I believe it the 3 door smart key is standard on the 4. Not sure the situation on the 2012?

 

I find myself wishing I had that lol. The 2012 Three has 3-door SKS added since the previous model year.

 

I can't imagine the pain of not having 3-door SKS. I still haven't quite gotten the hang of how the doors unlock themselves. I just need to stop annoying myself and get the ODB thingie and set everything up properly.

 

Haha. I sometimes pull on the handle before the SKS has had a chance to unlock :X

What tool are you referring to? I wasn't aware anything other than the dealer's Techstream could deal with immobilizer and keyless entry.

 

I was somewhat annoyed with the 3 door SKS. But I read the manual and changed the default option to be when I touch the drivers door then all the doors unlock. This way a passenger can get in when you open the driver door.