Would YOU consider a 2016?

I bought a 2016 Prius Four used in 2019. It didn't give me any trouble related to being a first year car. Hopefully whatever one you find has had any needed recalls done (I think there was a software update for parking sensors so they don't slam on the brakes in automatic car washes and a fix for the safety connect to keep the GPS accurate). The other issue I know of but didn't experience was coolant leaking into the heat exchanger. There's a TSB out about it but not a recall.

The only goofy thing I noticed was no way to change from miles to kilometers. They fixed it with later runs and the 2017 but never sent a software update to fix it or maybe it was a hardware oversight.

You may want to consider a used Prius Prime. They may be getting the used EV tax credit. I love mine and by what I've seen here they are just as rock solid as the regular Prius. And still gets better mpg even if you don't plug it in.

 

toyota got gen 4 mostly right from the get go. a few very minor things on 2016, i wouldn't hesitate to buy one.

 

tideland has a pretty full list of every recall and tsb for gen 4. A lot of it I never heard of so it was probably first year fixes that yours will probably already have if you're buying a 2016 from a dealership All Known Gen 4 Prius Recalls/Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) | PriusChat

I live in deer country and from November to March I'm driving to work and back in the dark and have no complaints about the headlights other than the auto highbeams turn off below 19mph so if I slow down for a deer that's annoying when trying to check if there are more behind it. I would like to say they are better than what my 2016 Prius had and way better than my 2013 prius (that kept burning out bulbs for some reason). The Prime has LED headlights and there's a good bright square section straight ahead that pretty much covers the road with the high beams on where I guess they overlap? The sides are OK, not great, but pretty good.

I'm no engineer so I can't be sure but I think it's because of the bigger battery and also the Prime can use both MG motors to assist with driving (somebody more knowledgeable can correct me or elaborate on how that works). I've had it regen a mile or 2 of EV range above the normal hybrid capacity when braking to a stop sign on a 55mph road and then another mile or 2 when braking to turn off a 55mph road down a slight hill to a side road leading to my house. Usually I'm in hybrid mode the whole way home if I can't charge at work.

Prime has all of the same tech whizbang as the regular prius. Actually the base and mid trims (Plus/LE, XLE/Premium) have slightly less tech than the regular hybrid prius. They don't have parking sensors or blind spot monitor, even as options. Only the Limited/Advanced has all of that.

My insurance didn't go up because of the Prime. It probably went up because of inflation and the 2016 having 3 claims in 2 years (the last from a deer unaliving itself with it and totaling it in the process.)

 

Not sure if they've been mentioned, couple of thoughts regarding the 2016's:

1. There's no way to switch a US spec car to kmh. (fixed in later year, 2017?)
2. It has the paper element in permanent housing still. (later years, maybe starting partway through model year 2017, switched to spin-on.)

 

I did mention it but I'm curious, what about Canadian 2016s. They had a way to switch?

Tangent: my 2013 had a physical mph-kph button. On my 2022 Prime its in the settings menu in the mfd above the dash. I'm surprised they never added that to the 2016.

a paper element? Is this a part or a filter?

 

AFAIK they had the same problem, in reverse.

Same here, physical button*. Our 2010 Touring doesn't even have a touch-screen, which I like.

* Go back 20~30 years, and everyone would be scratching their heads, over "physical button". As opposed to "virtual button" I guess.

 

My 2016 model 3 was among the earliest built and it was a trouble free, great car (until the kamikaze deer).

JeffD

 

Yes. “Sometime” in 2017 model year IIRC.

 

I am so thankful that I have a spin-on oil filter.