Toyota Prius V - likes/dislikes and cost

jcoop2

I test drove a Prius V yesterday, and liked the car. Have been an SUV girl for 17 years, but looking to save at the pump. Wondering how you like your 'V', and how it handles in the snow. Would also like to know if anyone has found dealerships willing to negotiate on price. Here in Wisconsin they are selling before they hit the lot and I'm not sure what folks are paying. Any help would be appreciated - thanks!

bobw3

Did you test drive a regular Prius too? The big difference between the two is the taller hatch area of the V. The regular Prius has 21CuFt of cargo vs 35CuFt in the V, so unless you need the extra space you can save at least $5000 on the regular Prius and get 20% better MPG.

roandbob

I bought the Prius V in November, 2011. I have been an SUV driver for the last 6 years and before that a mini-van driver. I was able to negotiate with my dealer on price. I used consumer reports and truecar.com to arrive at a price. The above websites found dealers in the surrounding 100 mile area that would sell it to me for that. I took this info to my local dealer and negotiated it down another 200.00. I bought a Prius v - 5 for $35,200. The MSRP was $36,700. They didn't have the car on the lot but found one at another dealership. I love the car. The added cargo room is necessary to cart around my 100+ lbs dog and two teenagers. If you don't need the additional room, I agree with Bob W. The regular Prius will give you better mileage and is a great car to drive.

jenm1231

I love my Prius V three. I bought mine for $25498 which was $2998 less then MSRP. I paid below sticker. Ray, the sales manager is the man! I bought mine at Boch Toyota in Norwood Mass. They will ship and it may be worth it to save on price. I bought the Blizzard Pearl. It is so beautiful. Great on gas. I've owned luxury SUVS' forever but love the Prius V. The interior is so roomy. It's taller then the regular Prius as well as longer. The ride is great. I enjoy it so much, I find myself looking for excuses to get behind the wheel and go. Buy one, you won't be disappointed. So much fun to drive. I love the door handle feature that allows you to lock the door and unlock by touching the handle. Entunes is a great system as well.... Just love it...

dan19

Wanted the lane departure warning feature. Toyota calls it Lane Keep Assist. This is a part of the Technology Package on the standard Prius. But it is not a part of the Technology Package on the Prius V. I already own a standard Prius with this feature. I was looking at the Prius V to replace our mini-van. Now I'm waiting for the Ford C-Max.

bobw3

If you're looking at the C-Max, from what I've read the space behind the back seats in the C-Max is about 50% smaller than the Prius V. The C-Max has only a few CuFt more cargo space than the regular Prius.

imani2

I'm not sure if I'm out here alone with this problem, but I just bought a 2010 Prius and the brakes are slipping when it hits a bump. When I went to the dealer, Bayridge Toyota, Brooklyn, they acted like they didn't know what I was talking about and tried to charge me 189.00 to look at the car. I asked them if they had a specialist to take care of this known problem (It was in all the papers in 2011) and they said they had never heard of it.???? Now, the whole world had heard of it, but my misfortune was to buy a floor model for a 2010 in 2011 and I trusted the dealers at Plaza Toyota.
This brake problem is very scary and I wonder why more people aren't complaining. Please write me if you have this problem. There is a class action suit against Toyota for it and I'm doing all I can to get them fixed. I only found all this out after researching the issue. All the joy has gone out of my new car buy. Great Mileage or not bad brakes are a hazard and no fun at all. :mad:

bobw3

On my Honda Fit the antilock brakes start activating sometimes if I'm braking on bumpy roads...maybe the bumps provide the same trigger as slippage?

goprius

1. The interior of the shifter knob is NOT lighted. There's an LED light that shines on it, but I think that's more of an afterthought.
2. The lighter is too low, below the console with the shifter.
3. It would be nice if you could set the car to default to EV mode, and have it resume once you restart the car from a stop. Once you reach the max speed, it turns off. Once you are at a stop, you have to hit the button again to get back into EV mode. That manual stuff is a bit annoying.
4. Interior is a combination of tan and light grey. Keep it one color.
5. Huge blindspots in the rear corners
6. Rear wiper is a bit useless. Would like greater coverage.
7. Steering wheel has limited upward adjustment
8. Going uphill from a standing start. (ha ha)

wwest

"..when it hits a bump.."

Nature of the BEAST, FWD hybrid vehicles.....

During the use of light to moderate braking only regenerative braking is used. Since ONLY the front wheels are doing the braking, a slight, momentary, loss of braking traction on the front wheels of a FWD vehicle raises the potential for a loss of direction control substantially so those events must be addressed quickly and firmly.

Just think of it as an automatic switch, insofar as braking is concerned, from FWD to "AWD". With that "bump" the rear (and front) hydraulic brakes are "instantly" brought "on line". Since regenerative braking has no "Anti-lock" mode, and is most definitely front "biased", it is also instantly disabled.

This latter effect is why you feel a momentary forward "lurch", it is due to the time it takes to bring up the hydraulic braking pressure once the regenerative braking results in impending wheel-lock/skidding.

campyman1

bob3 I dissagree, the prius V has more leg room and more head, hip, and shoulder room. It is easier to get in and out of for a big man like me.
it also has a longer wheel base and rides smoother, it would be worth the extra money to me. I am trying to trade with Scott Crump Toyota here in Jasper, Alabama. They will not budge off the MSRP and want me to give them my 2007 Honda CRV. I am paying cash, no financing. But the salesman pissed me off by saying, "your asking us to take a 4000 dollar loss". I replied, " no I am asking you to sell me the Prius V 5 for 30k and give me 15k for my CRV, it is the most popular small SUV in the country." His response was as snippy, "Oh I highly dout that!". I told him to go get my keys and I left. Now they have a saleswoman calling and emailing me and I have not responded to her emails, and nicley tell her I will have to call her back... I am trying to play hard to get, I will see if that helps.... wish me luck because I really love that Prius V 5!!!!!!!!!!

campyman1

Hey Jen,
Did you drive the 5? I am wondering the differences b/t the 3 and 5 because they are asking if I would deal on the 3, but these morons will not come off the MSRP. I think I would do better with a dealership that has one on the lot?

bobw3

I'm not a "big guy" so maybe that's why I didn't notice the difference much. And I don't know what you mileage/condition are on your '07 CRV, but the Edmunds retail for an '07 CRV with 60,000 miles is $13,800 and trade-in $11,800. With the Prius V being a new vehicle and gas prices high, there's not much reason for the dealer to go much below MSRP nor much incentive to pay more than trade-in value for your CRV. But good luck anyway.

steve150

thanks for the note on the C Max; I thought it might provide more cargo space than the Prius V, but you're right--it doesn't. The main attraction the C Max held for me is the option for a plug-in hybrid; I've heard the estimated range is in the neighborhood of 30 mi. Would you happen to know whether Toyota has any plans to introduce a Prius V with plug-in capability? I have a fairly short commute, and love the idea of not having to burn any gas!

bobw3

I like the idea of plug-ins too, but if the plug-in C-Max is going to cost $5,000 over the cost of a hybrid C-Max, then the payback time could be pretty long depending on how often you need to get gas and then the cost of electricity.

My commute is about 10,000 miles per year and costs about $900 in gas at 45mpg and $4.00/gal gas. I figure the electricity for those 10,000 miles would be about $250, so I'd save about $650 per year, but that would mean it would take 7.5 years to break even on buying the plug-in if it cost $5,000 more. So for me the price difference would have to be less.

mthomasdb

I got my Prius V at Boch Toyota in Norwood, MA. Salesman was very willing to work with me. I bought the top model (the 3) with wheel locks and rear bumper protector for about $350.00 over true invoice pricing (Yes, including the dealer holdback!) I also got the floor mats thrown in. The dealership also matched the dealer cost price I got from a volume dealer on the 8 year extended warranty with zero deductable. I love the car but have to quibble with a few things.

Lack of power seats, real leather, and an operating sunroof. Why can the Camry Hybrid offer all these with only a slight gas penalty (even the Prius C gets a real operating sunroof) and the Prius V can't? Also Toyota needs to get rid of that ridiculous speed lockout for the GPS so a passenger can use it while the vehicle is in motion.

wwest

You can buy a portable GPS that your passenger can readily use while underway (or you, if you're idiot enough). A portable one can be used freely, and with a much lower cost BUMP vs the captive one. With lifetime map updates yet vs ~$300 each time toyota (RARELY) deems it necessary to provide an update...

Personally I advise turning off the display when underway to avoid the distraction and using the voice guidance exclusively.

rhagedorn

Purchased a new Prius V 5 back in March of 2012. Overall we are satisfied with the car and with a little over 10,000 miles our mpg is 44.2. Having a GMC Yukon XL the ride and handling on the V is very respectful. My BIGGEST complaint/dissatisfaction is at times a high pitched squeal comes from the rear: 1) when after backing up and then beginning to move forward the squeal occurs then goes away and 2) at times when braking which is a new occurance. The frequency and noise level has been increasing over time. I have had it back to dealer 3x and this last time they said Toyato engineers are aware of problem, but there is no solution at this time. They think it has something to do with the kinetic braking system. It does appear that is occurs more when there is dampness, but it will do it when dry as well. What is frustrating it does not do it consistantly but is getting worse.

bobw3

I have a Gen II and I was wondering how much more usable cargo space there is in the Prius V. The numbers say 34CuFt, but then the width and depth of the Prius V's cargo area and my Gen II cargo area is about the same (35" deep by 38" wide). I realize there's more height because the roof of the V doesn't slant, but it doesn't seem significantly larger, but they both have about 14" under the luggage cover. And the space under the cargo area in the V looks smaller then mine. The other odd thing to me is that the rear seat of my Gen II actually seems larger than in the V, so I'd normally have the V's rear seat all the way back if I have passengers.

I'm not doing anything until the Gen IV comes out, but with that one I'm unsure about the longevity of the lithium batterys as compared to the NiCad used in the Gen II. While the Lithiums are smaller and can provide more energy, I don't know if they'll last the 200,000+ miles as is typical with the NiCads in the Gen I-III Prius.

vtsteve2

I was seeking a new car that was both more economical, and had more cargo room than my '11 Camry. We already have an '07 Camry Hybrid, so that was not in the running. After ruling out Mazda CX5, Jetta TDI Sportwagon, we went back to Toyota.

First, we drove a beautiful 2013 Black Cherry Prius Persona edition. Drove nicely, but the low profile tires and rims made for a not so nice ride. We did what we usually do, bring our golf clubs for the bag test. Complete fail, again.

We then drove a 2013 V. I prefer the seats in the V, although the custom seats in the Persona version were nice too. The V feels higher, and the visibility better all around. I also prefer the V console.

Golf bags? Any way you wish to put them in. Straight in horizontally, vertically.

My last trip we had luggage, two rather large 2-ball bowling bag rollers, two full sets of golf clubs, and two golf bag pull carts. This was with the rear seats fully upright.

Yes, the Prius V seems monstrous at time compared to the regular version, and the extra size of the opening, plus the additional height, means it's far more versatil when you get yourself into large boxes from Home Depot or Best Buy.

lchow

my car stop showing EV icon the one with the car icon with the word EV inside and MPG fall down to 35 .anyone have similar problem??

alan116

My Prius V has none of the issues you reported. My MPG for about 1000 miles is about 45. I see the EV sign often. I have a light foot on the gas.

herzogtum71

Your golf bag test was without folding down the rear seats? I've been wondering why the booklets for the Prius v show only cargo area behind the rear seats. On one of the reviews I saw a figure of 65 cubic feet or so with the rear seats folded down. The seats don't fold flat. How useable is the cargo space for large and potentially heavy objects?

vtsteve2

Yes, my golf bags and pull carts fit sideways no problem. The rear seats fold mostly flat, and they move forward as well. I know a 55" TV fits right in no problem. I've had golf bags plus two large bowling bags in the back without touching the rear seats, plus some luggage.

It's not a Suburban, but it does hold a lot compared to a sedan. It's the reason I gave up on small SUV's, they didn't have the size advantage anymore.

vtsteve2

The EV will generally not show if the batteries are not warmed up yet, and/or it's very hot and the AC is cranking. After awhile, it pops up. If your trip is stop and go and short, the battery doesn't have enough recharging combined with ac cranking.

I've witnessed this only once, and I drove maybe 6 miles in 4 days, under hot and humid conditions. So the car never gets a chance to recharge, thus no EV light. Once underway, the EV will go on a lot under 30, and I've had it continue to 45 mph on flatter stretches.

My mileage so far is 42 plus average after over 3,000 miles.

bobw3

I'm still comparing the V to my Gen II. It still seems odd to me that even though the V is 6" longer, the depth of the cargo area (measured on the floor from the rear seats in their upright position to the hatch opening) is within an inch of my Gen II. Also, the rear seat has less legroom as compared to my Gen II. So I'm still wondering where that extra 6" of length in the V went? I was hoping that the depth of the cargo area would have at least an extra 6" over my Gen II, but that's not the case.

herzogtum71

I thought the V was supposed to have more legroom in the rear. Is the hood any longer?

lchow

I took off the roof rack and the mpg is like avg 38.8 /39.4/39.6 a huge difference.The one thing i notice difference between toyota and honda .In honda hybrid in S mode , the rpm always stay around 3K ,even when encounter small hill,The rpm remain constant so resulting in no engine whine on cruise .so what is the bad point??? The cruise speed set become down and down and electric power level goes up maximum but resulting small mpg down.
In toyota hybrid prius V wagon, the power meter goes up maximum and engine wine become loud in cruise and the mpg dipped down.So i think the prius does not have available power from electric motor when in demand
So honda hybrid does not stress out driver but very comfortable for long distance driving just put on cruise most of the time and no need to be very conscious of your food pressure just increase or decrease with button while cruise.
toyota as soon as u put pressure on pedal the active mpg digital dip down to 25 ,30 even using the electronic button while cruise which never happen in honda . Prius v ,you have to release your foot to a touch level on pedal only to get EPA number which is gliding is really stressing for driver

lchow

I have same noise problem .dealership told me losing bolt in brake

bobw3

HOST: Can you make a headings/topics/ just for the Prius V. Right now the only one listed is 2012 Prius V likes/dislikes. The Prius V is completely different than the regular Prius. Prius V MPG, Prius V General, etc.

bobw3

Now that I own a 2013 Prius V, I can comment on the cargo space. The height is from 28" in the back to 31" at the point where the rear seats (in their upright position) meet the cargo area. The cargo area is about 36" deep & 39" wide on the floor, but is about 50" wide above the rear wheel bumps. And you can slide up the second row to give you more space, which is really good. The rear seats recline and that cuts into the cargo area, but if you slide the rear seats forward and then recline it can retain the same amount of space in the cargo area.

The tray under the floor of a regular Prius is much more usable, as it's one big open try, while the underfloor tray in the Prius V is divided up with thick stryofoam walls. I'm guessing they did this to accomodate a three row Prius V that only has the more narrow under floor compartment behind the third row. However, with a regular Prius I was using the underfloor cargo area all the time on family road trips, but with the Prius V's larger cargo area I doubt if I'll need to use it as often.

As a cost saving measure, it seems like the Prius V in the USA carries over a few things from a three row Prius V, such as the 12V outlet that would be in the third row, sliding second row seats, the plastic step-plate to access the third row, and the way the under floor storage area is designed.

Also, even though the head room in the Prius V second row only shows to be an inch more than a regular Prius, in reality when you have the second row reclined to a comfortable position you'll find there is a good 2-3 inches more headroom. When making the floor in the second row flat, the distance from the second row seat top to the floor has been reduced, which in turn reduces thigh support in the second row of the Prius V as compared to a regular Prius.

The main thing I've found is not to rely too much on the spec differences between the Prius V and the regular Prius. The Prius V is much more roomy and open than you would think just from looking at the spec differences.

dirtnapper1

We just got the Prius v 3, coming form a Prius Gen 2. Did consider the Ford CMax, a little too small and the mpg issue. The v is nice with the extra room for travel. Did look at the hatchback, but thought we might like the larger size, although fully away that we would not be getting the 53 mpg that we got with Gen2. it's been about 2 wks and getting about 43 mpg, we will see when we hit the road to DC later in June what it is will give for mpg then.
I was disappointed with the Styrofoam insert for the storage area. Also, I was surprised to see that the was no case for the manuals, had I caught it I would have kept the other one from the Gen2. I guess that is the Toyota Care!!! Along with GOPRIUS's list #4-8 - I agree.
So far, I like the way it drives, and a long drive should be a good indicator of what to expect.

vtsteve2

My 2013 Prius v is just over a year now, 11,000 miles. My one year average was 40 mpg, hurt by extended cold and windy winter. Now I'm back up to low to mid 40's. The longer trips at 45-60 mph have yielded the real perfect mileage ratings. But extended 300 mile jaunts on the interstate at 70-75 mph were in the 43-45 mpg range.

I'm still glad I got the wagon over the hatchback. I prefer the seats, and as someone else said, the statistics alone don't due justice to the extra cargo and people room available.

No problems at all. After experimenting, the most friendly and fuel efficient tire pressure has proven to be 38f 36 rear. Drivability is better, mileage is noticeably higher, and the tire wear has been zilch. Most v owner have found excellent tire wear at 38/36 or even up to 42/40 (a little harsher ride for myself). Just make sure you check the tire pressure when cold.

Next up for me is a tow hitch and a bike rack.

Not a perfect car from a driver's standpoint, but there's nothing out there with this combination of cargo and people room, plist the excellent fuel economy.

Nice to see Ford's finally been forced to lower their hyper-inflated fuel economy ratings for their hybrids. No Ford, nothing wrong with the spa test, is was always you fault.

Kirstie_H

Did you recently trade in a Toyota Prius for a different vehicle? A reporter is interested in talking to you about what went into your decision. If you can help, please contact pr@edmunds.com by no later than Wednesday, July 30, 2014.

johndr105

Sadly my new 2015 Prius V has the Touch freezing problem, Toyota has no idea how to fix it and I think my fifth Toyota will be my last Toyota.

Kirstie_H

If you traded in a hybrid for an SUV, a reporter would like to talk with you. Please email PR@edmunds.com no later than Friday, April 24, 2015 and be sure to include your daytime contact info and a few words about your experience with your vehicles.

parinda

i tried 2012 , prius v two and it was on offer for around 14k, didn't like the experience it was very noisy