Changed From A Gen 3 To A Prius+

[kithmo]

Although I loved my 2010 Gen3 to bits, I was disillusioned with the road noise and it was getting me down.

I went to the dealers to test drive the Plug-in, thinking the 15" wheels would be quieter and I would still have some decent tech spec on the plug-in compared to say a T3, I was not impressed, the Plug-in was just as noisy as the old car.

Whilst I was in the showroom I spotted a 6 month old luxurious Prius with leather seats and was told this was the T-Spirit Prius+, I took it for a test drive and I was amazed at the difference. The road noise has all but disappeared, so I bought it.

This is Prius+ T-Spirit with 17" wheels, Leather seats (7 of them !), Nav and the JBL Green Edge sound system. The leather seats are very comfortable and the sound system is incredible, even my old scratched MP3 cds play crystal clear.

I have the choice of 7 seats and a small boot or fold them down and have an enormous boot. The rear seats can all be adjusted back and forth and recline. I have twin panoramic sunroofs, electrically folding heated mirrors. I still have a HUD for the speed and the touch tracer display shows on the HUD although with the Touch & Go plus I have lost the Nav arrows on it that were on the 2010 Gen3 HUD (as the later Gen3 have also lost). I've still got the Multi Function Display in the middle on top of the dash, which I loved on the Gen3, but it's now a high resolution multi-colour item, the graphic with the car on showing the arrows to and from the Battery and motors has now moved down to the Nav screen in High res (a la Gen2), as has the last 5 min/1 min regen/mpg graph etc. There are soft touch plastics on the dash, glovebox and window ledges now.

The HV Battery is now a compact Li-Ion unit which is moved to between the front seats, the steering ratio has been changed and the body roll is negligible even though the ride is much better. The Prius+ slightly heavier than the Gen3 (due to the extra seats I guess), so I've lost 1 second off the 0-62mph time (I can't tell the difference TBH) and I have lost roughly 5mpg on economy, but as I've only had it a couple of weeks this could vary.

The insurance group is lower than the Gen3 (11 compared to 16) but because its a T-spirit with the 17" wheels, the emissions creep over the 100g/km threshold at 101g/km and I have to pay a whopping £10 VED a year.

The Prius+ is a lot quieter and smoother that the Gen3 was and I'm chuffed to bits with it. I had considered a CT200h but didn't like the conventional dash layout and small boot. I'd recommend anyone considering a CT to test drive the Prius+ first, ignore the negative motoring reviews, they don't know how to drive hybrids anyway, it's an amazing 1.8 Ltr Petrol engined automatic people carrier or estate car.

[Glyyde]

I changed from Gen 3 (weasel warranty) to Prius + last November when I was in servicing my Gen 3 then (shouldn't have service it seeing that now I have paid for the service and sold it back to Toyota....). Managed to get £11750 for my Gen 3 at 20k miles. Took about £2k off the new Prius+ thought it was a good deal to miss as I do need a bigger boot space with the growing family.

Not sure what to say about road noise as I wasn't too bothered about it with the Gen 3, but I can say the dashboard is now rattle free. Although there is some rattling noise with the sunroof which comes and goes so not certain how I can go about getting this fix. The drive in general is a lot more comfortable and the seat are nicer to sit in too. MPG wise, driving on a flat road, I think the Prius+ is actually more efficient than the Gen 3. The Battery seems to charge quicker and last for a longer distance, however, the weight of the Prius+ probably counteract this. It is more efficient for shorter distance as well as the ICE turn off quicker than the Gen 3.

All in all, very please with the Prius+. Hopefully I wouldn't be tempted to change car again in 3 years time.... Would like to not be paying car loan for a while......

[kithmo]

I saw my old 2010 Gen 3 driving out of the dealers today, sold, it looked like a brand new car.