2017 Gen 4 ordered

[barrycoll]

With the advice of Kithmo and PeteB ringing in my ears, finally put  a deposit on a March delivery Prius.

Dont know who the supplying dealership is, as ordered online, but my local dealer couldn't match the price. Now awaiting confirmation from dealer, without which, I have wasted my £500 deposit!!

Interestingly, it is now possible to tick the box for BLACK centre console, or white if you prefer, but probably white still around the wheel and gear lever,

Perhaps I too can persued the supplier to provide the underfloor cut-outs around my 17 space saver to create a reasonable flat floor.Is there any description given for these polystyrene bits please Keith??

I have ordered the 17s, because I still enjoy the appearance of my Gen3, as when parked up and freshly clean, I can turn around a have a smile at the 3/4 front dart like shape, with wheel size in proportion to the body.

Have ordered in plain white with protection pack, and detachable tow bar for my Thule bike rack. But now worried that the tow hitch will be a diffrent shape to my present Thule tow hitch, and so my not fit the rack itself.

Dont want to wish my life away...but roll on March

 

[Harters]

I ordered my White Excel a few weeks ago with the Protection pack and Chrome pack. I chose the all black interior and I have my fingers crossed that I still get the white console as I much prefer it to the black. There was no choice when I placed my order. 

Like you I am having the standard 17" wheels. 

Roll on March 

[thecaretaker]

Well done Barry. I'm still very pleased with mine. I opted for white with 17" wheels and would be interested in how you get on with getting the underfloor cut-outs for a space saver.

What makes you feel a bit special is that there are so few Gen4 owners around. I've only seen 1 other Gen4 (also in white) on the road within the first week of purchase. That's it. I'll be coming up for my first service in March and I'm staggered by not seeing other Gen4's in my area. It makes you feel part of an exclusive club (but with an odd niggle at the back of your mind that if MrT isn't selling very many Gen4's, what will the availability of parts be like in years to come).

It does turn heads and I often hear complimentary remarks by passers by who don't realise I'm in earshot. On the few occasions I've given people a lift at work, they always comment on how whisper quiet it is.

Admiring it after I've washed and polished it, the gloss black trim contrasts very well with the white paint colour and the 'floating roof' effect at the rear makes it stand out and looks stunningly streamlined.

Hope you enjoy many years of happy motoring with it.

[johalareewi]

Sounds like the early days of the gen3 prius.  Even though available from July 2009, they were still a rare sight on the road for several months until production and the supply chain got into full swing.

[PeteB]

12 hours ago, johalareewi said:

Sounds like the early days of the gen3 prius.  Even though available from July 2009, they were still a rare sight on the road for several months until production and the supply chain got into full swing.

When I had a "Classic" Prius (Gen 1) (as they became known) in 2002, now that was a rarity.

I barely saw one a month, even in London!  Mind you, people often say it didn't sell very well (1½ thousand in the UK in 3 years), but I don't think Toyota would have been able to ramp up production on that model even if they had wanted to.

Rumour has it that it was nearly a year later than planned launching in the UK because in the US they sold far more quickly than expected - especially when Cameron Diaz appeared on Jay Leno's program raving about hers! - I remember seeing a clip at the time - the "golf cart" bit and Leno's reaction was priceless!

http://electrifyingtimes.com/priusdiaz.html

2009 Gen 3s?  They were 2 a penny to me - I managed a fleet of a couple of hundred Prius (Gen 2s initially) and we were getting a few a week from day one!

Gen 4s?  Until two weeks ago I'd only seen 2 others on the road (one less than the number of Tesla Model S I've seen! - and they're £70k upwards depending on options), but a week ago I saw 2 Gen 4s in one day - should've got that Tesla! (just kidding!)

[barrycoll]

I can sense a Goodbye All forum entry from PeteB in the not too distant future....when the Call of the Tesla becomes just too much

Looks like my Deal is not yet cut and dried, as the allocation from the original dealer sourced by the broker, has all been allocated. There is one more chance tomorrow probably.....or it will be £700 more from another broker.

Many a slip twixt cup & lip.......and I am not fond of cliff hangers

 

[kithmo]

Here's a few piccies Barry, taken from this thread: Undeleting the spare (on Priuschat).

 

[PeteB]

5 hours ago, barrycoll said:

I can sense a Goodbye All forum entry from PeteB in the not too distant future....when the Call of the Tesla becomes just too much...

You obviously missed this Barry!

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/175743-farewell/?do=findComment&comment=1431521

[PeteB]

On 29/11/2016 at 11:56 AM, barrycoll said:

Dont want to wish my life away...but roll on March

I know what you mean...

I ordered mine in February (subject to test drive) and finally got it on 10th June (almost 2 weeks earlier than the final estimate).

It was probably the longest 3½ months of my life.

Having driven some 270,000 miles in the first three generations, I can honestly say IMHO it's the best Prius ever, even with a small number of reservations (that won't bother everyone):

• dreadful interior storage (my biggest hate - if I ever meet the Toyota bod that decided this, there'd better not be a gun handy!
• dire rear headroom (except for dwar - er... the vertically challenged )
• loss of under boot floor storage
• a firm that announces 4 wheel drive and then gives it to ...    ... almost no one!   Ba**ards!
• auto headlights that try their damnedest to make you crash! (but I'm trying to get that sorted)

But the things I do like would take far too long to list...

• must mention the radar adaptive cruise control though, it's magic!
• and the lovely non all black interior (I'm only prejudiced on car interiors, honest!)
• and the fact I could choose the top trim and choose a sensible (IMHO) wheel size (got my London Congestion exemption - yay!) and choose a free spare wheel and get a £400 rebate

[birdseye]

• Had mine just over a week & very impressed, i agree with your cons re  storage space etc and would add one of my few gripes is that the satnav would be better if it was swapped around  so that it was higher up and with the air vents underneath and thus easier to glance at without looking down

[PeteB]

Don't forget you can display the next instruction and distance to it in the display next to the speedo.

[birdseye]

15 minutes ago, PeteB said:

Don't forget you can display the next instruction and distance to it in the display next to the speedo.

I've not worked that out yet, need to do a lot more exploring of the settings!

[PeteB]

Use the Left/Right buttons on the right side of the steering wheel to move between the displays.  SatNav is 2nd from the left.

If no route is planned, you'll just see a crude compass - when a route is active, you'll see a symbol and distance to the next instruction.

[birdseye]

1 hour ago, PeteB said:

Use the Left/Right buttons on the right side of the steering wheel to move between the displays.  SatNav is 2nd from the left.

If no route is planned, you'll just see a crude compass - when a route is active, you'll see a symbol and distance to the next instruction.

Thanks, I'll have a good look in the morning to see what settings there are.

[cviclark]

Mine is due Dec 28 but I have been told it could be before Christmas. I went through Carwow and saved 1000. Could have saved more from dealer further away. My lovely Auris Ts went last week and I am driving a face-lifted Auris hsd hatch. Very  surprised by how different it feels on the road, I am told the rear suspension is very different. I guess as they have loned me a car mine must be imenant. Also the loner does not have folding mirrors so I can't get it in my garage with ease. The reverse beaper is nice  and loud but as it does not have sensors why? At least I can now see how fast I am going but that's the only improvement. The boot on the  Ts was amazing. It's hard to believe Toyota did not carry the false,flat floor, hidden tray concept forward to the Prius 

M y new Prius will be Hypersonic red on 15 " wheels and I hope black console. Anybody know what the OEM  tyres supplied are?  I also negotiated a deal on  Ceramic glass coat in the hope it offers some protection. I spent a fortune on resin Polish and colour magic for the Auris but nothing stopped the chips.

 

I am pleased Toyota came to their senses and gave us a choice of wheel size. I hated the 17" Auris wheels. Could never see  the point for them they cost about 10mpg and last year all weather Michilens were nil stock in that size. If the insurance hike had been lower they would have been gone  by the first  winter.  I know bigger wheels look good but I can't see email from the drivers seat.

 

Bit surprised  about the lack of privacy glass on the Prius. I still have not one the colour or configuration I am getting or even another outside of a dealers compound. Did not get to drive it on 15" wheels so like all my Toyota,s have to go  trust,experience  and user blogs. I am not surprised there are so few around most dealers are clueless about the details,  appear to have driven the different specs. and seamed intent on selling something else.

[birdseye]

58 minutes ago, cviclark said:

Quote

My new Prius will be Hypersonic red on 15 " wheels and I hope black console. Anybody know what the OEM  tyres supplied are? 

 

 

 

Mine which arrived last week is on 15"" wheels, they are Bridgestone Ucopia,  it came from Japan with reverse beep set to just one.

Mine is Hypersonic red and i got the protection pack as part of the deal

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PeteB]

Mine was also delivered on Bridgestone ECOPIA 15" too (195/65R15 91 H) but since last month is running on Nokian WR D3 winter tyres.

[cviclark]

I should be picking my Gen IV up Monday anybody got any advice?  I have added the Protection Pack to the order as I could not get the Mud flaps and scuff plates and boot lip protection aftermarket.  I will let you know if the ceramic paint coat makes the paint work more resilient.

I have been driving a face-lifted Auris HSD Hatch for the past couple of weeks.  Yes the digital display is better you can now see how fast you are going but it does not handle as well as the TS and its very noisey.  

[PeteB]

When I got my Gen 4 I set up the numerous options before driving off so that they were how I wanted from the start.  This is particularly true if you're going to use the price per gallon (note gallon, not litre) option and enter a comparative mpg of another car.  It took me about 20 minutes - there are a lot of options!  One or two safety options were not switched on (can't remember which now, it was 6 months and 8½ thousand miles ago!) so I fixed that.  Turned on HUD with extra info (HV Battery gauge and Hybrid System Indicator).

In particular, I set the speed warnings for Road Sign Assist to be a bit over (since they take it from the over-reading speedo, not the true speed like the SatNav).  I also set the SavNat to be a bit over but not quite as much, and set all such warnings to be silent.

I also paired my phone, downloaded my phone book, put my music USB in, which also had the SatNav saved locations and contacts from my Gen 3 Prius - worked a treat using the Restore option.

I'd had some practice on the test drive, but only set options that mattered to me for the test (sill took over 10 minutes!).

[cviclark]

Thanks for that info PeteB. I have a Carista which worked fine on the Auris for setting beeps and warnings but until I plug it in won't know if it has a menu or the Gen IV. Does the Gen IV have the same Secret Menu like the Gen III?

Next job will be installing the dash cams I have dual Lukas Blackboard that was fine in the Auris once I found the fuse box and how to get into the tailgate. Toyota don't make it easy.

[PeteB]

I only changed the settings I can access through the car's menus on the top and centre MFDs.

I had asked my dealer to disable the reversing beep which they did FOC.  They also fitted my front/rear Dashcam and wired into both ignition and always on circuits (so it knows when to go into parking mode).  Not cheap, but I prefer to let them do things like that these days.

No idea about secret menu, but all the first three generations had one.

I left my Roadhawk hardwired Dashcam in my old car, and to my astonishment when I went to have my winter tyres put on the Gen 4, they handed it back to me.  I don't know if the selling dealer chose to remove it (it was sold through a different branch), or whether the buyer asked for it to be removed.  Strange either way.  I'd have thought it was a selling point.

[Heidfirst]

when I bought this ex-Toyota management Avensis it came with a towbar & electrics fitted but because the dealer supplying it hadn't fitted it/couldn't say who had they took that off & fitted a new one (no charge to me) ... Seemed odd to me although I can kind of understand their logic. 

[Chris Dance]

Hi Pete B, I have kept details of the spec of your gen 4, I am considering getting one next year if I can get a decent deal. Please would you explain why the auto headlights try to make you crash? Can the auto headlights be turned off like they are on the Gen 3.

[PeteB]

11 minutes ago, Chris Dance said:

... Please would you explain why the auto headlights try to make you crash? Can the auto headlights be turned off like they are on the Gen 3.

No, the auto headlights can't be turned off!  I've asked my Service Manager to find out if he can get the 'Type A ' (manual p276) stalk for the indicators/lights - this has OFF-Auto-side-head, whereas the Type B fitted to mine doesn't have OFF!  I think they're downright dangerous .

I often do a short journey through some narrow back roads and the buildings fool the sensor into turning the lights on and off about four times in 1½ miles.  Twice, someone has thought I was flashing to give way, and in both cases created a risk; the most recent could have been very serious.  An elderly pedestrian waiting to cross on a blind corner took it as a signal to cross, started to move, realised I wasn't giving way and stopped abruptly.  As he did so he started to lose his balance.  Had someone with him not grabbed his arm, I think he would have fallen under the front left of my car and despite my low speed (about 12 mph) I was probably too close for the AEB to save the day.

Lexus cars I've driven have an off position, and I think the Gen 3 Prius with Tech Pack did too (did the Gen 3 T-Spirit have auto headlights?).

They also sometimes come on in good light but under overhanging trees (when the DRLs are more than ideal to mark my position).  On other occasions they've failed to turn on when it's really dull enough to need them.  The auto dip system is a bit hit and miss too - I use DIP manually, but with Auto active to act as a (possible) backup if I don't DIP quickly enough when someone comes the other way.

I've got them turned to minimum sensitivity, but they're no better.  My dealer checked the settings with their diagnostic tool and confirmed there is no further adjustment possible.

[PeteB]

On 15/12/2016 at 6:26 PM, cviclark said:

I should be picking my Gen IV up Monday anybody got any advice?...

A couple of other things have come back to my ageing brain!:

• set the Climate Control to ECO (each press of the Auto button cycles through normal/ECO/Fast)
• selected the option to only ventilate occupied parts of the car
• set drive mode to ECO (where it's stayed 99% of the time since)

Unlike previous versions, the drive mode influences the rate at which the cruise control accelerates when using Resume or after someone has got out of the way and it want's to speed back up to the set speed.  Hitting resume at 30 when it's set to 70 and changing from ECO to Normal to PWR during the acceleration demonstrates this quite effectively!  It will, however, accelerate a bit more aggressively if going up an incline, even a gentle one.