Gen 4 Prius or Corolla hybrid TS

[barrycoll]

Any body thinking of jumping ship to what seems a direct competition.

........or am I missing something?????

[kithmo]

I really fancied the 2 litre 177 bhp one but I wouldn't like having to look down and take my eyes off the road to see the speedo (unless it has a HUD ?).

[Catlover]

I ha e yet to see a Corrola hybrid close in the in the flesh, but it would have to be something really special to prise me away from my Gen4 Prius.

[PeteB]

24 minutes ago, Catlover said:

...it would have to be something really special to prise me away from my Gen4 Prius.

Exactly what I thought until my hips started protesting about it's low height, and getting in and out now is both painful and puts lots of pressure on my hips and knees because of the awkward way I now enter and exit because of the pain.

I pick my RAV4 Hybrid up on Friday, and it's with very mixed feelings, but I just couldn't carry on with the Prius.  A neighbour wanted to replace his 2012 Auris with a new Auris last year, and found that was too low so ended up with a small SUV as well and a friend was having the same trouble with his Merc, so now has a Volvo XC 60 SUV.

The RAV feels just like the Prius to drive (it's also on the TNGA chassis like the Gen 4 Prius, C-HR and new Corolla), but as you say I'll sorely miss the HUD, and to a lesser extent the centralised instrument cluster that's nearer to the bottom of the windscreen.  I will also lose the park assist and a few other features, but the Safety Sense version 2 features are a notable improvement.

I'll sorely miss the economy too - the RAV has the aerodynamics of a house brick, a 2½ litre engine and a lot more weight, so I'll be lucky to average much over 50 mpg.  I'll also have to pay £135 VED (instead of £0), about £60 extra insurance and even the car wash will charge more.  Tyres come in around £150 each instead of about £60 on the the (15") Prius!  No doubt servicing will be dearer too.

The RAV does have a few things I'm looking forward to (apart the higher floor and seats!), like the 360° camera system, all wheel drive, electric memory driver seat (can have a driving position setting and ideal entry/exit setting if necessary) and a real biggie is that the Cruise Control can be set to 20 mph, so it's usable in some of the lengthy 20 zones.  It looks like I'll be able to fit a full size matching alloy spare wheel and tyre under the boot floor without any modification too, so if I find it fits as well as others say it does, I'll order one on Friday.

No doubt I'll be able to find a taker for the space saver, as cars with the panoramic moon roof (what ever happened to sun roofs?) get gunge instead.

 

[kithmo]

That's another thing that puts me off buying a new car the stupid VED system (or road tax as it's now going to be called) I now pay nothing for my 2016. but if i bought a new one, exactly the same spec i would have to pay £135 a year plus whatever the first year is. Oh dear I wonder why new car sales are down since the new VED scheme came in 🤔 I know we'll blame it on brexit, not the incompetent government.

[Harters]

I looked at the Corolla but it was way too small inside. Rear leg room was poor as was the boot and the cabin felt narrow and very closed in. 

If you want more legroom room you will need to get the saloon or tourer as they have a longer wheelbase.

 

The quality of materials was great, but I will be keeping my Prius for a very long time..... I love it!

[FROSTYBALLS]

1 hour ago, Harters said:

looked at the Corolla but it was way too small inside. Rear leg room was poor as was the boot and the cabin felt narrow and very closed in. 

The Corolla range bridges two market sectors. Whereas the hatchback is in the small family sector and targets couples, the TS/saloon, along with the Prius and Canry, fill the gap left by the Avensis.

[Harters]

3 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

The Corolla range bridges two market sectors. Whereas the hatchback is in the small family sector and targets couples, the TS/saloon, along with the Prius and Canry, fill the gap left by the Avensis.

Exactly, so it’s not a direct competitor as the OP was wondering. I am in the ‘couples’ market but I still want to have a decent boot and rear legroom for the occasional time I carry more people.

I’m not sure how the hatchback compares to the previous Auris with regard to space as I have not sat in one. 

Lovely looking car though in all three variants. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

1 minute ago, Harters said:

Exactly, so it’s not a direct competitor as the OP was wondering

The OP is considering the TS (not the hatchback) which is a direct competitor to the Prius, and has the same size wheelbase.

[Harters]

Ah, apologies I thought TS was the trim level not model. 😊

[kithmo]

I hope they add the 2.0 litre hybrid to the Prius range. 

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

17 hours ago, kithmo said:

That's another thing that puts me off buying a new car the stupid VED system (or road tax as it's now going to be called) I now pay nothing for my 2016. but if i bought a new one, exactly the same spec i would have to pay £135 a year plus whatever the first year is. 

Still known as VED or 'vehicle tax' by government. Don't think the revised vehicle tax system has impacted new car sales as much as other factors. Vehicle tax has never been a factor for us when changing cars - we just pay what is due.

[Chippy01]

I 'jumped' a month ago.

Traded one of our 2011 Prius T-Spirit's for a Corolla saloon. Couldn't be happier with the change, as the Gen4 Prius didn't appeal to me.
So far, the mpg seems comparable to the Gen3 I traded, so there is no loss there.

[toshtosh]

IMHO you pays your money and makes your choice.

Looking for a new hybrid (2010 Auris and 2015 Yaris), we seriously considered the 1.8 Corolla but we thought it very dull and boring, and the price of a Corolla Excel is almost same as the Prius, which is undoubtedly a much more individual car. The 2 litre seemed an unnecessary extra expense as it is more money and less economical, although there were some deals on the 2 litre a couple of months ago.

We just happened to see a 12 month low mileage Prius plug-in Excel at our local Toyota dealer at a very good price and are delighted both with overall MPG (currently 135+ over 1500 miles of mixed motoring) and its driveability. We accept the reduced boot space and 4 seats of the PHV, but of course the basic Prius hybrid doesn't have that issue.

I don't think Toyota would really consider it as jumping ship if the Corolla suits you rather than the Prius.

Cheers

Tony B

[PeteB]

4 minutes ago, toshtosh said:

...I don't think Toyota would really consider it as jumping ship if the Corolla suits you rather than the Prius.

For that matter I regard my jump to the RAV4 Hybrid ship as effectively jumping to a bloated Prius SUV!

[FROSTYBALLS]

Prius sales are in decline globally - possibly as a result of other Toyota hybrids. For example only 830 Prius  have been sold in the UK during 2019 (May 2019 ytd figures).

[PeteB]

2 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Prius sales are in decline globally - possibly as a result of other Toyota hybrids. For example only 830 Prius  have been sold in the UK during 2019 (May 2019 ytd figures).

and possibly other manufacturers' hybrids and PHEVs.  In fact, I know of several former Prius owners who now have EVs, including a former PiP owner (Jon) and Grumpy Cabbie from this forum.

[kithmo]

2 minutes ago, PeteB said:

and possibly other manufacturers' hybrids and PHEVs.  In fact, I know of several former Prius owners who now have EVs, including a former PiP owner (Jon) and Grumpy Cabbie from this forum.

An EV would probably be my next choice if Toyota did one.

 

[barrycoll]

Seemingly no great pros or cons, but just personal choice.....

For me, the Corolla has spare wheel, opening roof, and tow bar bike rack option, and a tempting 2.0 (except that boot space is lost to Battery I believe)

mean spirited of Mr T not to have seat height adjustment on the passenger seat, for short WAGs.....the Germans have that.

16” wheel seem very sensible, as 15s are too button-ish, and 17s too big.

the aftermarket is awash with HUD options, connected to OBD, but probably disappearing from screen in EV mode...and that maybe quite he;lpful?

My Gen 4 was bought one day before the VED changes so is £0, and losing that would be painful, but more for psychological reasons than financial .

on the other hand just how the Corolla drives is the bottom line, and Tests have been mixed bag

Feedback from recent owners will fill this gap eventually 

 

[MyOpinionIsWorthless]

On 6/19/2019 at 6:41 PM, Catlover said:

I ha e yet to see a Corrola hybrid close in the in the flesh, but it would have to be something really special to prise me away from my Gen4 Prius.

Try the Prius Gen4 facelift. Much improved. 

[TonyHSD]

11 hours ago, PaulDM said:

Try the Prius Gen4 facelift. Much improved. 

Yes, the facelift looks better to me too, plus seats exactly between Hatchback and Saloon Corolla as design and practicality. 👍 the mpg that you had showed make me think as option for a future purchase. 

[PeteB]

as a postscript to my June 2019 entry above, I learned that my low Gen 4 Prius wasn't aggravating an existing problem with my hips, knees and back, it was entirely the whole cuase!

After three months with the RAV, the extreme pain in all three area had gone, and so had the 10 strong painkillers a day.

1¾ years and over 14,000 miles later, I still miss the Prius immensely.  The best I can say of the RAV is the Hybrid system makes it dynamically feel just like a Prius to drive, but there's just so many things I miss about the Prius, the HUD being one of the biggest, and the mpg the next.

I actually started to investigate having an air suspension mod fitted to the Prius so I could pump it up for entry and exiting, but it was just too complicated and would cause too many other compromises, although it still would have been cheaper than the £20k upgrade cost to the RAV.

[barrycoll]

Interesting comments everybody....

And the deal for me is now done-ish....delivery of 2.0  Corolla TS is May 7th.

So just been cleaning up my £0 road tax 2017 Prius (13k miles) for sale....madness really, but when you get to four score years, then a bit of grunt to finish the career seems essential. The loss of £0 is painful, but academic is the grand scheme of things.

I have had a new space saver in the boot, but will sell that privately, as the 2.0 comes with one (as long as you stick to Design trim, despite wanting the Excel....Mr T is daft, as most would tick boxes for HUD or space saver etc etc....but you can’t).

nice to have faux-paddle shifts in Sport mode , and also the big challenge to get 65mpg out of this engine.

PM if anybody’s wants a space saver, or a nice Gen 4.........roll on May 7th

Corolla TS and Prius en route to Spain + bikes

 

[MyOpinionIsWorthless]

On 6/20/2019 at 1:04 PM, kithmo said:

I hope they add the 2.0 litre hybrid to the Prius range. 

 

It would be nice to see a 2.0 litre AWD in the Prius range

[johalareewi]

Jaoan has has 4wd prius for some time.