I've now had my new Prius PHEV for a week

[aitcheff]

Generally I'm very happy but here are some things I don't like.

• Adaptive Cruise Control with Road Sign Assist - perhaps I'm spoiled by my previous car, but when the speed limit changes I have to change the speed setting instead of it happening automatically. Admittedly it is just a single button press but still...
• The Brake Hold function has to be set on every time the car is started. Why can't it remember this setting. I would hardly ever not want this set on.
• I know it's now a legal requirement, but the notification when the speed limit is exceeded is a real pain. According to the manual I should be able to set the tolerance up to 5mph above the limit, but I can't find this setting. I know this can be turned off but it resets whenever the car is restarted.
• For some reason Toyota doesn't supply a cable anymore for charging from a standard 13amp socket. I had to buy one for £160. A cable for a wall charger is supplied and I think the assumption is I would have one installed before taking delivery of the car especially as it is offered free at the moment. All the info about this implies that this wall charger can be ordered when the car is ordered so that can be installed prior to taking delivery but in fact, despite me pushing the dealer to order this several times, it was only ordered when I collected the car. I am now in a 6 week queue to have a video call survey with Hive/British Gas and who knows how long the queue will be for installation. So basically a plug-in hybrid was supplied which can't be plugged in for a couple of months without forking out £160 for a slow charge cable. I know it can be driven as a simple Hybrid but that's not what I paid for.

These are just niggles and otherwise I am loving the car. The power back door and power driver seat work brilliantly. I have no problem at all with the steering wheel obscuring the speedometer. I do have the steering wheel set low which is very comfortable for me. Also the seat can be raised but I don't need to do that.

[Cyker]

For the first point, ,if the RSA is still as accurate as it is in my Mk4 Yaris, the fact that it DOESN'T change speed automatically is probably a blessing in disguise!  

For the 2nd, yeah I sortof agree but I can see why - The brake hold is effectively a virtual brakefoot, but if it stayed on all the time people would get out the car with it still on, because people are idiots.

Because of this, there is a safety interlock which disables the brake hold if you take your seat belt off, which is why it doesn't 'remember'  - What's actually happening is, because you take off the seatbelt to get out of the car, that causes it to be cancelled.

 

How's the car drive? I've not played in one (Too big for me really!) but I've heard lots of surprisingly positive views from car reviewers, who normally just complain about Toyotas!

[altocumulus]

I had an opportunity when my plugin was in for service/MOT - it was given as a courtesy car for the duration, that turned into a day as the MOT software needed updating at the garage.

Initially we had many qualms about it, and if we had just had 30 minutes or so we'd have said no - it felt somewhat claustrophobic in comparison to ours. Front doors seem slightly smaller and I was almost brushing the ceiling - and I'm only 5ft 6! But we grew to appreciate it!

The RSA was a pleasant surprise, of the 4 Toyotas we've had that included it - this was the first to be reliable. I do like the way successive design changes have improved where the various buttons are.

It drove smoothly and responsively - though HV only available (no charge in the battery). Still no rear wiper, a mite bossy too.

[aitcheff]

2 hours ago, Cyker said:

How's the car drive? I've not played in one (Too big for me really!) but I've heard lots of surprisingly positive views from car reviewers, who normally just complain about Toyotas!

I really like it. Never having driven a hybrid or electric car before, the acceleration is amazing and I had a fairly powerful car before. It's a dream to drive...very responsive.

The ride is quite hard probably due to the 19in tyres. 

One negative is that the A pillar does slightly obstruct my view when looking left at a junction but I expect I'll get used to that.

[aitcheff]

56 minutes ago, altocumulus said:

I had an opportunity when my plugin was in for service/MOT - it was given as a courtesy car for the duration, that turned into a day as the MOT software needed updating at the garage.

Initially we had many qualms about it, and if we had just had 30 minutes or so we'd have said no - it felt somewhat claustrophobic in comparison to ours. Front doors seem slightly smaller and I was almost brushing the ceiling - and I'm only 5ft 6! But we grew to appreciate it!

The RSA was a pleasant surprise, of the 4 Toyotas we've had that included it - this was the first to be reliable. I do like the way successive design changes have improved where the various buttons are.

It drove smoothly and responsively - though HV only available (no charge in the battery). Still no rear wiper, a mite bossy too.

I don't find it claustrophobic at all but maybe it depends on what car you are used to driving. The seating position is certainly lower than in my old car.

One of the video reviews I watched before buying said that the rear window didn't need a wiper because it will be cleared at a fairly low speed  due to the cars shape. I have driven it when it's been raining and I didn't have a problem with rear visibility and of course you can switch the rear view mirror to camera if necessary.

I haven't been on a long journey yet, so nearly all the driving has been in EV mode. I switched to Auto mode for one trip which had a short motorway leg and I didn't even realise that the petrol engine had been used until I looked at the trip details on the app afterwards which showed that the journey was 96%EV.