Our 2017 Prime Advanced has 88K and still runs like new. I am 60 and have had a lot of cars in my life, and this Prius Prime is my favorite so far. I love the way it drives, the comfort, the styling and of course the efficiency is amazing. All around, one of the best cars made today.
I am 67, have had may new and used cars of all types, and objectively, this is the best car overall out of all of them. New cars I've had that I really liked included 85 Merkur Xr4Ti, 89 Suburban 4WD, 92 Saturn SL2, 94 Altima with viscous limited slip, 97 Audi A4 Quattro, 2001 Prius, 2003 Olds Silhouette minivan. Plus some more boring ones from 79 Corolla to 98 S10 pickup, which were excellent for what they were. The Merkur had a huge turbo kick into your seat, but in the end wasn't in a totally different performance league from this car, due to turbo lag. This car, without plugging it in, gets 2.5x the mpg of the Merkur or the Audi, and would actually outrun them on twisty mountain roads with big elevation changes, due to the regen braking capacity being huge, keeping the brakes from overheating. There is also room for car camping in this, with a 75x25x4 trifold mattress behind the passenger seat, a 50 liter freezer under the pillow, and climate control you can run all night in most climates without the engine even kicking on, or even in absolutely extreme climates with the engine kicking on and off. You can go anywhere and do anything in the car. I've taken mine some extreme places offroad, after upping the tire size a little and resigning myself to letting desert bushes scratch it up on rough trails.
I just bought the 2022 Plug-In Prius Prime and I love it! I've never spent so little on gas. Now, I do charge to full almost every day and I'm afraid that might negatively impact my battery life.
Bought a used 2017 Prius Prime form my brother this year, original owner, 72K km on it...had a few issues, minor fixes... but under the doors there are these small rubber clips, please take them out to let your doors drain and apply some kind of oil/rust proofing in your doors so it finds its way into the sealed seams...3 of the 4 doors had started to show signs of rust along the door bottoms... i fixed them myself before it got bad... so far so good with the car... electricity is 10 times cheaper then gas here.... if you have winters with road salt, clean your floor carpets to avoid the corrosion from salt, and make certain that any floor mats dont have holes in them that could let saline water absorb in your carpet and slowly make its way under the seam sealer, thus rotting out your floor..... corrosion is enemy number one of any car, keep em clean, and fix stone chips asap.
With the crazy car situation going on in the world. This is the one to get it looks beautiful in blue magnetism and it looks beautiful in red. Doesn’t matter which trim level you get you will love this vehicle. Don’t listen to people complaining about the large screen you get used to it it’s actually easy to use.
I bought my 17 Prime in September 2017. 129K miles now, no problems. Except for replacing the windshield once, and replacing 4 tires twice (plus replacing the OEM tires when new, with winter tires which I run year round), nobody but me has done any maintenance or repairs on it. I declined even the 25K miles of free dealer maintenance. According to the dealer schedule, I missed out on two free oil changes, which is fine with me, to keep their paws off this amazing car. Speaking of tires, I strongly recommend against the OEM tire and OEM tire size. The 89S rating is marginal for a car this heavy, especially if you only inflate to the pressures listed on the door jamb. My tires are 10 load index numbers better, and T speed rated for 118mph rather than S 112mph. My tire spec is 205/65R15XL 99T with max load at max pressure 51psi. I do actually run mine at 50psi all four corners. I used to get only Michelin X-Ice 3, but currently am testing Continental VikingContact7 on front and General Altimax Arctic 12 on rear, and will swap them front/rear halfway through estimated life. The Michelins lasted over 60K miles per set. We'll see how the Contis and Generals do compared to that. So far, I'm loving the Contis on front. Rear tires are hard to judge, they're just along for the ride and barely wear at all. My daughter just put a set of 4 of the Contis on her 2021 4Runner, and is loving them compared to the original tires. Door jamb pressure is 33psi on her car, and she is loving them at 37psi, hasn't tried out higher pressures yet. Mine is the base model, called the Prius Prime Plus when I bought it, later called the LE. So, smaller screen, and more things controlled with buttons and knobs, exactly how I wanted it. Better vent layout than with the larger screen, also. The features I missed out on and would have liked, by getting the base model, were heated steering wheel and garage door opener. I tore the steering wheel cover with a fingernail, and then covered it with a leather cover from Amazon. SEG Direct Genuine Leather Steering Wheel Cover, Stitch On Wrap, 15 Inch Steering Wheel Wrap for Car Truck SUV Pickup Boat, DIY Sewing with Needle Thread, Black The price oscillates between $8.50 and $13.50. Grab one the next time it's $9.99 or less if your steering wheel starts to look rough, or you simply want to keep it from getting rough. I installed it 28 months ago, and it's held up perfectly. My review of it on Amazon is under username NikonF7. I think it took me over 3 hours to install, start to finish, though I could have done it in 60-90 minutes if I weren't being careful and methodical because it was my first time doing it. Tips that will save you time are in my review. I also added sheepskin seat covers to the front seats, as I've been doing to most cars (even with leather) since buying a 79 Corolla new. I also recommend the Eueco foldable car door step if you are going to be climbing up doing stuff on the roof, such as getting into a roof cargo carrier. It adjusts to fewer angles than the ones with a geartooth-like adjustment, but the adjustments on it work great on the Prime, and I love how solid it is. An improvement I made this year is a Torras phone holder, "Latest" version, "new suction cup". But I don't use the main suction cup mount as the base, I just use the vent mount, which is rock solid on my small-screen vent. Game changer compared to my previous vent mount, and absolutely necessary for my much larger phone now. And my latest improvement from Amazon is the 2023 86271-0E075 Navigation Micro SD Card from seller Kimylion. I paid $8.99 after 10% checkbox coupon, about 1/3 the price of the 2024 version 86271-0E076, and about 1/20 the price of having it done at the dealership. Again, just follow directions in my Amazon review. Took 10-12 minutes to install, watching the progress bar as it installed. Having done fine using maps 7 years older than the latest, I was fine with upgrading to ones 1 year older than the latest. Actual map release date is May 2022 on the 0E075.
Looking good, I think its an amazing car. Mine is the same age as yours but just closing in on 90,000 miles. No problems yet but I guess its early days. Brakes probably in about 30,000 miles by the look of it. I've been following your videos for helpful maintenance tips which are much appreciated. Still getting good electric range, will hit 30 miles in high summer but more like 22 in winter. Overall average is 167mpg, lots of small trips and charging. You must do a lot of freeway miles, I find on a long drive its doing 52-56mpg depending on weather. Also from PNW
Oh boy, I could write a book about that. The main thing is that if you're going far enough to use up the battery range by the time you charge next, be sure to use it up. Plan ahead to use EV mode during the slowest and/or most downhill parts of your journey between charges. Hybrid mode on the highway. Charge mode only in special circumstances (like being low on EV range and knowing you'll do a lot of slow/city driving before charging again) or when you get advanced at milking all the efficiency you can out of your Prime. One key tip is that the car is most efficient near the line in the center of the power curve display. The line where often, if you are below it in Hybrid Mode, it will run as EV, and if you're above it, the engine will kick on. Well, when the battery is low and the engine is on with you well below that line (because putting it at the line would make you go too fast), you can switch to Charge Mode to get the engine power up to the line, or closer to it, while keeping the speed you need to keep. That will rebuild some EV range, and eventually not have you running the engine at low throttle in Hybrid Mode, but instead having it run as EV in Hybrid Mode. Doing as much EV driving at low speed, as you can, is good. It doesn't matter if you can achieve that in Hybrid Mode, or have to force it into EV Mode to do it. There will be times when you forget you're in EV Mode and use it up, or forget you're in Charge Mode and end up with 80% charge when you didn't want that. Treat mistakes like that as a normal part of the learning process, when you pull into your driveway ready to charge an empty battery and see it's at 80%. Or when you get to a traffic jam, city or slow road and have no EV range left to take advantage of it.
I'm happy to say that I just bought a used 2018 prime with 35k miles on it. It fits my current drive profile ridiculously well (50km trips, usually w/ cheap destination charging, currently get town-wide basically free charging at home, but need the occasional 700km trip) and I was looking for something reliable, as my Smart ForFour is getting into the age where stuff breaks all the time, and that taught me how much of a disruption unscheduled downtime is for me. Being used to classical European city cars, I gotta say this thing is freaking huge to me (or rather - long). The rear seats look like a sofa. I admit that it will take me some time to get used to the dimensions, especially for fitting it properly into parking lots longitudinally.
Alex, how did you find the high voltage battery? I'm also considering getting a 2017/18 model with same milagro, but concerned about the status of the battery, as I heard these don't like to be sitting for long periods of time. What's your electric range?
@@martinceballos9236 I didn't run a full battery check on it yet (the Toyota Germany 15 years / 250kkm warranty made this a less pressing issue considering that the vehicle was also rather new). I was sitting enough that the 12V battery was discharged when test drove it. I used the last days to test how much I can get out of the battery in summer in practical conditions. I am still learning to operate the EV drive efficiently. The car is quite acceleration happy in EV mode, but that seems to waste a decent amount of power. However, I need to be careful about overoptimizing this as the car quite happily encourages drivers to become road hazards. Current results are: 47km 80-100 km/h elevation +80m - Fell 2.5km short 47km 80-100 km/h elevation -80m and adjusted driving style - Made it with 9% remaining 46km 80-100 km/h elevation -5m - Fell short 3km 46km 130km/h, heavier highway traffic that required more speed adjustments elevation +5m - Fell short probably around 10km, I switched the car to hybrid mode halfway through the highway Charging indicates stored powers between 6.4 and 6.7 kWh, which matches the expectation of 6.6kWh usable charge (8.8kWh physical, 10% protection reserve at top, 15% HV mode operating point) though perhaps it is at 6.5 but who cares about 2%. I would say it is in good condition. If you want to know what shape the battery is in, get yourself an OBD2 dongle and the dr prius app and check it yourself. Edit: Also, the charge is power injected into the car. The charger will leak some of that as head, but I have no idea how much that will be. So depending on how much that is, the battery may be worse off. But it's satisfying for me.
Just bought a used 2019 two days ago. Same color as yours. Advanced with every option even the wheel upgrade. Has 123K miles. My sales guy thru in a brand new charger. It’s a Toyota certified used car. Drove it home 100 miles. It was 103 degrees, parked outside and plugged in from Noon to 4:45PM and it did well. Interior was like an oven at 111 degrees. This is my first Prius. Love the car and really appreciate your videos! I park it on side of home in my rv parking because I’m paranoid about cat theft or break in even though I have a CHP neighbor and 4 other police living nearby. It’s a nice area but still cautious. Your thoughts?
I’m glad you like your vehicle and I hope you continue to like it! In my videos, I show complete maintenance so make sure to subscribe if you haven’t. Also in regards to theft the Prius is a pretty low vehicle. They definitely would have to jack it up. if I was in a high crime neighborhood I would at the very least, maybe get a car alarm or check and see if they have a catalytic converter shield guard. Keep me posted on your vehicle! Also make sure to change your transmission fluid. Even though all dealerships say that it’s lifetime it’s not really true. If you look at the owners manual for harsh conditions to change the transmission fluid every 100 K. Also make sure to stay religious on your oil changing fluids. I like to add half a quart to 1 quart of Lucas oil treatment as well. It makes the engine run, smooth and shift perfect between gas and hybrid. I just checked and if you google Prius prime catalytic converter shield that they have them for sale GEN 4
The tpms changed in 2019. I run 17" Persona wheels on mine for winter. And yes, lite goes on because I'm using regular tire valves, but automatically resets when I put my OEM 17" back on my Prius Limited in the Spring. I have all you have but not a plug in. I've SEEN that screen gives problems.🙄 And EVERYTHING goes out. Heater, air, all contols are THERE. I wished i didnt have it. I'll take buttons/knobs anyday. I wished I had DRLs & fog lites on mine, i like Primes exterior lites better. I only have a little over 23,000 miles. I hope MINE looks that good! DEFINITELY OEM parts ONLY. And at times, dealership parts are reasonably close in price. 👍✊️🖖🇺🇸
I just boight a 2018 with 111k miles 2 weeks ago for $16k i really wanted the Non Prime ( with the vertical tail lights) but the Prime was significantly cheaper plus the $4k rebate the Prime was a no beainer. The only thing i hate is the bog acreen it doesnt offer any thing over the other screens plus no android auto or carplay. I don't have a house but plug in at work, can do almost my whole commute in EV mode
This was the perfect vid for me. I have a 2012 Prius that was in a minor fender bender. I am looking to upgrade and can't decide on a used 2017 prime advanced or holding out for a 2021 Limited for Android auto/5 seats. Any thoughts based on your experience?
Go for the five seats. Might be easier to sell in future and you can Uber in it too. Lol. Can’t with a 4 seater. But both years are solid. Check out my prime maintenance videos too if you get one. Keep me posted! Plus the oil filter is easier to change on the 2021 I hear! It’s a traditional screw on type where mine is the housing with paper insert
@@AutoGuyVideos Got a 2021.. 5 seats.. low miles! It has some minor issues, I was looking to see if you had a video but didn't see one... Do you know how to adjust the headlights to point higher? Also any info on replacing fuses? No worries if you don't know, figured I'd ask if you had a vid somewhere I missed. lol. Thank you!
@ I remember playing with my fuse box there might be 2 of them. But didn’t make a video. I never adjusted my headlights. I hope there is a video out there for you on that.
Great video. I live in Australia, I'm considering getting a prius PHV, which is the Japanese version of the prime. For some reason the prime was not sold here and the ones that are available are second hands from the Japanese market. There are cars (2017/18) with 30k miles for 13k usd... Would you get one that has 7 years an hasn't done many miles? I heard that the high voltage battery doesn't like that...
I haven’t heard of any issues with their main EV battery packs. Toyota did a really good job with refining the quality on this model. I would feel comfortable buying a Prius prime or PHV.
I just watched a video (from Finnish car repair shop specialized for plug in and electric vechiles) and it claimed that in plugin cars the ev battery can wear out after 100k kilometers of ev drive because of the charging cycles the battery can take (max. 3000). So plugins are worse than full EV cars because of that. I think in my car the rating is about 40% of how much the car has been driven by charging the hybrid battery. So there should be left about 20-40k kilometers of ev drive 🤔
My 2017 ridgeline is ticking with 198k miles I wish i could say its as reliable as your prius close but not quite with the big ticket items being some of the safety systems decided to crap out. The smart key system and adaptive cruise control/lane keep assist camera could could just fail at 160k/196k respectively about 5 in total 😅 Hope your ridgeline has the 5spd or 9spd, the 6 spd in mine is fairing ok with some rpm flutters occasionally,but im not so certain it will last to 300k. Now I'm just starting to seeing slight oil consumption ill move up 30 weight oil after this Pennzoil UP is done.
It sounds like you’ve had a lot of issues with your truck, I’m surprised the safety systems failed at such low miles! I am averaging 37k mikes a year. Will see if I can make it hold up without too many issues. I hate all this tech and electronics just more problems. Miss the old school tech sometimes. Also I use thicker oil in all my vehicles. My engines last longer and less wear. I Like Lucas oil treatment as well.
I asked my dealership they said no to me. I had close to 190k miles and they didn’t care I think I called Toyota corporation as well for my screen a 3k fix and they refused to help as well with that much mileage. But always worth checking
Great video boss! Your bypass heat exchanger video saved me $$$ with my 2016 Prius. I’m at 150k miles. Are you experiencing the engine making a rattling noise at cold start? It only lasts a second but it freaks me out. I’ve done 5k/oil changes since I bought the car at 40k miles. Changed spark plugs at 100k miles.
Make sure you use spark plugs that are from the dealership. The ones online are all too often knock offs. Also, I use Lucas oil treatment, which makes the vehicle engine run smoother. I add a quart with every oil change.
Hi. Seen your couple videos and theyre very informative. Specially like me whos is planning to buy 2019 prius prime advance. 121k miles n 1 owner. My main concerns are the hybrid battery. Should ive to change the hybrid battery or how long they last? Also hows maintenance on these hybrids? Expensive? Ome of your videos ive seen that they give over 600 miles per fill up? Is it really true on 11 gallon tank? Since youre in practical use of this vehicle so i thought lets ssk you. Thanks in advance!!
Hi, thanks for watching. Glad you found it helpful. I have lots of confidence in the hybrid batteries for this generation of Prius. I used 220 V half the time to charge up my Prius prime the other half is a standard outlet wall. I haven’t heard of too many issues with this generation of the hybrid battery going wrong. I think they actually engineered these batteries to last quite a while but I’ve also heard that replacement hybrid batteries are not that expensive if you go to a non-dealership expert. During the summertime is when I get the best MPG roughly 50 miles per gallon, depending on the tires that you use. I run Bridgestone weatherpeaks right now, which are not designed for MPG. Depending where you live and the weather it will fluctuate and you will get less in colder weather. When I drove my Prius, most of it was highway speeds of 70 to 80 mph which kills MPG the 120 MPG is a combination of electric plus gas depending on the Trip odometer. Maintenance on this Prius is basic oil changes CVT transmission oil changes every 100 K. Coolant changes like any other typical vehicle. I wouldn’t say it costs more. My Subaru Forester and BMWs were more money pits. But if I didn’t need a truck, I would’ve been fine with the Prius. You should get well over 200 K on the hybrid battery. There’s a TH-cam channel called car care nut and I think he had a Prius prime with far more mileage than me. I don’t know exactly what the number was but I know it was pretty high.
The biggest setback will be losing coolant at the catalytic converter because this seems to be a common problem. but the bypass is pretty easy to do and requires no extra parts. Just some basic tools and wrenches. I have a TH-cam video that shows you how to fix most of the problems that you would likely encounter from wheel bearings to rear shocks and doing your own brake job which is super super easy as well as the catalytic converter coolant bypass most people think it’s a head gasket issue, but that’s not the case.
Thoughts on buying a 2017 Prius two this year with 40,000 miles? Is buying an older hybrid worth while having low miles but is 7 years old? Just wondering from a hybrid battery lifecycle standpoint
If The vehicle is in great condition no accidents and it suits your lifestyle and needs. I wouldn’t hesitate on buying a used Prius. You could always do a vehicle inspection and take it to the dealership to have them look at it for you don’t know anything about cars and they would look at it for you for about 100 bucks. Or so.
@@AutoGuyVideos looking for my brother, I babied his 2013 Dodge avenger all the way to 160,000 miles and he unfortunately totaled it running over massive debris on the highway. Car was constantly having cooling, transmission, and oil leaks, though I had a feeling it could have kept going. Looking for more of a car that won’t give him a headache for a long time that costs under $20,000 on a tight budget. Debating on this or a 2018+ Toyota Camry
2017 Camry I heard were one of the best years as well. My first choice is always going to be a Toyota. The only reason why I got the Honda Ridgeline was because I can make it self driving. Plus this engine has a lot of refinement and liability.
Looking to buy this vehicle should I be concerned it’s at 121k, I get mixed reviews on battery life through google. Does battery last the life of vehicle ?
It’s a good vehicle overall, but the main problem is you will eventually have to do the bypass if you start to see any white coming out of the exhaust pipes I made lots of videos on that That’s probably the biggest weakness in the vehicle. But it doesn’t cost any money. It just has to get done. battery life is fine. It should last well over 200,000 miles
For me no. Most car seats for me are not comfortable. So I throw a seat cushion on all my cars I do long drives. Even my Ridgeline. The Prius has crappy seats for me personally. You have to sit in it to see how well it fits. It’s like Trying on shoes. But I still love the car but with a seat cushion for my fat ass. Lol
@DIYBIGMAN Buy or walk toyota prius prime 2017 $12k 180k miles: Smaller dealership doesn't want to drop in price. Has 3 damage reports minor, minor to moderate, and moderate. Haven't had a ppi done. Would u buy?
$3K electronic screen replacement? That's why I don't want anything newer than approx. 2015! WAY too much unnecessary electronics. But, unfortunately, my 2006 Scion XB won't last forever.
Well, if you’re taking care of your scion and changing the transmission fluid every 60k to 80k. And you’re taking care of the engine and spark plugs should be pretty solid.
@@AutoGuyVideos Thanks, I do take care of it- 183K miles so far, except never done the transmission fluid (too many different opinions on that), but here in Maine the problem is rust. I've had it fluid filmed a few times and have stored it in my garage the last couple of winters- my "winter beater" is a 2013 Yaris which is fine but I prefer the Scion and the manual shift. I'm always on the lookout for a newer Scion XB or a Prius V, though the prices of used Prius Vs are crazy.
@@kenm7179 if it’s a stick shift, Manuel should be fine to change out the fluid. If it’s automatic, I would probably just do 50% change leave some fluid in there. always use OEM fluid. It is ridiculous for used car prices and sometimes you never know what you’re gonna get so you gotta check carefully.
Just got the same car 2017 advanced with only 26k miles haven’t received it yet now i can’t wait!
Nice! You will love it, it's a great car!
Our 2017 Prime Advanced has 88K and still runs like new. I am 60 and have had a lot of cars in my life, and this Prius Prime is my favorite so far. I love the way it drives, the comfort, the styling and of course the efficiency is amazing. All around, one of the best cars made today.
I agree. It is very refined from previous generations. It’s quiet and rides very solid even at high speeds. Lol
I am 67, have had may new and used cars of all types, and objectively, this is the best car overall out of all of them. New cars I've had that I really liked included 85 Merkur Xr4Ti, 89 Suburban 4WD, 92 Saturn SL2, 94 Altima with viscous limited slip, 97 Audi A4 Quattro, 2001 Prius, 2003 Olds Silhouette minivan. Plus some more boring ones from 79 Corolla to 98 S10 pickup, which were excellent for what they were. The Merkur had a huge turbo kick into your seat, but in the end wasn't in a totally different performance league from this car, due to turbo lag. This car, without plugging it in, gets 2.5x the mpg of the Merkur or the Audi, and would actually outrun them on twisty mountain roads with big elevation changes, due to the regen braking capacity being huge, keeping the brakes from overheating.
There is also room for car camping in this, with a 75x25x4 trifold mattress behind the passenger seat, a 50 liter freezer under the pillow, and climate control you can run all night in most climates without the engine even kicking on, or even in absolutely extreme climates with the engine kicking on and off. You can go anywhere and do anything in the car. I've taken mine some extreme places offroad, after upping the tire size a little and resigning myself to letting desert bushes scratch it up on rough trails.
@@EfficientRVer They are amazing cars for sure! Glad you are enjoying yours as well. 🙂
I just bought the 2022 Plug-In Prius Prime and I love it! I've never spent so little on gas. Now, I do charge to full almost every day and I'm afraid that might negatively impact my battery life.
You will love it! The battery will last for a long time. I am over 190k and still runs great!
Bought a used 2017 Prius Prime form my brother this year, original owner, 72K km on it...had a few issues, minor fixes... but under the doors there are these small rubber clips, please take them out to let your doors drain and apply some kind of oil/rust proofing in your doors so it finds its way into the sealed seams...3 of the 4 doors had started to show signs of rust along the door bottoms... i fixed them myself before it got bad... so far so good with the car... electricity is 10 times cheaper then gas here.... if you have winters with road salt, clean your floor carpets to avoid the corrosion from salt, and make certain that any floor mats dont have holes in them that could let saline water absorb in your carpet and slowly make its way under the seam sealer, thus rotting out your floor..... corrosion is enemy number one of any car, keep em clean, and fix stone chips asap.
@@mikep509 thanks for the tips! Hope the car treats you well!
With the crazy car situation going on in the world. This is the one to get it looks beautiful in blue magnetism and it looks beautiful in red. Doesn’t matter which trim level you get you will love this vehicle. Don’t listen to people complaining about the large screen you get used to it it’s actually easy to use.
Yes a great car indeed!
I bought my 17 Prime in September 2017. 129K miles now, no problems. Except for replacing the windshield once, and replacing 4 tires twice (plus replacing the OEM tires when new, with winter tires which I run year round), nobody but me has done any maintenance or repairs on it. I declined even the 25K miles of free dealer maintenance. According to the dealer schedule, I missed out on two free oil changes, which is fine with me, to keep their paws off this amazing car.
Speaking of tires, I strongly recommend against the OEM tire and OEM tire size. The 89S rating is marginal for a car this heavy, especially if you only inflate to the pressures listed on the door jamb. My tires are 10 load index numbers better, and T speed rated for 118mph rather than S 112mph. My tire spec is 205/65R15XL 99T with max load at max pressure 51psi. I do actually run mine at 50psi all four corners. I used to get only Michelin X-Ice 3, but currently am testing Continental VikingContact7 on front and General Altimax Arctic 12 on rear, and will swap them front/rear halfway through estimated life. The Michelins lasted over 60K miles per set. We'll see how the Contis and Generals do compared to that. So far, I'm loving the Contis on front. Rear tires are hard to judge, they're just along for the ride and barely wear at all. My daughter just put a set of 4 of the Contis on her 2021 4Runner, and is loving them compared to the original tires. Door jamb pressure is 33psi on her car, and she is loving them at 37psi, hasn't tried out higher pressures yet.
Mine is the base model, called the Prius Prime Plus when I bought it, later called the LE. So, smaller screen, and more things controlled with buttons and knobs, exactly how I wanted it. Better vent layout than with the larger screen, also. The features I missed out on and would have liked, by getting the base model, were heated steering wheel and garage door opener.
I tore the steering wheel cover with a fingernail, and then covered it with a leather cover from Amazon. SEG Direct Genuine Leather Steering Wheel Cover, Stitch On Wrap, 15 Inch Steering Wheel Wrap for Car Truck SUV Pickup Boat, DIY Sewing with Needle Thread, Black The price oscillates between $8.50 and $13.50. Grab one the next time it's $9.99 or less if your steering wheel starts to look rough, or you simply want to keep it from getting rough. I installed it 28 months ago, and it's held up perfectly. My review of it on Amazon is under username NikonF7. I think it took me over 3 hours to install, start to finish, though I could have done it in 60-90 minutes if I weren't being careful and methodical because it was my first time doing it. Tips that will save you time are in my review.
I also added sheepskin seat covers to the front seats, as I've been doing to most cars (even with leather) since buying a 79 Corolla new.
I also recommend the Eueco foldable car door step if you are going to be climbing up doing stuff on the roof, such as getting into a roof cargo carrier. It adjusts to fewer angles than the ones with a geartooth-like adjustment, but the adjustments on it work great on the Prime, and I love how solid it is.
An improvement I made this year is a Torras phone holder, "Latest" version, "new suction cup". But I don't use the main suction cup mount as the base, I just use the vent mount, which is rock solid on my small-screen vent. Game changer compared to my previous vent mount, and absolutely necessary for my much larger phone now.
And my latest improvement from Amazon is the 2023 86271-0E075 Navigation Micro SD Card from seller Kimylion. I paid $8.99 after 10% checkbox coupon, about 1/3 the price of the 2024 version 86271-0E076, and about 1/20 the price of having it done at the dealership. Again, just follow directions in my Amazon review. Took 10-12 minutes to install, watching the progress bar as it installed. Having done fine using maps 7 years older than the latest, I was fine with upgrading to ones 1 year older than the latest. Actual map release date is May 2022 on the 0E075.
I agree I like running fatter tires on my vehicles!
Looking good, I think its an amazing car. Mine is the same age as yours but just closing in on 90,000 miles. No problems yet but I guess its early days. Brakes probably in about 30,000 miles by the look of it. I've been following your videos for helpful maintenance tips which are much appreciated. Still getting good electric range, will hit 30 miles in high summer but more like 22 in winter. Overall average is 167mpg, lots of small trips and charging. You must do a lot of freeway miles, I find on a long drive its doing 52-56mpg depending on weather. Also from PNW
Right on! Glad you’re enjoying the car!
Would love a video to learn when is best to use different modes!
Noted!
Oh boy, I could write a book about that. The main thing is that if you're going far enough to use up the battery range by the time you charge next, be sure to use it up. Plan ahead to use EV mode during the slowest and/or most downhill parts of your journey between charges. Hybrid mode on the highway. Charge mode only in special circumstances (like being low on EV range and knowing you'll do a lot of slow/city driving before charging again) or when you get advanced at milking all the efficiency you can out of your Prime.
One key tip is that the car is most efficient near the line in the center of the power curve display. The line where often, if you are below it in Hybrid Mode, it will run as EV, and if you're above it, the engine will kick on. Well, when the battery is low and the engine is on with you well below that line (because putting it at the line would make you go too fast), you can switch to Charge Mode to get the engine power up to the line, or closer to it, while keeping the speed you need to keep. That will rebuild some EV range, and eventually not have you running the engine at low throttle in Hybrid Mode, but instead having it run as EV in Hybrid Mode.
Doing as much EV driving at low speed, as you can, is good. It doesn't matter if you can achieve that in Hybrid Mode, or have to force it into EV Mode to do it. There will be times when you forget you're in EV Mode and use it up, or forget you're in Charge Mode and end up with 80% charge when you didn't want that. Treat mistakes like that as a normal part of the learning process, when you pull into your driveway ready to charge an empty battery and see it's at 80%. Or when you get to a traffic jam, city or slow road and have no EV range left to take advantage of it.
Yes a book indeed! Thanks!
I'm happy to say that I just bought a used 2018 prime with 35k miles on it. It fits my current drive profile ridiculously well (50km trips, usually w/ cheap destination charging, currently get town-wide basically free charging at home, but need the occasional 700km trip) and I was looking for something reliable, as my Smart ForFour is getting into the age where stuff breaks all the time, and that taught me how much of a disruption unscheduled downtime is for me.
Being used to classical European city cars, I gotta say this thing is freaking huge to me (or rather - long). The rear seats look like a sofa. I admit that it will take me some time to get used to the dimensions, especially for fitting it properly into parking lots longitudinally.
Yes size is relative. You will continue to love this car!
Alex, how did you find the high voltage battery? I'm also considering getting a 2017/18 model with same milagro, but concerned about the status of the battery, as I heard these don't like to be sitting for long periods of time. What's your electric range?
@@martinceballos9236 my main EV battery pack has been doing well. I probably get about 27 miles electric only.
@@martinceballos9236 I didn't run a full battery check on it yet (the Toyota Germany 15 years / 250kkm warranty made this a less pressing issue considering that the vehicle was also rather new). I was sitting enough that the 12V battery was discharged when test drove it.
I used the last days to test how much I can get out of the battery in summer in practical conditions. I am still learning to operate the EV drive efficiently. The car is quite acceleration happy in EV mode, but that seems to waste a decent amount of power. However, I need to be careful about overoptimizing this as the car quite happily encourages drivers to become road hazards.
Current results are:
47km 80-100 km/h elevation +80m - Fell 2.5km short
47km 80-100 km/h elevation -80m and adjusted driving style - Made it with 9% remaining
46km 80-100 km/h elevation -5m - Fell short 3km
46km 130km/h, heavier highway traffic that required more speed adjustments elevation +5m - Fell short probably around 10km, I switched the car to hybrid mode halfway through the highway
Charging indicates stored powers between 6.4 and 6.7 kWh, which matches the expectation of 6.6kWh usable charge (8.8kWh physical, 10% protection reserve at top, 15% HV mode operating point) though perhaps it is at 6.5 but who cares about 2%. I would say it is in good condition.
If you want to know what shape the battery is in, get yourself an OBD2 dongle and the dr prius app and check it yourself.
Edit: Also, the charge is power injected into the car. The charger will leak some of that as head, but I have no idea how much that will be. So depending on how much that is, the battery may be worse off. But it's satisfying for me.
It’s a fun and quiet car. It’s very refined from the other generations
Just bought a used 2019 two days ago. Same color as yours. Advanced with every option even the wheel upgrade. Has 123K miles. My sales guy thru in a brand new charger. It’s a Toyota certified used car. Drove it home 100 miles. It was 103 degrees, parked outside and plugged in from Noon to 4:45PM and it did well. Interior was like an oven at 111 degrees. This is my first Prius. Love the car and really appreciate your videos! I park it on side of home in my rv parking because I’m paranoid about cat theft or break in even though I have a CHP neighbor and 4 other police living nearby. It’s a nice area but still cautious. Your thoughts?
I’m glad you like your vehicle and I hope you continue to like it! In my videos, I show complete maintenance so make sure to subscribe if you haven’t. Also in regards to theft the Prius is a pretty low vehicle. They definitely would have to jack it up.
if I was in a high crime neighborhood I would at the very least, maybe get a car alarm or check and see if they have a catalytic converter shield guard. Keep me posted on your vehicle! Also make sure to change your transmission fluid. Even though all dealerships say that it’s lifetime it’s not really true. If you look at the owners manual for harsh conditions to change the transmission fluid every 100 K. Also make sure to stay religious on your oil changing fluids. I like to add half a quart to 1 quart of Lucas oil treatment as well. It makes the engine run, smooth and shift perfect between gas and hybrid. I just checked and if you google Prius prime catalytic converter shield that they have them for sale GEN 4
The tpms changed in 2019. I run 17" Persona wheels on mine for winter. And yes, lite goes on because I'm using regular tire valves, but automatically resets when I put my OEM 17" back on my Prius Limited in the Spring. I have all you have but not a plug in. I've SEEN that screen gives problems.🙄 And EVERYTHING goes out. Heater, air, all contols are THERE. I wished i didnt have it. I'll take buttons/knobs anyday. I wished I had DRLs & fog lites on mine, i like Primes exterior lites better. I only have a little over 23,000 miles. I hope MINE looks that good! DEFINITELY OEM parts ONLY. And at times, dealership parts are reasonably close in price. 👍✊️🖖🇺🇸
That’s lucky they changed it to save the tpms codes! I like old school push buttons too. Hope your car stays trouble free!
I just boight a 2018 with 111k miles 2 weeks ago for $16k i really wanted the Non Prime ( with the vertical tail lights) but the Prime was significantly cheaper plus the $4k rebate the Prime was a no beainer. The only thing i hate is the bog acreen it doesnt offer any thing over the other screens plus no android auto or carplay.
I don't have a house but plug in at work, can do almost my whole commute in EV mode
Yeah I hear you on the screen, I am not a fan of it either! Hope you enjoy the ride!
Did you use Toyota ws transmission fluid or valvoline maxlife fluid
OEM ws Only
Also it says 120 mpg combine. What does it mean?
This was the perfect vid for me. I have a 2012 Prius that was in a minor fender bender. I am looking to upgrade and can't decide on a used 2017 prime advanced or holding out for a 2021 Limited for Android auto/5 seats. Any thoughts based on your experience?
Go for the five seats. Might be easier to sell in future and you can Uber in it too. Lol. Can’t with a 4 seater. But both years are solid. Check out my prime maintenance videos too if you get one. Keep me posted! Plus the oil filter is easier to change on the 2021 I hear! It’s a traditional screw on type where mine is the housing with paper insert
@@AutoGuyVideos Got a 2021.. 5 seats.. low miles! It has some minor issues, I was looking to see if you had a video but didn't see one... Do you know how to adjust the headlights to point higher? Also any info on replacing fuses? No worries if you don't know, figured I'd ask if you had a vid somewhere I missed. lol. Thank you!
@ I remember playing with my fuse box there might be 2 of them. But didn’t make a video. I never adjusted my headlights. I hope there is a video out there for you on that.
Great video. I live in Australia, I'm considering getting a prius PHV, which is the Japanese version of the prime.
For some reason the prime was not sold here and the ones that are available are second hands from the Japanese market.
There are cars (2017/18) with 30k miles for 13k usd... Would you get one that has 7 years an hasn't done many miles? I heard that the high voltage battery doesn't like that...
Just saw your reply in another video. Thanks sir
I haven’t heard of any issues with their main EV battery packs. Toyota did a really good job with refining the quality on this model. I would feel comfortable buying a Prius prime or PHV.
I just watched a video (from Finnish car repair shop specialized for plug in and electric vechiles) and it claimed that in plugin cars the ev battery can wear out after 100k kilometers of ev drive because of the charging cycles the battery can take (max. 3000). So plugins are worse than full EV cars because of that. I think in my car the rating is about 40% of how much the car has been driven by charging the hybrid battery. So there should be left about 20-40k kilometers of ev drive 🤔
Toyotas a pretty reliable
My 2017 ridgeline is ticking with 198k miles
I wish i could say its as reliable as your prius close but not quite with the big ticket items being some of the safety systems decided to crap out. The smart key system and adaptive cruise control/lane keep assist camera could could just fail at 160k/196k respectively about 5 in total 😅
Hope your ridgeline has the 5spd or 9spd, the 6 spd in mine is fairing ok with some rpm flutters occasionally,but im not so certain it will last to 300k. Now I'm just starting to seeing slight oil consumption ill move up 30 weight oil after this Pennzoil UP is done.
It sounds like you’ve had a lot of issues with your truck, I’m surprised the safety systems failed at such low miles! I am averaging 37k mikes a year. Will see if I can make it hold up without too many issues. I hate all this tech and electronics just more problems. Miss the old school tech sometimes. Also I use thicker oil in all my vehicles. My engines last longer and less wear. I Like Lucas oil treatment as well.
What would get a good price to buy one?
Check KBB.com
The heat exchanger leaking coolant is a known issue and covered under an extended warranty. Did you just choose to fix it yourself?
I asked my dealership they said no to me. I had close to 190k miles and they didn’t care I think I called Toyota corporation as well for my screen a 3k fix and they refused to help as well with that much mileage. But always worth checking
@DIYBIGMAN ahhh that sucks. Yea it's a 15 year 150k mile warranty, so your car passed the mileage limit
Toyota corporation said well you got a lot of miles out of her already. Lol
Great video boss! Your bypass heat exchanger video saved me $$$ with my 2016 Prius.
I’m at 150k miles. Are you experiencing the engine making a rattling noise at cold start? It only lasts a second but it freaks me out. I’ve done 5k/oil changes since I bought the car at 40k miles. Changed spark plugs at 100k miles.
@@sheeves4444 awesome to hear! Yes it’s a poor engineering design for sure. Glad to save you money!
Make sure you use spark plugs that are from the dealership. The ones online are all too often knock offs. Also, I use Lucas oil treatment, which makes the vehicle engine run smoother. I add a quart with every oil change.
@@AutoGuyVideos awesome thank you!
@@sheeves4444 just make sure to ask for a friendly discount from the dealership they always have given me one.
Great video except oil additives a a huge no
Hi. Seen your couple videos and theyre very informative. Specially like me whos is planning to buy 2019 prius prime advance. 121k miles n 1 owner. My main concerns are the hybrid battery. Should ive to change the hybrid battery or how long they last?
Also hows maintenance on these hybrids? Expensive?
Ome of your videos ive seen that they give over 600 miles per fill up? Is it really true on 11 gallon tank? Since youre in practical use of this vehicle so i thought lets ssk you. Thanks in advance!!
Hi, thanks for watching. Glad you found it helpful. I have lots of confidence in the hybrid batteries for this generation of Prius. I used 220 V half the time to charge up my Prius prime the other half is a standard outlet wall. I haven’t heard of too many issues with this generation of the hybrid battery going wrong. I think they actually engineered these batteries to last quite a while but I’ve also heard that replacement hybrid batteries are not that expensive if you go to a non-dealership expert. During the summertime is when I get the best MPG roughly 50 miles per gallon, depending on the tires that you use. I run Bridgestone weatherpeaks right now, which are not designed for MPG. Depending where you live and the weather it will fluctuate and you will get less in colder weather. When I drove my Prius, most of it was highway speeds of 70 to 80 mph which kills MPG the 120 MPG is a combination of electric plus gas depending on the Trip odometer. Maintenance on this Prius is basic oil changes CVT transmission oil changes every 100 K. Coolant changes like any other typical vehicle. I wouldn’t say it costs more. My Subaru Forester and BMWs were more money pits. But if I didn’t need a truck, I would’ve been fine with the Prius. You should get well over 200 K on the hybrid battery. There’s a TH-cam channel called car care nut and I think he had a Prius prime with far more mileage than me. I don’t know exactly what the number was but I know it was pretty high.
The biggest setback will be losing coolant at the catalytic converter because this seems to be a common problem. but the bypass is pretty easy to do and requires no extra parts. Just some basic tools and wrenches. I have a TH-cam video that shows you how to fix most of the problems that you would likely encounter from wheel bearings to rear shocks and doing your own brake job which is super super easy as well as the catalytic converter coolant bypass most people think it’s a head gasket issue, but that’s not the case.
Thanks 😊 for prompt n helpful reply. 👍
If you buy something from the dealer you can install it yourself. That way you don’t have to pay for laboe
Absolutely! I learned a hard lesson when I got the new screen head unit! Learn from me. Lol
Thoughts on buying a 2017 Prius two this year with 40,000 miles? Is buying an older hybrid worth while having low miles but is 7 years old? Just wondering from a hybrid battery lifecycle standpoint
If The vehicle is in great condition no accidents and it suits your lifestyle and needs. I wouldn’t hesitate on buying a used Prius. You could always do a vehicle inspection and take it to the dealership to have them look at it for you don’t know anything about cars and they would look at it for you for about 100 bucks. Or so.
@@AutoGuyVideos looking for my brother, I babied his 2013 Dodge avenger all the way to 160,000 miles and he unfortunately totaled it running over massive debris on the highway. Car was constantly having cooling, transmission, and oil leaks, though I had a feeling it could have kept going. Looking for more of a car that won’t give him a headache for a long time that costs under $20,000 on a tight budget. Debating on this or a 2018+ Toyota Camry
Can’t go wrong with a well-maintained, Toyota.@@gregorytolson1648
2017 Camry I heard were one of the best years as well. My first choice is always going to be a Toyota. The only reason why I got the Honda Ridgeline was because I can make it self driving. Plus this engine has a lot of refinement and liability.
@@gregorytolson1648 both are good choices. I like a bigger car personally.
Looking to buy this vehicle should I be concerned it’s at 121k, I get mixed reviews on battery life through google. Does battery last the life of vehicle ?
It’s a good vehicle overall, but the main problem is you will eventually have to do the bypass if you start to see any white coming out of the exhaust pipes I made lots of videos on that
That’s probably the biggest weakness in the vehicle. But it doesn’t cost any money. It just has to get done. battery life is fine.
It should last well over 200,000 miles
@@AutoGuyVideos thank you!
Are the seats comfortable?
For me no. Most car seats for me are not comfortable. So I throw a seat cushion on all my cars I do long drives. Even my Ridgeline. The Prius has crappy seats for me personally. You have to sit in it to see how well it fits. It’s like Trying on shoes. But I still love the car but with a seat cushion for my fat ass. Lol
@DIYBIGMAN Buy or walk toyota prius prime 2017 $12k 180k miles: Smaller dealership doesn't want to drop in price. Has 3 damage reports minor, minor to moderate, and moderate. Haven't had a ppi done. Would u buy?
No because of unknown severity of damages. Avoid buying trouble.
Please I need one Prius prime with a good deal through you please
Keep looking I hope you find one!
$3K electronic screen replacement? That's why I don't want anything newer than approx. 2015! WAY too much unnecessary electronics. But, unfortunately, my 2006 Scion XB won't last forever.
Well, if you’re taking care of your scion and changing the transmission fluid every 60k to 80k. And you’re taking care of the engine and spark plugs should be pretty solid.
@@AutoGuyVideos Thanks, I do take care of it- 183K miles so far, except never done the transmission fluid (too many different opinions on that), but here in Maine the problem is rust. I've had it fluid filmed a few times and have stored it in my garage the last couple of winters- my "winter beater" is a 2013 Yaris which is fine but I prefer the Scion and the manual shift. I'm always on the lookout for a newer Scion XB or a Prius V, though the prices of used Prius Vs are crazy.
@@kenm7179 if it’s a stick shift, Manuel should be fine to change out the fluid. If it’s automatic, I would probably just do 50% change leave some fluid in there. always use OEM fluid. It is ridiculous for used car prices and sometimes you never know what you’re gonna get so you gotta check carefully.