I never noticed this sticker before today -- is it likely I just missed it, or might it have been added after one of my trip in for service? What modifications? Is my car telling me that I need to go on a diet?
Yes. The instructions say to put that sticker on if you put in an actual spare tire. But it is a CYA thing from the legal department at Toyota......since pretty much NOBODY actually weighs their car to see if all the stuff they carry makes it overloaded or not.
But I don't have a spare... I picked up the car in January 2016 (no $6000 discounts for me!) so I am wondering if the dealer put it on during a recent visit. Possible?
Seems to come up every few years (it showed up on the Plug-ins and it showed up in the Gen 3s. But for one of them, I think it was a Toyota TSB or recall). I do not know. Did they get the weight of the Touring models wrong? (17" tires will add more weight over the 15")
I have that sticker, but my capacity is reduced by 17 lbs. Four Touring with the Premium Convenience package. Port options were all-weather mats, the black console applique, and rear bumper applique. No spare (yet). I did have the parking brake recall performed, but I can't honestly remember if the sticker was present beforehand.
It's the port installed options that get you that sticker. Mine says 19 lbs, with the protection package and rubber floor mat package.
Mine has the 7 lbs sticker. The only option was carpeted floor & cargo mats. I doubt they weigh that much!
my theory is that it has additional metal in the front driver side bumper beam to improve results in the small overlap crash test. they added about 7lbs of metal and will need to reduce overall capacity by that amount.
Both 2016 and 2017 rate Good in that test so I doubt there were any changes for that. Remember the 2016 Prius was the first car with the new standardized Toyota chassis architecture.
As mentioned in another my 2017 has the 7 lb sticker. The only option it had was the carpeted floor & cargo mats. I doubt they weigh that much. We know the headlights were redesigned for 2017 to improve test results. Based on our experience compared with some 2016 users, I suspect there were changes to reduce cracking of the windshield too.
My 2014 had a couple of those stickers on it, I think it was actually like 10lbs reduced on mine. And they were because of modifications done due to recalls if I remember correctly.