Why I Got Rid of My New Prime

which post?

 

FYI - for what it's worth, even a complete failure is difficult to get replaced. I say that as our Plant Manager's Hyundai left him on the side of the road with a battery failure. Literally a month later he got it replaced. But not until after massive amounts of phone calls/arguments/threats to get an attorney were made. He still ended up paying a portion of the costs. (I think labor)

 

First, I wish you the best of luck with your new car.

You mention you got a $1500 rebate from your State which made the decision profitable. I don't know about your state, but in California, the $1500 is contingent on keeping the car for 3 years, and I've heard they do sometimes check.

I switched from a Hyundai Sonata to a Prime. The Sonata was a nicer car in some ways (android auto!, ventilated seats, auto hold) but the GDI engine had a defect that caused engines to seize up and Hyundai wasn't taking responsibility and trying to address it via software updates, and mine was starting to develop weird noises while driving at around 85,000 miles. A friend had a Prius, loved it, and I have had some Toyotas/Lexuses in the past and knew that it's reliability is top notch. Well, the friend switched from the Prius to the Ionique...and has had nothing but reliability problems. Thing lives in the shop. I know, anecdotal, can't draw meaningful conclusions, but I drive a ton of miles and I just need something reliabiable that I don't have to worry about. Prius is one of the more reliable models Toyota makes, so that sold me.

 

Nether does YOURS.

Care to explain WHICH post you are referring to.......and exactly which things you disagree with ??

 

It's true that when it comes to reliability, Toyota is the king. Some Prius engines had some reliability issues though, such as oil consumption and engine deposits, the latter could be caused in hybrid engines because the engine doesn't often fully warm up.

Gasoline direct-injection (GDI) engines are prone to issues due to fuel dilution of the oil (fuel sprayed on the cylinder walls) as well as intake-valve deposits (IVD) (because of the oil mist (liquid oil droplets) coming from the PCV). If you add turbo on top of that (TGDI), there may be issues such as low-speed preignition (LSPI). Toyota circumvented IVD in their Camry GDI engine by employing port injection in addition to the GDI, but that doesn't stop fuel dilution.

 

unless you drive in 1 minute trips the engine will warm up fully.

 

It is the cooled EGR on the gen 3 that leads to carbon deposits. It should have been fixed on the gen 4.

 

we live in hope

 

You could start your own forum, create a Fashion

 

Ironically, my 2nd generation Prius has the most comfortable seats I've ever sat in. I also like the fact that all four sitting positions have access to an overhead handle to assist impaired folks with entering and exiting a car

 

'impaired folks', i think i have found a new self description

 

It takes more than a few minutes for the engine oil to reach the normal operating temperature. Also, it takes a while for the contaminants to evaporate and the additives to work in after the full oil warm-up. Since hybrid engines keep shutting off the engine frequently, this could make lubrication more challenging.

Valvoline specifically introduced an oil for hybrids for this reason -- it's arguable if it's needed.

Valvoline released a hybrid-specific motor oil: Do you need it?
Valvoline launches its first hybrid-specific motor oil

 

It also takes time for things to cool down. The engine, coolant, and oil aren't going to lose much heat during the time the engine is shut down by the hybrid system. It will take a little bit longer for the oil to reach temperature, but there hasn't been any regular issues for the Prius linked to problems with the oil.

 

Heat is required for cleansing emissions. The engine will run for the sake of maintaining that minimum. The larger battery also provides a means of achieving pressure prior to startup too. So, not for a full or plug-in hybrid. Perhaps there's a benefit for the assist type.

 

Base model Prime has physical buttons for volume, tuning, and all heater/AC functions.

 

Some of what you wrote doesn't make sense, and altho I don't care what you drive I wanted to makes sure others are getting the right information and this is based off my 2018 Prime advanced:



3) 29 mile EV range vs 25 that was usually more like 20.


The car is actually rated at 25mpg EV, I get 36.6 in the summer and 32.0 in the winter, I am not sure I know anybody wh just gets 20. Overall since I bought the car which now has 25K on it I have averaged about 110mpg.


6) Blind spot monitor vs none


If you bought the Advanced version you got the Blindspot Monitor


7) Lane assist that really moves the steering wheel, if I want it, vs. beep and imperceptible or no assist from Prime. Maybe I didn't learn to use it on the Prime. It was hard to learn things about the Prime.


Again mine has it and you can adjust the level of Lane assist


8) Inattentive driver alert.


Again mine has it it even will notify you if you only have one hand on the steering wheel.


9) Lifetime battery warranty


I think mine is at 100K and I doubt I will have it past that and I am at 25K now.


10) Blue Link remote start etc from the phone


I don't care about remote start but I can turn the AC or Heat on remotely up to 10 minutes before I get in the car.


11) 5 years of roadside service


I got 3yrs roadside service not only from Toyota but from my Insurance company as well for the life of my policy.


12) Bigger trunk.


No issue with the trunk space and the back seat do a 60/40 split.


13) Shorter by about 7 inches, which helps us because we have a Smart electric that we park single file in our garage with the Prime/Hyundai. More space to walk around the cars when both are parked in the garage.


I have a standard size garage and walking around my car has never been an issue.


14) Heater off the ICE coolant, assisted by heat recovery off the exhaust system, so you don't lose EV range when you use the heater. Instead, you go into hybrid mode for a little while until the heat is up, then the engine goes off and you continue to have heat for a while. The engine will cycle on and off in short bursts. When it's on, it is charging the battery and/or driving the car forward, so the heat is free instead of being very costly the way it is with the Prime electric heater.


The Prime actually works the same way so not sure what your implying.


15) I just love the Hyundai. I tried to love the Prime, but the chemistry just wasn't happening for me. The Prime told me "It's not you, it's me," which I thought was very sweet of it. I said the same thing back.


To each his own...enjoy your new car.

 

i gave up all hope
a long time ago

.

 

You have made some erroneous assumptions about some things.

A small engine with a small cooling system comes up to "normal" operating temperature a lot faster than a big one.

Then.....most "contaminants" do not evaporate at any temperature and what do you think the additives "work into" ??

With a conventional hybrid, the engine still does ALL of the work and will remain at "normal" operating temperature all the time.

 

people who only average 20 miles are those who drive in more cold weather & /or drive way more high-speed freeway driving. People who get over 35 miles .... don't. That's what they mean when they say your mileage may vary. It's because people and their driving habits very. Heck, even my better ½ could get better efficiency but she carries over 200lbs of crap with her - every single day. That's anecdotal tbough, just like every individuals particular EV range.
.

 

Which is fine if you okay with fabric seats and Smart Key on just the driver's door. Plus other missing features that make the base a base.

We don't know where the OP lives, but real winter really drops the efficiency, and hits EVs harder.

The 2020 has gone to Toyota's regular trim names; LE, XLE, and Limited. The Limited is listed at $4000 more than the XLE. That is a lot for just BSM. It is standard on the Ioniq, and Toyota added it to the Prius LE because of that.

Insurance offerings vary between companies and states.

The Prime loses over 7 cubic feet of cargo space from the Prius without spare. The battery takes up a noticeable chunk of space even without looking up the numbers. The hatch floor is higher than in the Prius, and that means the floor isn't flat with the seats down. Hyundai did a much better job of packaging the battery.

Do you park the Prime and a smart fortwo in the same garage car space?

The Prime has a heat pump to heat the cabin while in EV mode. The engine only comes on for when it is too cold for it or defrosting. It is much more efficient than a resistant heater, but still takes electricity away from the battery. Its use could be why the OP is only getting 20 miles of EV.

For efficient operation, the engine heats up quickly. The coolant and cat soon follow. The oil though can take several minutes; ten or more wouldn't be out of the question. Specially with a hybrid shutting down the engine occasionally, as hot oil isn't needed for emissions.

Water gets into the oil. It is a by product of combustion, so is always getting into the oil. It forms acids in the oil and interferes with the oil's job, so you want the oil to get hot for long enough to boil it off. It usually isn't a problem for most cars. It is an issue is when the car is only used for short trips. The amount of water in the oil slowly builds up as not all of it gets removed. With a hybrid, the short trips in which this can occur are of longer distance than with an ICE car.

I didn't get the "work into" either.