Hello, New member here with a one-year report on a 2024 Prime xse. I have 13200 miles on this car using 55 gal. of gas. I have been careful to keep detailed records of gas use and confident of the data. I believe the car is living up to its reputation and would buy it again knowing what I now know. It helps that I have short trips that can be handled by the battery, but when the engine is running seems quite smooth when used as a straight hybrid. It also helps that the rate for electricity is .13 per kw, in the PNW. Now the big problem I have had is the tires, at 13200 I started to see a slow leak in one of the 195/50/19 so during one of its oil changes and tire rotations I asked the dealership to be to check the tire, they said no problem, but on driving home it was losing air pressure so I stopped at my local tire dealership and they found a nail in the sidewall it was quite noticeable. You would have believed the Toyota folks would have seen it as it was quite visible on the inside of the tire. So, then the search begins for another one of the 195''s, none to be had that my tire guys could find, so I called back to the place that missed the nail, and they said, well it could be up to a month to get one from Toyota. I could not believe it, but ordered one. As time went on (two weeks) I became somewhat unhappy with the whole deal and had my local tire guys order Motegi MR 142 rims and 215/55/17 Nokian sl94v tires. That took a week and 1700.00 dollars and a month of the car down. A week after the 17's were put on the Toyota dealership called saying they were still looking for a 195 and I cancelled that order. The 17-inch tires seem to ride better on rough pavement and do seem to be less noise. I am guessing that the 17 will not increase millage as I kept the 195 pretty high in pressure, I will report in another year and give a better report on the millage with the 17-inch tires. Needless to say, I am looking for someone else to do the maintenance on this car as I do not trust the Toyota dealer network to do good work.
There's nearly an extra inch of sidewall height on the 17" that you specify so that likely helps cushion the bumps. The new Prius' tyre size is unique in North America (I heard it's more common in Japan) so that likely plays into the fact that it's harder to find. It's a pity that after 2 years, there's still a backlog for this tyre size. Also, aren't there a lot of dealers in the PNW?
There isn't a backlog. People just never bother to do any searches for themselves and just go by what their tire shop tells them. Anyone can get either the Toyo or the Michelin from Tire Rack to their door in about two or three days.
195/50/19's are freely available in the UK. Nankang do them for £116 each and a fully fitted set for £464 .
