2013 Toyota Prius Plug-In User Reviews

Pros

Fuel Economy, roominess, drive train

Cons

Much less storage space, terrible entertainment system

Purchased As New

This is our second Prius, and a bit of a step backwards for Toyota, we think. First off, a lot of the little compartments, map slots, and cup holders are now gone from this vehicle. I miss the various cubby holes from our 2005 Prius, and I have no idea why they would actually take away storage space in ANY car. Crazy.

Then there is the Toyota Entune system, which is in a word, terrible. I don't know who designed this system, but Toyota did its customers a huge disservice by designing this system in. Its buggy, its un-intuitive, it has some major design flaws that make it hard to use and actually makes you angry, like huge volume changes going between sources. Its also so pokey slow that its frustrating to use. Redraws take for ever, which is a huge pain if searching for music on your iPod. I hate this aspect of the vehicle and it really taints the driving experience. If it weren't so heavily integrated with the rest of the car's electronics I would definitely rip it out and put in an aftermarket stereo. It's terrible and in my opinion Toyota should be embarrassed over how bad it is.

That being said, Ford's MyTouch system is supposedly equally bad, and BMW's iDrive is supposedly terrible as well. Why don't these car companies get their entertainment systems right? Sad...

Despite these two objections, we are devoted to Toyota quality and long term value, and after sitting in a Volt I think this is the best plug-in vehicle on the market. Having said that, there is a Ford plugin hybrid coming in a couple of months, and if Ford can nail the quality of the vehicle, then they have nothing to fear from this particular Toyota.

I'm going to see if Toyota can fix all the bugs that are in the Entune system, and if so, I might keep this car... however, if things don't improve, there might be a low mileage plugin Prius on the market......read morehide

Cons

Really? 11 mile range? Is that the best they could do?

Purchased As Not Purchased

I really don't understand why Prius would even bother with a partial electric car with only 11 miles range. What's the point?? It doesn't seem like one should even effort plugging it in. Once you turn on the A/C, and that range goes to 6 miles, it's even sillier.