See all Used Car Buying Guides
What’s it like?
Toyota has been making the Prius hybrid since way back in 1997, so by the time the fourth-generation car came out in 2015, the Japanese company had really been refining its art. Launched initially as the familiar ‘plain’ hybrid, then followed up by a plug-in hybrid model badged as the ‘PHV’, the Prius is a five-door, five-seat hatchback designed to take on the varied likes of the Hyundai Ioniq, the Volkswagen Golf GTE and the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, as well as compact full electric cars such as the BMW i3 and Nissan Leaf.
Which model to go for?
Both the Prius Hybrid and the Prius PHV use the same 1.8-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine as their basis, teaming them to a pair of electric motors and driving the front wheels through an electronic continuously variable transmission (e-CVT). The only difference between the two is that the PHV has a larger battery pack (8.8kWh rather than 0.75kWh) and it can be plugged into mains electricity to recharge the battery, which greatly increases the distance it can travel on electric power alone – up to 48km, according to the manufacturer.
Neither model was particularly powerful, Toyota never claiming much in the way of system maximum outputs on its hybrids – saying it’s too difficult to work out how the petrol and electric motors combine to accurately measure their peaks. That said, both versions had a quoted 122hp.
A 150kg weight advantage to the non-plug-in car made the Hybrid slightly quicker for 0-100km/h, at 10.6 seconds vs. 11.1 for the PHV, but they don’t feel appreciably different in practice. Quoted figures for the Hybrid stood at 3.3 litres/100km and 76g/km; the PHV improved those to nominal figures of 1.0 litre/100km and 22g/km, but take those with a pinch of salt – you’ll only be able to get near such astronomical returns in reality if you regularly plug the car into the mains to charge, and then only drive it on electric power for the vast majority of the time.
Based on one of Toyota’s new chassis (at the time), this generation of Prius is surprisingly good to drive, given its primary environmental remit. The handling is pretty crisp for both variants, while the ride and refinement are more than acceptable, given both cars will spend as much time as possible in electric mode when driving at city-traffic speeds. They also have aerodynamic bodies, so they cut through the air efficiently and quietly.
One last note on that final point here: the Hybrid and the PHV actually look different on the outside. They share the same basic body structure, but the Hybrid has more distinctive light clusters front and rear, the latter being big vertical units. The PHV has more conservative headlamps and a horizontal light array at the back, so it should be easy to identify which car you’re looking at if you’re viewing them to purchase – beyond the obvious model-specific boot badging, of course.
Does anything go wrong?
It’s a Toyota and it’s a hybrid, so while we’re not going to say the Prius will be bulletproof for reliability, it’s nevertheless going to be one of the more dependable second-hand purchases you can make. Simply watch out for mega-mileage examples, which will likely mean it has seen service as a taxi and is therefore best avoiding, but otherwise just check for general signs of wear and tear. Reports suggest the Prius’ battery is more than good for ten years’ service, or up to 320,000km, but signs it’s on the way out include the engine running almost constantly or the onboard trip computer showing a fuel consumption reading no better than 7.0 litres/100km.
Toyota issued eight recalls for this generation of Prius, which related to an ECU transmission position recognition fault; the pre-collision braking system; an electrical short circuit in the instrument panel; accessory seat cover kits; the brake booster pump motor; a wire harness cover in the engine bay; the parking brake; and the front passenger airbag.