Used 2020 Toyota Prius Prime Consumer Reviews
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We have a limited number of reviews for the 2020 Prius Prime, so we've included reviews for other years of the Prius Prime since its last redesign.
Snazzy looking! Some pluses and some minuses
Bill Albany, NY, 12/15/2019
2020 Toyota Prius Prime LE 4dr Hatchback (1.8L 4cyl gas/electric plug-in hybrid CVT)
56 of 57 people found this review helpful
Great looking car. Ran wonderfully in EV mode when I left the dealer. Range was about 30 miles. Pretty good. I have yet to get the EV mode fully charged since then. 3 weeks in my MPG is about 48.5 mpg. Looking for Santa to buy me a Level 2 110 charger. Should be able to charge the car overnight every night. For Toyota engineers, some recommendations: The LE info display is less distracting than on the other models, but c'mon -- it's positioned too far below the windshield and to far from the driver for safe driving. Real buttons are also safer than touch screens, too. I'm very concerned. Would like to see that ergonomically safety engineered so that it takes less attention away from the business of driving! Also, the location of other buttons and utilities in the interior are awkward to find when driving, and worse at night. The USB location is really dumb and hard to find in daylight, even harder at night! Blind spot visibility is better than on the RAV-4 but still not great, and the side mirrors must double duty to compensate for the small range of view out the rear windshield. Also, NO REAR WINDSHIELD WIPER? In a snow storm last week, the lack of a rear wiper was a bother, and the rear window heater couldn't melt the snow -- it kept shutting off every 4 minutes, too! This is the first Toyota I've had in 20 years without a rear wiper! WTx? Under gas, the gearing seems inconsistent. Not sure I've figured out why. I'll pay more attention and see if the service folks can fix something. Finally, the voice command system is slightly better than the system on the 2017 RAV-4s, but very flawed compared to what I had on my 2014 Prius. Is Toyota's voice recognition technology falling behind what it was six years ago? How could that be? Another drawback is the Prime's shrunken cargo capacity. I understand the room needed for the EV battery, and accept the compromise. But it does limit the utility of the vehicle. If the model had a sun roof, however, then at least I could feel a bit less claustrophobic, and maybe even bring back taller items from my landscape supply store occasionally. Finally, the car swings wide when parking! Oy! Have some sort of warning when the fenders are getting near an obstruction. I was very surprised at the space needed to safely parallel park or to pull out of head-in parking spaces when there were other cars or obstructions alongside. Check out the Volvo and Nissan surround vision and alert system. If Nissan can have it, why not Toyota? Recommendations: For future models --engineer the interior so knobs and switches and displays are located closer to the driver and in safer, less distracting locations. Also, add a rear wiper, a better read defroster, and better warning systems of what's at risk of damaging the car's side and front and rear fenders and of what's in the blind spots
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Great Car for the Money
Great Car for the MOney, 12/07/2019
2020 Toyota Prius Prime Limited 4dr Hatchback (1.8L 4cyl gas/electric plug-in hybrid CVT)
24 of 24 people found this review helpful
WE mouth the Limited version in order to get the advanced screen and electronics. With the $2,000 credit and the $4,500 federal tax credit, the price of this car dropped to $25,000. The plug in works easily and gives a good 26 miles on electric only power. The range with the hybrid is wonderful. The interior is clean in design and comfortable. The screen takes a little getting use to, but once you learn it, it's great. It may not be as exciting to drive as a Tesla, but for less half the price of a Model 3, you get a great and environmentally responsible vehicle. The only little niggle is that you can't adjust the heads up screen right or left, only up or down. Also, they should add auto park assist instead of just vehicle warning. A little better color selection would be nice, but we are happy with the Silver.
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Highly recommended
Dave in Florida, 08/24/2020
2020 Toyota Prius Prime XLE 4dr Hatchback (1.8L 4cyl gas/electric plug-in hybrid CVT)
19 of 19 people found this review helpful
Bought this car because I wanted something that reduced my gasoline consumption substantially, but wasn't ready to go all-electric. Suits my setup very well. I charge overnight in the driveway on a regular plug (schedule easily with the in-car timer), then drive to and from my office, a total of 21 miles round trip. When the car first arrived, it would indicate 22 miles of electric range. Now a few weeks later it's up to 28.5 miles. Running in electric mode is far quieter than in a normal car - you can hear the radio, the other cars going by and that's it. So far I've traveled 500 miles and used 1.3 gallons of gas. So the odometer says I'm averaging 390 mpg, something like that. With the federal income tax rebate of $4,500 it's the easiest decision ever to purchase this car, compared to a non-plug Prius or any other vehicle. The big screen GPS and infotainment system is fun and there are lots of ways to 'gameify' your commute. Trunk is a bit small due to extra space needed for larger battery, that's the only drawback I've found so far.
101 mpg over 12000 miles.
SuperHerm, 12/08/2019
2020 Toyota Prius Prime Limited 4dr Hatchback (1.8L 4cyl gas/electric plug-in hybrid CVT)
17 of 17 people found this review helpful
The greatest hybrid ever built is even better for 2020. Don't bother with a Tesla. You can go to Niagara Falls, Massachusetts and Washington from New Jersey and you won't need a 2 to 3 hour break to charge (assuming others haven't beat you to the charger).
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Updated - Love the car! Sold it!
Ash, 03/27/2019
updated 10/04/2021
2019 Toyota Prius Prime Advanced 4dr Hatchback (1.8L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
16 of 16 people found this review helpful
Sold my Prime Advanced for a RAV4 Prime XSE. The parting gift from the prime was its exceptional resale value. The prime had been good to me for 3 years, 48K miles, zero trouble, wonderful fuel economy. What else you can ask for in a Hatchback. Decided to get the Prius prime after 3 years with a 2012 Leaf (Horrible), 2015 Ford CMax (Roomy car with decent Mileage, too bad ford did not improve on it). Have a 80 miles round trip commute from Orange county to LA and prius is turning out to be a solid buy. Electric range could have been better. The fuel economy is stellar. Laser cruise control and automatic breaking is a boon. Want to replace wife's aging GL with something more efficient. (Looking at a PHEV Pacifica in the next year or so, Toyota are you listening?) 18 months and 28K miles later, the Mpg/e for my 80 mile round trip commute with no charging at work is 96 Mpge. Automatic emergency breaking is an amazing co-pilot. Will not think of buying another car without one. Please make improvements to the "autopilot", more ev range please (60 miles would be good). Bring the prius technology to the Sienna!
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Comfortable Ride but Wish Longer EV Range!
Fantastic Car Prius Prime, 05/10/2020
updated 03/22/2024
2020 Toyota Prius Prime LE 4dr Hatchback (1.8L 4cyl gas/electric plug-in hybrid CVT)
12 of 12 people found this review helpful
I have 16,000 miles and having this car has convinced me the next car/truck will be all EV! This car is like having 2 separate cars.... when in EV mode it is quick, nimble, quiet and smooth and fun to drive. When it clicks into Hybrid/Gas mode it becomes slow, louder and the drone of the engine..... I wish the Prius had longer EV range like 50 miles instead of the 25 miles. Car is otherwise comfortable and for a family of 4 it is tight but comfortable. Great commuter car but I'm ready for all EV as in a Tesla or other models. Pros: -Comfortable -In EV mode great to drive -Efficient for MPG -Apple Car Play Cons: -Slow hybrid engine -Low EV range vs. other plug ins (RAV 4).
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Great value!
leheath, 06/10/2020
2020 Toyota Prius Prime XLE 4dr Hatchback (1.8L 4cyl gas/electric plug-in hybrid CVT)
9 of 9 people found this review helpful
I love this car! the plug-in hybrid option is saving me hundreds of dollars a month in gas - currently I'm getting over 200mgp! Yet it was much cheaper than a full electric vehicle, so I think it is great value. I find everything comfortable and intuitive to use/control and it's responsive and nice to drive.
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Still love this car
Liz D, 02/08/2020
updated 08/10/2022
2020 Toyota Prius Prime LE 4dr Hatchback (1.8L 4cyl gas/electric plug-in hybrid CVT)
9 of 9 people found this review helpful
I really love this car. On normal days, I drive all electric to and from work, but if I need to go farther, it just seamlessly (although not noiselessly) turns over to hybrid operation. If I never took it on long trips, I think I’d get gas once a year. Even with the occasional long trip, my trips to the gas station have been so few that I honestly have a hard time remembering which side the tank is on when I do go. The tech is just right, too: I looove the Apple CarPlay, backup camera, and the heated seats. I also love NOT having motorized seat adjusters, which take too long to operate. (My husband is tall and I’m short.) It’s nice to drive, especially in electric mode: feels like it hugs the road and it’s so quiet. Only complaint is that the seat warmers are easy to accidentally turn on and that’s no fun on a hot day, lol. And don’t get it if you need a lot of truck space — this is not your car for lugging lots of stuff, though it’s fine for even fairly extensive grocery store trips as long as you don’t mind using the backseat for overflow. Still, I’ve never actively liked a car of mine before, and I really like this one.
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Amazing Car, Especially with Tax Credit
Skip Horvath, 05/01/2019
updated 11/01/2019
2019 Toyota Prius Prime Advanced 4dr Hatchback (1.8L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
9 of 9 people found this review helpful
Let's start with the worst features: Acceleration is what you'd expect from an EV hybrid, but I've found it adequate to do any merging or passing on both city roads and highways. The Toyota entertainment system is a nightmare, crashing and rebooting as if it were a Windows computer circa 2000, and the car does not support Apple CarPlay unlike other Toyota models. However, the end-around is to use your iPhone or Android apps and bluetooth for a perfectly fine interface. The third disaster feature is navigation which is just like all the other terrible navigation systems ever built into every other car. Just ignore it and use Waze or Google Maps or a Garmin. The screen is nice and big, so I find I can stick my suction-cup Garmin to it for perfect viewing rather than on the windshield. Now the good stuff: I've had my car a month, have yet to gas up, and the gas level is just slightly below "full." That's because most of my driving is under 25 miles round trip and I plug in each trip. So far I'm averaging 100 mpg. The car handles like my old Prius V or any other Prius for that matter. Cargo space is slightly reduced but I find it adequate. As of April 2019 Toyota still has plenty of $4,500 tax credits to give away, unlike many other car manufacturers who have been making EVs or EV hybrids for a while, so that allowed me to get the Advanced model for the price of the basic model (though I won't see that $4,500 until April 2020). Of the Advanced features, I like lane following, lane cross warning, blind-spot warning, near-hazard warning, and watch-out-for-that-car-you-can't-see-zooming-behind-you-as-you-are-backing-up warning. I don't use the auto parking system as I can park the car faster myself. The nicest little touch is the wireless recharger for your cell phone. I just plop my phone in the phone-shaped area and not worry about the battery level. In short, I couldn't be happier with this car unless it had a workable entertainment system that I didn't have to work around. I'm updating the review now that I've had the car half a year. All my driving locally is within 30 miles round-trip and I literally don't gas up until I have to go on a road trip. There was a 2-month period where I stayed local, put no gas in the car and the fuel level didn't do down at all. When I do hit the highway, road noise is acceptable, as is handling, but you won't mistake this Prius for a Lexus. The blind-spot warning feature is really useful on the road for those drivers that like to park in your blind spot while cruising along. I generally fill up the car when I'm at about 1/8 tank, and it costs an average of $25 to do so. For that I get about 4-1/2 hours of driving (a little over 300 miles). The tolls I have to pay on the PA, OH, and IN turnpikes cost me more than the gas. I average around 60 miles/gallon overall, which is also not like a Lexus, but in a good way. This car isn't going to turn any heads, but it exemplifies the advantage of plug-in hybrids. If your local driving is truly local (< 30 miles round trip per day) but you occasionally go on the road, an all-electric vehicle doesn't cut it unless you don't mind waiting 20 minutes for a partial charge-up. An all-gasoline vehicle also doesn't cut it because of poor mileage and spewing carbon into the air. Plug-in hybrids rule, or will once people figure it out.
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fantastic value
Chris, 10/25/2019
2020 Toyota Prius Prime XLE 4dr Hatchback (1.8L 4cyl gas/electric plug-in hybrid CVT)
20 of 22 people found this review helpful
We have the Prime XLE and have found it to be a fantastic car. The fuel economy is top notch, of course (we are averaging 130 mpg combined and have gone 2500 miles on just over 2 tanks of gas - no long trips yet, just 3 trips of about 120 miles round trip and then mostly around town driving). We have also found the it to be quite comfortable for a small car and Apple Car Play is a nice addition. It does seat 5, but in order to add the 5th seat some of the trunk space was lost. A couple of other minor drawbacks: there is no ventilation to the back seats and there is no Homelink garage door opener on the XLE - you have to go up to a Limited to get that. All in all, highly recommend this vehicle!
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