2012 Prius question
 

Hey guys, need some information, help, advice or whatever you might have to offer here on this subject. My girlfriend is considering buying a 2012 Toyota Prius but we're having a hard time verifying some changes to the vehicle. She has test driven a 2010 and a 2011 and the blind spots in the back are atrocious. She refuses to even consider purchasing this current model because it's just too dangerous to drive. Here's her dilema: It's our understanding that the 2012 Prius has been modified similar to previous generations with a back window that has much better visibility. However, since the 2012 Prius won't reach North America until January or February, she's not sure if it's even true or not.

Does anyone know if the car has been redesigned with the blindspots eliminated or corrected? Any links or stories out there verifying this? She wants to order one but is skeptical until seeing it firsthand herself. By the time she does that, she'll have to order another one and that wil take another 6-8 months for her to get it meaning she won't get her car until probably a year from now.

Any help is greatly appreciated. I know you guys know a lot more about this stuff than I. I had just been under the impression that the blindspots had been corrected. Is that true?

Thanks!

Re: 2012 Prius question
 

I haven't heard of any changes the basic Prius body. There is a Prius V coming out in 2012 there is more wagon than hatchback. Think Matrix hybrid. Info of improved visibly might be in regards to that. It's economy drops to 42 mpg.

Re: 2012 Prius question
 

There shouldn't be any changes to the 'vanilla' Prius in 2012 considering they JUST changed the Prius for 2010. What should be coming in the near future is a smaller Prius and a larger "wagon' Prius being sold along side the 'vanilla' Prius. There will be 3 types of "Prius" vehicles to choose from. Maybe she will be interested in the Prius wagon or the Prius 'c' which should be a higher fuel economy, nimble car of sorts.

Re: 2012 Prius question
 

Yeah, she's probably going to wait for these models to come out. One of them has to have a better view out the back than the current model. That thing has way too many blind spots. Funny thing about them, after testing one out and seeing how bad the blind spot really is, I noticed a Prius about a week later going down the road and the back bumper was beat to heck. You could tell that the owner had a very hard time in reverse and had backed into different things at least 6 or 7 times. LOL

Re: 2012 Prius question
 

I never had a problem with the rear view on my 2005, but the salesman said most people adjusted their mirror to just look through the top rear window instead of both. The vertical split between the windows was at the right height to block tailgater headlights for me. The A pillars and rearview mirror were more annoying to me.