Toyota is adding a host of new standard safety equipment to both the Prius hybrid and the Yaris hatchback for the 2017 model year. Meanwhile, the former Scion iA, an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Top Safety Pick + award winner, enters the Toyota lineup as the 2017 Toyota Yaris iA?but does not get the new safety gear. (It already has one of the features, pre-collision warning.)
Following last year’s complete redesign, the Prius enters 2017 with the Toyota Safety Sense P package, standard on all models. It includes adaptive cruise control, pre-collision warning with pedestrian detection, automatic high-beam headlights, and a lane-departure alert system that can assist in bringing the vehicle back into its lane. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, though, and the additional tech results in a modestly more expensive Prius, with costs rising by as much as $515 for 2017 Prius Two, Three, and Four models and as little as $45 on Prius Three Touring and Four Touring trims. Similarly, all 2017 Yaris hatchbacks now come standard with Toyota Safety Sense C, which features pre-collision warning, automatic high-beams, and lane-departure alert. These additions bring with them an average price increase of $355, according to Toyota, with the cost of entry rising by as much as $380 for Yaris L models equipped with the optional four-speed automatic transmission and as little as $330 for the Yaris SE.
Finally, adding a Toyota badge to the iA ups the subcompact seda...