How to find the "Classic" (2001-2003) Prius in Gran Turismo 4

I kept reading conflicting information about which model Prius were planned to be available in the final version of GT4, so I decided to rent the game and put the confusion to rest once an for all! The good news for Prius fans is that the classic Prius is indeed available in the game, but unfortunately it will take some patience and persistence for most people to access it.

The classic Prius is not available for sale in the new car section of the game. To find the older model, you'll have to head to the game's "Used Car Showroom II." 

The "Gran Turismo" mode of Gran Turismo 4 has a virtual calendar that advances a day every time you enter a race. Every seven days in the game, the cars available at the used car lots change. Some weeks the Prius is there, some weeks it's not. Even if you manage to find a Prius on the lot, it may not be the color you like. This sounds a lot like what real-life Prius buyers are going through here in the US since gas prices spiked... ;-) Unfortunately, cars in the game cannot be repainted, so the color you buy is the color you'll have to keep.

Here is a picture of the listing for a Prius that's available at the start of the game (the Prius is always at the very bottom of the list of available cars)

:

Note that the car is listed as a 2002 Prius and costs 17,100 game credits. This means that unless you have an old Gran Turismo 3 game save to import, you'll have to play the game a while to earn enough credits to buy a Prius -- and this particular one will likely be gone by the time you do so.

This is what the first available Prius looks like if you select the listing shown above:

The classic Prius included in the game are all Japanese models, which means they lack the rear spoiler that was standard equipment in the US, and they also have a different wheel design. Otherwise, they seem to be the exact same cars that we've come to know and love here in America.  

I discovered by accident that entering and then quitting a race will still advance the game's calendar by one day. This means that once you've saved enough credits for a Prius, you can use this method to quickly advance the game's calendar until the Prius you want shows up in the used car lot. Once you buy one, be sure to visit the game's auto shop for a car wash (to add a shine effect) and an oil change (to have the game restore the proper HP performance rating to the car.)

I'm not sure if the used car cycles are the same for everyone or not, but here's a rough list of the approximate dates that various Prius appeared during my game time:

-Week 1 (Apr. 2-Apr.8): Silver Metallic Graphite
-Week 2 (Apr. 9-Apr. 15):  Bordeaux Mica (Maroon)
-Week 4 (Apr. 23-Apr. 29) Blue Mica Metallic (Light blue)
-Week 9 (May 28- Jun. 3) Blue Mica Metallic
-Week 11 (Jun. 11- Jun.17) Super White II
-Week 12 (Jun. 18- Jun.24) Blue Mica Metallic
-Week 13 (Jun. 25- Jul. 1) Dark Blue Mica
-Week 16 (Jul. 17- Jul. 22) Dark Blue Mica
-Week 20 (Aug. 13- Aug. 19) White Pearl Mica
-Week 21 (Aug. 20-26) Dark Green Mica
-Week 26-28 (Sept. 24- Oct. 14) White Pearl Mica
-Weeks 30-31 (Oct. 22- Nov. 5) Silver Metallic Graphite

Alas, my copy of the game had to be returned to the video store, so this is as far as I got via the enter/quit method during my rental period.

The in-game display and functionality of the classic Prius are exactly the same as those of the newer hatchback Prius (which is available "new" in the game by its Japanese model year listing of 2003.)  As in the 2004 Auto Show Demo, by varying the pressure on the controller buttons you can coax the hybrid drive into electric "stealth" mode, and you can monitor the activity of the hybrid system on-screen -- including the current MPG and the total amount of gas used!.

The classic Prius isn't really powerful enough to compete against the super-powered racecars in the challenging Gran Turismo mode, but once you purchase one in that mode, it will also become available in the game's Arcade mode. Then you can just have fun driving it on the various arcade tracks without worrying about the numerous simulation aspects that are present in the Gran Turismo mode.

 Here's a picture of each available color choice from the Arcade Mode's car select screen:

It may not qualify as a traditional racecar, but it sure is fun to see my car available in such a major video game. As soon as GT4 becomes a part of Sony's Greatest Hits budget line, I think I'll pick up a copy just for the thrill of forever preserving my car as part of my personal video game collection!