i bought the car because it has an above average record of reliability, ave-above average features, great gas mileage, and expect to keep it for 200,000 miles, like i have 2 of the last 3cars i bought. I really dont care about the “green aspect” at all.
The battery is warrantied for 8 years/100,000 miles, unless you are in California. No one knows how long the battery will last. If your Prius battery goes out after the warranty period, would you replace the battery?
My daughter bought one of the first Toyota Sienas off the assembly line about 7 years ago. She loves the car, but she will never buy a Toyota ANYTHING again because of poor, arrogant, overly-expensive service by the dealers (three different dealers in the upstate NY and Bergen County, NJ area).
In the beginning there was the constant pressure to buy stupid options from Toyota. The $90 First Aid Kit comes to mind — little more than a box of band aids with the Toyota logo on the box. She refused to buy the car on the lot because they insisted that she also purchase the band aids. (Do they honestly think that any mother of 3 active boys does not already travel with band aids in her purse?)
So, she ordered a different car from the dealer in the color she wanted WITHOUT the band aids and waited 3 months for it. As soon as it arrived, they tried to pressure her to take the dumb First Aid kit anyway. That experience was followed by repeated little recalls to fix this, or that, minor problem that should have been caught before the car was delivered to her.
Then there was the flap about the tires that seemed to wear out too quickly. The dealer was making her have them rotated (at high expense) every 10,000 miles. Ridiculous. I have another friend in Wisconsin who had the same problem with her Toyota dealer and Sienna van.
Now that my daughter’s van has 90,000 miles on it, the cable that operates the automatic sliding door suddenly snapped. It costs $1900 to have it repaired in NY. Plus they put the car up on the lift and told her she had another $2000 worth of repairs that had to be done immediately. She had just had this car inspected elsewhere, and it had been given the green light for another 10,000 miles before any further maintenance needed to be performed. My daughter told the dealer just to disconnect the cable and she would operate the door manually, and she had to fight with them to do that.
Then, she pointed out that a seat belt on the rear captain’s chair was worn and frayed and ready to break. She inquired about a new one and they gave her a price of $150 with another $150 to install it. She ordered the seat belt and paid in advance. When she went to the dealer to have it installed, they jacked her around on the installation price, changed the time of check in and check out and tried to charge her $300 labor for installation. To add insult to injury they told her that Toyota would probablly have provided the belt and installation for “free” since it was a safety issure, but they wouldn’t because she had taken the car to another garage for oil changes, etc. The reason she has her oil changed elsewhere is that Toyota charges 3 times as much as her more convenient local garage.
Furthermore, she has had 2 friends at 2 different deallerships whose husbands have been in charge of the repair department. They have confided to her privately that the dealerships are all like that — high pressure on the maintenance guys to sell add ons and unneeded repairs.
She loves that van, but she will never do business with Toyota again. This business with teh seat belt was the last straw.
I can go along with that. like all the bad press about the chevy volt, I wouldnt mind having one for a commuter car other than it having a high price tag and the fact that my tax dollars built it. from some real world tests it works pretty good.
I can go along with that. like all the bad press about the chevy volt, I wouldnt mind having one for a commuter car other than it having a high price tag and the fact that my tax dollars built it. from some real world tests it works pretty good.
There's at least two of us who don't seem to fit the image of these neurotic hysterics.
As an engineer, I bought mine in 2003 because I wanted a long term look at the technology, its strength and weaknesses. I have simultaneously driven a Jeep Cherokee, a 4-Runner and an antique Triumph TR-4.
The Prius has some monumentally irritating problems but the focus of this article, and the childish responses, do not cover any of them.