Featured Consumer Reports less bad about Prius

I've had my subscription the entire time Prius has existed, and I don't remember that time at all.

I do remember Prius topping their used-car reliability ranking several years ago (and being at or near the top in years since), and I do remember when they reported in 2012 their statistics on traction battery lifetimes (4% needing replacement by year 11, 5% by year 12). They had waited until 2012 to publish that because until then there hadn't been enough battery failures to derive reliable numbers from.

 

CR's treatment of the Prius reliability seemed fair. Maybe there was some 'car guy' bias against it in the writing because of its performance or being a hybrid. Their fuel economy results where from drivers with lead feet.

 

how would scores change if they removed audio/visual?

 

In the early days 2004-2007ish CR was questioning Prius buyers almost every issue, saying many people loved it, but it does not make any financial sense due to the hybrid cost premium (then +$3000-$4000) cannot possibly pay off after 5-years they said. But gas price rose to $4 and Prii sold out the roof. Now CR has turned into EV political advocates with no questions about the sensability.

 

I wonder if that could be written as "skeptical at first, then letting the evidence change their hearts (or minds, or whatever evidence does that thing to)".

I'm sympathetic to that approach myself.

 

Catch this issue of Motor Trend. Maybe 2/3 EV !!! They are desperate for relevance as their ad base shrinks and so do their subscriber numbers. I'm a car guy and decided not to renew. I think this was my last issue.

 

I haven't read CR for 20 years, so I'm not a good ref. I do remember that 20 years ago a big issue with hybrids was that few mechanics knew much about them and even less could reliably work on them.
Magazines are printed to sell copy. If customers don't want to learn about what the magazines reader base is most interested in, it's not going to sell copy and hybrids for most of the last 20 years have had a steep grade to climb in the overall automotive industry.
Beside, they've (hybid cars) also been thought of as slow and boring vehicles. Who was even thinking about emissions 20 years ago, and the ad base for emissions was a far cry from truthful, which didn't help much either. example 95+ efficiency home heating furnaces were/are supposed to save thousands $ / year in utility cost, when the efficiency rating had / has much less to do with fuel use than it does with emissions out the stack / pipe.
Even today, who in there right mind would think twice about slowing their roll to save a few gals of gas / week / month / year? And that is one of the things early hybrid adopters learned from the start of the game. While many / most that keep buying land barges and pickups at 15 - 20 mpg, still don't get it, and probably never will, as long as they are being sold and even after, it appears from current trends.

 

One of our Aussie Motor Journals had an "all EV" edition late last year. I noticed that the pile in the Newsagent didn't disappear like normal. Like - I didn't buy one either. I suspect it was a Dud.

 

...also with the passage of time, Gen2/3 Prius became known as one of the cheapest cars to own.
But early on in 2004-2007, CR calculations did not comprehend that, so in the end, they were wrongly questioning the economics. They are not always correct about everything.

 

It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.

 

A lot of published 'pay off' calculations were off back then. The used the Corolla as the non-hybrid option, which is fine. The problem was they used the base Corolla, and not a trim that was as equipped in features as the Prius. So they got a falsely high 'hybrid premium figure'. Some diesel models had the same issue.

 

Also, it was easy to overestimate the repair burden and cost of all the "new tech stuff" in the Prius, and also easy to underestimate the repair burden and cost of all the "old tech stuff" it took the place of, just because it was what we all were used to.

It's like starting to join in the laments about how before all the new techy stuff it was easy to do your tuneups and carb and dwell and valve adjustments every 7500 miles, and then stopping and thinking how long it's been since you had to fuss with that stuff every 7500 miles.

 

or more often - this is Dad's '50 Austin - the entire WIRING DIAGRAM took less than a page:

 

Go back further and think of the wiring on a Model T.

 

Yep - and that was the model with a STARTER MOTOR - about ½ way through it's life.

I remember reading that all Model Ts had identical ignition keys - not sure if that was true or not.

 

I drove a Mazda 323 into a tire place once on the same day as somebody else with a different one with the same ignition key. We didn't figure it out until the techs had driven both of our cars into the bays and put my tires on his and his tires on mine.

 

Prius has been the most reliable vehicle I have ever owed including MB 240D and 300D. Honda was a big mistake.

As much as I hate the beast (2019 Highlander Platinum limited hybrid), it is the only vehicle I feel sort of safe in on I-4 (death HWY).

I want to get rid of it but there is not a good alternative yet. Best large, quality, dependable, good MPG vehicle.

The most dangerous HWY in America and will drive the backroads, when I can, to stay off of it!!!!!

Hyundai and Kia are going to eat everyone's lunch and ask for more.

 

Prius and Prius Prime are named "Top Pick" for 2022 by Consumer Reports.
Best Cars of the Year: 10 Top Picks of 2022 - Consumer Reports