If GM Designed The Prius!

Alrighty then.

Well to answer your first question it would look like the volt.
I'm not saying GM cars are more reliable, but GM does stand behind their engines/transmissions/drivetrain, for 40,000 more miles than Toyota. So they are trying.

And for quality i have to say the prius is nothing to brag about for overall quality. But i have not had a breakdown, just dissapointed in the fit and finish of the car. If this car gets me over 150,000 miles without any major repairs i will buy another Toyota if it doesn't i will not be a Toyota customer again.

 

If GM built the Prius no way would I buy it! I'm already sending far too much of my tax dollars to that government train wreck.

Craig

 

Now THAT is the understatement of the year ... 'spotty at best' ???? LOL.

GM produces junk ... they always have. There truly was no other way to go but UP for GM, because they're ALWAYS at the bottom.

To even mention Toyota and GM in the same sentence regarding quality or reliability is ludicrous.

GM should have died a few years ago ... it would have been better for all involved ... especially the taxpayers.

I wouldn't buy a GM product if there were inventives that added up to 50% of the product, or if they had a million mile powertrain warranty.

REV

 

If GM had built the Prius, you'd be in the service bay monthly for something. That was the case with my former Seville. As far as fit and finish, my only complaint on the Prius was the dash rattles which have now been cured by my dealership.

I still have a gripe about about the Gen 3's wimpy lower front bumper "lip". Be very careful not to hit any parking curbs with it as it is very fragile. Don't ask me how I know this!

 

Oh boy, here we go....

 

Fit in finish on the inside isn't that good but if GM did build the Prius at least we would get a better nav system!!!!

 

I think the outside of the prius looks good. My problems with fit and finish/body hardware are

1. Rattles, creeks, noises that are caused from being cheap.
2. I have had a dash panel replaced becasue it snapped apart and the clips broke and it wouldn't snap back together.
3. The cover that goes around the steering column is just a loose peice of plastic that sits loose there, i can see bolts and other parts on the top of the steering column where it goes into the dash.
4. The rear spoiler is not strong, after reading on hear and trying to close the rear hatch with the spoiler one time right after i bought the car i realized it can't be touched much. After 30k miles mine lossented up and cracked. All the hardware and the spoiler was replaced under warranty.
5. the doors buldge into the car when you roll up the windows from the pressure of the window going up.
6. If you roll down the window and grab them and move them around in all directions there is major play on the windows.
7. They cover the bolts in the door handles with little pieces of fabric this is ok, but really can't they spend 3 cents and glue them there?
8. Both front seat head rests are loose feeling and can be moved around alot in their tracks.
9. The front drivers seat in my car can be grabbed anfd moved around with clunking noises being heard. Sometimes when i reach for something the seat makes a clunking noise, somethimes when i stop hard it does this too.
10. Don't dare scrap the dash or plastice panels with anything as it will leave a nasty mark.
11. Radio on off button/volume feels cheap and has no type of grip, like a rubber coating on the outside of it.
12. The lcd screens are hard to read and have some film or something on the inside that makes them even harder to read in sunlight.
13. Rear struts on hatch are already wearing out, in cold weather i have to push the hatch up to make it raise all the way.
14. If i push on the front fender in front of the tire the panel has no support so it feels cheap and loose.

I like the car and it has not broke down. So as long as it keeps getting me over 50 mpg and doesn't breakdown i'm happy. But i will not say much about the fit and finish of this car.

 

I'll keep driving both.

My GMC is just a dumb old pickup truck, but it serves me well....and I'm not ready to try to haul a 4x8 sheet of lumber or sheet rock in a Prius. I've actually tinkered with the idea of rigging a class-1 trailer hitch to a Prius or Insight and supplanting my pickemuptruck with a greener vehicle, but my 09 is almost paid for---so these thoughts die of loneliness after a while.
I drive 9.something miles to work, and when Mother Nature is cooperative, I ride a bike.

Since I currently now drive both, I will say that the interior of my 09 GMC is muuuuuch quieter than my 10 G3-II, and I'm less than impressed with the build quality of 'my' Prius. A quick stroll through these forums will reveal that I'm not alone. My G3 only has 5K miles, so I cannot speak with authority on it's reliability, but I can report that I've had ZERO problems with my last three GMC trucks....over probably 300,000 miles.

So...we'll see.
According to what I read, Toyota and Honda used to be the benchmarks for build quality and bullet-proof reliability.
That rep is starting to slip a little for Toyota.
Now I guess they're only 'bullet resistant'.

I'll leave the brand-bashing for the folks in the kiddie-pool, since you can find people who are blindly faithful to brands like Dodge, Renault, Volkswagon, Fiat....etc.

Right now....for me.....if I had to buy another truck, it'd be another GMC.
If I replace my truck with an eco-box-----I sill do not know. Ask me in a year.

 

The interior of the G2 felt better to me. Tighter altogether. The G3 felt cheap and plastic, as if Toyota had cut a lot of corners. Loose plastic panels and odd 90s looking LCD screens as adamace described.

Yes, GM should've died 2 years ago. But what can you do, the gang of crooks survived and they're back for a second round. At least they came out with an energy efficient vehicle this time. And I respect the Volt buyers a lot more than the Camaro, truck buyers who say F- all green cars. Except when the Volt buyers say F- the Prius. Then I say F- you too.

 

Unfortunately, not all truck drivers are in the 4Q2 crowd. Believe it or not, some are actually interested in driving green. Unfortunately (comma) my G3 is factory rated to tow the exact same weight that my Kawasaki Vulcan is (zip point squat), and putting a 4x8 sheet of anything in a Prius requires folding.
Drywall and wood does not fold.

People talk about 'Prius hate' all the time, but I've had to put up with more snide comments and leers from uninformed eco-box drivers when I drive my GMC (especially after the %^$#! oil spill!), than I've experienced while driving my Prius for 5,000 miles down here on the Redneck Gulf Coast. Along the way....I've educated many folks about the Prius and I've personally quashed a thousand stupid negative rumors about this iconic car....mostly from the same type of "4q2' people that are swimming in the shallow end of the gene pool....
...and these 'people' drive all kinds of vehicles. Even Priuses.


BTW.... a more accurate title for this thread should probably be "If GM built the Prius, instead of designed it." The HSD system is aptly named, and it represents a really forward thinking implementation of many technologies...including many drive train components that were actually designed right here in America...some even, by GM.
GM just hasn't marketed very much of this technology (yet.)

 

GM could not have designed the Prius. The Volt was a clever copy of already existing technology.

 

Well, all I can say is the Prius I had delivered on fuel economy. I was never once disappointed in the fuel economy. There were so many times I saw 50 MPGs or more on the MFD screen. Sometimes it was down under 45 MPG, but only when repeating short hops to grocery/hardware store, etc...

The 3rd Gen rentals I drove around were either very high 40s MPG on short trips and low 50 in longer driving.

That is phenomenal fuel economy. Enjoy it peoples.

 

Having traded my 2009 GMC Sierra on the Prius, I feel the build quality is a step up. Whereas the interior of my truck had some rough edges on the dash plastic and some general areas that were not quite right for a $30000 truck, my Prius is well put together with nice panel fitment. Heck, my truck's front bumper was never properly aligned from the moment I picked it up.

Contrast that to my Prius which has very tight fitment among the dash panel parts, smooth edges on the plastic trim pieces and no misaligned body parts. I am very pleased with my Prius.

I think everyone needs to keep in mind that the goal of this car is efficiency, and that means some of the parts are going to be somewhat thinner and less robust that a non-hybrid car/truck in the quest for light weight materials.

Even GM has done that with the new Cruze Eco model as it has thinner sheet metal and loses the Z-link rear suspension for a lighter weight twist beam rear suspension. All in the name of outright efficiency.

There are trade-offs with every car, but overall I believe the 50 mpg I am getting goes a long way in countering any issues/complaints I have so far.

Happy motoring and enjoy the MPGs.

 

Alot of the prius is not tight fitting, grab the plastic around the steering column and wiggle it, roll down your windows and grab them and wiggle, grab your head rests and wiggle, stand by your front tire and push in on the lower fender/front bumper.

But i'm not saying i expected more. I got the car to get me over 50mpg it has done this with ease, and i saw this car have few problems with breakdowns, it has not broke down in 33k miles, so i am happy.

 

I must say ... those are not tests that I typically run when evaluating the quality of a given car ....

REV

 

Same here. Fit and finish, panel gaps, squeaks and rattles are what I typically go by. My late build 2010 has been great and the quality of the paint and panel gaps is much higher than most of the recent late model Honda's we have owned and much better than the Subaru Outback I looked at a few months earlier. My main issue with the car so far has been minor scratches in my spoiler and for those I blame the dealer's pre-delivery "detail."

This is not built like my truck and I never expected it to be. Everyone has their own opinion and what is acceptable to them and has the right to express it. I say if you are happy with your car great, and if not, maybe on the next go around. Sorry to hear other's experiences have not been as good.

Just remember that no car is perfect, not even a $200,000 Ferrari.

 

Fit and finish of my '04 GMC Yukon is superior to that of my 2010 Prius. If it got better mileage and was better for the environment, I think we would have stuck with GM products (our last four cars prior to the Prius were 3 GMC's and a Caddy). I have no complaints about what GM has provided once the 80's were over, when GM produced utter junk and has been improving steadily since. We pull an RV with our Yukon and it does a great job at that and moving people, while staying quiet, squeak and rattle free, and reliable. Neither my wife nor I have significant commutes, so we can get by with a guzzler and the Prius without much hit on the gas prices.

Jury is still out on the Prius with me, as durability is a test of time, but in 14 months of ownership, it has lived up to expectations, but has not exceeded them.

I have driven many Ford and Chrysler products for work, and have not been impressed by any of them, especially the Dodge products. If some of you think the Prius is bad with vibrations and rattles, every Chrysler product I have ever driven has been worse in that regard. They make some cool-looking cars that don't stick together very well, IMHO.

Just my 2 cents. I agree that no car is perfect.

 

If you really want to tighten up the interior buy some silicone sealant and fill it in every panel gap and loose area. Your car might be heavier but imagine how solid the thing would feel.