What you don't like about your Prius?

I love my Prius but there are two things I would improve: 1) the auto-dim rear view mirror is spotty when it works. It's annoying when it won't dim but works well when it does; 2) the seat comfort on long trips falls short. I'm definately putting in some washers under the front mounting points of the drivers seat for more thigh support.

Thats it - it's otherwise the perfect car for what I need and how I drive. 21,000 miles in 1 year - don't know where all the miles went!

 

I'm an original "2001 Host Family" Prius owner. I'm now on my fifth Prius. A 2010 Pkg 5 with Radar. I know these cars inside and out. Toyota has steadily improved the experience over the years except for one thing. Ever since the reprogramming of the computer system in Gen II to fix the few vehicles that had highway stalling, the gas engines run more and at the dumbest times. IE: Engine warm, A/C off, Full charge, and the darn thing is running at a stop and "EV" is unavailable. I had two 2004 and a 2005 recalled for the firmware upgrade when they started the Campaign and I lost 8-10 MPG immediately after and ever since. Even in Gen III. Actually, Gen III is worse. I used to be able to operate in EV mode in Gen II up to 35 MPH. Gen III cuts off at 25 MPH and the dealer can't find any info on why the change or whether the system can be reprogrammed. As for the steering complaints, the tires make the difference in sluggish vs responsiveness. Gen I went thru tires every 15k miles, Gen II made it about 45k in the Touring model with larger rims. Gen III is looking like it might make 65k. Stick to Bridgestone or Michelin with stiff sidewalls though.

To sum it up:

Complaints -

- Significant loss of fleet Mileage since the reprogramming in 2005;
- "EV Mode" cutoff is set waaay too low on Gen III;
- Gas engine runs too much even when not needed;
- Still no 120v AC outlet available in the car;
- Fuel filler cuts off 2.8 gallons before actually full @ 80 degrees ambient temp. That's a loss of 100 miles in range;
- The rear view mirror on the Homelink model loosens on every single Prius I've driven or owned. What's up with that?
- Last, but certainly not least, I want to be able to turn off traction control. I live in the high desert of Southern California where we have sand and occasional snow. Both conditions cause the drivetrain to stop when attempting to accelerate. I can't even make it out of the driveway in 2 inches of snow even with traction devices on the front tires. Geeez! We've been complaining about this since Gen I. Come on Toyota - you're gonna get me killed one day!

Likes:

- I bought a 2005 Gen II that didn't charge properly. I spoke to the development team in Torrance when I brought the vehicle home from the dealership the day I bought it. I was told to bring it back and they actually made me a new one from scratch. Gave me a new Camry Hybrid to drive in the mean time while my new car was being built and shipped from Japan. That is unbelievable! and that is why I am loyal to the brand;
- Every generation gives us more of the things that we asked for and the price is still way below the cost of development and manufacturing.
- Thank you for finally putting the "autolock" door feature as standard equipment;
- The radar safety system rocks.

 

not really a dislike but would like to have heated seats, otherwise no complaints love it

 

I have several dislikes in my series 3: 1-running out of gas, even for an instant requires a visit to 'the mother ship' for restart. 2. cold weather mileage. 3. lousy on gravel - when a conventional car would pull through by tromping the gas, the type 3 totally bails out. 4. my wife dislikes the front seats. On the like side, there are many. Handing is fine with big Michelins.

 

just supported the priuschat at shopprius

 

2010 Prius 4. What I don't like is in town mileage, With almost 6000 miles driving, it is impossible to get more than about 33 -34 mpg in town. I can get about 50 highway. After exhausting my dealership's help, Prius engineers told me there's nothing wrong with my car and that this in town mileage is not unusual. This is despite the sticker 54 in town/48 highway mpg. While it is a nice car, it is not what I bought it for, which is very good gas mileage. For comparison, my 2007 Hyundai Elantra gets about 31 mpg in town at $14,000 less money ( that's about 4000 gallons of gas at $3.50.gal). I would not buy another Prius, maybe a Leaf, etc.

 

Cost of repairs are extreme. A battery pack replacement is up there with a normal engine replacement. The difference the battery goes out at 185k the engine is still going strong on my 98 Honda Accord at 294K! Unless gas goes to $5.00 I will never own a Prius again. Hell a TDI VW is cheaper to repair an has comparable mileage.

 

What kind of trips are we talking about? 2 miles, let car sit for 5 hours, 2 miles, car sits for 5 hours???

Mine is pegged at 55 MPG, and just about all I'm doing is driving it in town - 3 miles to gym, 5 miles to work, maybe 7 miles down highway here and there.

The first 5 minutes, it will do at least 25 to 35 MPG while warming up, after that its over 50 MPG.

Are you running heater up high, something else to make the ICE run excessively?? Prius' absolutely stomp all conventional cars in town/ city fuel economy.

I'd be interested to see photo of 1 minute or 5 minute consumption in town with your car. Like said, 30 something is from stone cold while warming up for 5 minutes, after that, much more. Low tire pressure, high cabin heat, wet roads, many other factors can affect mileage somewhat, but low 30's ?? I've never seen it on 15 different Prius' I've driven.

 

185,000*(1/30-1/40)*$3.349 = $5,163.04

Not only a troll, but an innumerate one.

 

If my 2011 battery pack were to go out in 2021 (it's CA with 10 yr/150k), I doubt the price will be more than today's $3500 parts and labor. Breaking it down, that's $350 / yr saved in gas or about $30 / month gas savings to compensate for future battery. ..

Comparing a 50 MPG vs 32 MPG at $3.75 gas, 750 miles / month driving saves the $30. Gas goes up, you drive more miles, or you had a 25 MPG car, you save more. Other stuff to consider, but that's one way of looking at things. Not going to get into cost of cars and resale values. Biggest thing is about using less gas at a price.

 

Try the 3rd gen, it's one big a$$ improvement over the 2nd gen. I think the seats are pretty fabulous in the 3rd gen - soft and good support.

 

I call BS. Likely same person as NenaPRxxx in another thread.

 

On a side note. Even if vw was cheaper to repair, which I don't think it is, your going to be going in to the dealer all the time. Isn't the high pressure fuel pump still shredding on a percentage of tdi? $8000 repair

 

I used to love my Prius until it hit 11,000 miles. The car now has rattles in cooler weather coming from everywhere. It sounds like a 15 year old car. There are so many rattles at different times that it would be impossible to fix.. I fear what the car will be like at 50,000 miles.

 

It's not impossible to fix. There are a couple of threads listing simple and effective fixes. The car shouldn't rattle but it's yours now so what else are you going to do?

 

He should qualify 'extreme', and price transmission repairs and frequency for non HSD cars while he is at it.

Anybody who put TDI in the same cost to own as a Prius has shot their reputation in the foot. Honda Vs Prius is much closer.

 

I traded off a 2009 Jetta TDI and can tell you the prices for parts and repairs are nuts.

 

How the heck do you get 33-34mpg? Are you street racing? Are you towing? Carrying a family of 5 everywhere? My absolute lowest is 39mpg (calculated) and that was when it's -30C for 3 weeks straight. I'd like to see some samples your 1min fuel consumption on your MFD.

 

Here's some in town mileage fer ya


Sounds about right on 31 town with Elantra, but they don't cost $14k less. Prius can be had (well, year end discount) for $21.5k. Elantra probably $15k. It would be fair to compare the Elantra Touring up around $18 or 19k, but not the sedan so much.