Your thoughts on Quality of materials used?

If you want 'solid' construction then buy a Mercedes.

With a Prius hybrid or plug-in your 'paying for' high fuel mileage technology. If you did not want the fuel mileage technology, then perhaps you bought the wrong vehicle.

The month that we were shopping for a new vehicle, we started by making a list of the cheapest vehicles in current manufacture. According to our internet search, the cheapest vehicle should have had starting prices set at $16k. As we toured the dealerships, the cheapest models were out-of-stock, across the board among all manufacturers. One salesman talked us into test driving a Prius at $24k. With the lowest priced vehicles at $16k and this vehicle priced at $24k, it is not exactly an expensive vehicle. I do not see any complaint about 'what your pay for' as really being legit here. If you want to pay for 'solid' then fine, go pay three times the price and get solid.

 

I'm not one of those offended by criticisms of the Prius. I have some criticisms of my own, but I'd buy another one in a heartbeat. I like to compare high-mileage cars to light airplanes. The car has to be light in order to get good mileage. The airplane has to be light in order to fly ....if thrust and lift exceed weight and drag, it'll fly. Ever try to slam the door on the exceedingly popular Cessna 172? It is so flimsy it makes the Prius door seem like the door of a bank vault. Yes, the light-weight materials can feel kinda cheap, but they get the job done. In summertime I get between 62 and 64 mpg. Low- to mid-fifties in winter. Can't complain about that.

 

You're definitely paying a premium of $2k-3k for the hybrid system.

 

That's exactly right! We are indeed paying 2-3k for the hybrid technology. I expect to get at least 5 years or 100000 miles out of this car before I get tired of it. Five years of 50+ MPG!
So subtract the cost of the tech. Now, It's about 19k. Still sound bad? How about no maintainence for the first 3 years, none! Now just imagine, the price of gas goes up to $4/ gal. I know it's a streach, now lets really go off the deep end $5/ gal. You think that 2-3k investment starts to dwindle a bit. So if you want luxury at 19k good luck! If you think 2-3k in tech won't pay off, I'm not going to Vegas with you and im certainly not asking you for investment advice. LOL

 

"My" Prius is a company car as well, and so I have the same outside-looking-in perspective as the OP.....seasoned by 42,000 miles and two years of exposure to the Prius community.

As far as the original question: Your thoughts on Quality of materials used?
Easy... they weren't used.
The Prius isn't supposed to swaddle you in luxury, and you're not going to be tickling cones in a parking lot auto-cross meet and while there are certainly people who have put Priuses on a drag strip, you're not exactly going to have to worry about blurred vision and nose bleeds from the 17-second quarter mile blasts.
Priuses don't stop on a dime and give you nine pennies back....but they DO (finally!) have four wheel discs, and you will get some energy back from the regenerative braking.

The Prius is an Eco-box.
Period.
That's what it does, and it does it fairly well.
Like Kermit the Frog always says...."It ain't easy being green!"
Sometimes....you have to contend with carpet that is felt-thin, an almost complete lack of sound deadening material in the cabin, and flimsy "Yaris-like" seats.
Last week, my parking brake pedal’s foot gave it up and I was amazed at the lack of sturdiness in this piece/part that I certainly haven't abused during the last two years!!

However (comma!) that and an Aux battery have been it so far for failures in 42K.
"My" car still gets between 50-60 miles per gallon every time, all the time. I expect that I drive the car for another 42,000 miles I'll probably lose another few pieces parts and I'll still be plagued by poor seating, drafts and noises from the doors, THE WORST radio in our fleet of vehicles, non-adjustable visors, and all of the other joys of Prius ownership BUT the car will continue to get me from office to office dependably and economically...because....it's a Prius.
That's what they do.

 

$3.79 in Wisconsin today!

 

I'm not so sure it's the quality of the materials that's lacking a bit, I think it is the interior design and type of materials used. Here's some of what I think about Prius interior -

I look at the HSI gage and don't have heads up display. I think the HSI gage, in center of dash is not placed so well. It's a long glance to right to see it. I'm not convinced the center display gage is a benefit.

Interior design is sort of 'sterile', plastics are hard and to me, interior is by no means sexy or very inviting.
base steering wheel texture sort of sucks, like sandpaper

mechanical adjust seats are a total crapshoot. I think only the lowest trim, Two should have mechanical adjust. Three ought to have power with fabric and Four, Five ought to have power softex with memory.

It would feel better to have power adjust seat, and for heaven sakes, a more adjustable steering wheel. Geez they sure skimped on telescoping range. So stingy with how close it pulls to driver.

beyone that, liftback needs to be bit more fun to drive and have bit more power. It's a good, reliable, but somewhat boring car to drive. I hear BEV's like Focus Electric are much more fun to drive. Too bad they're $$$ and have no cargo room.

 

I knew I wasn't getting a luxury car, unlike the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid I thought about. The Prius 2 was FAR cheaper and looks it. It's dark plastic grey cave of an interior didn't begin to compare with the richness of even a base MKZ but my priorities changed and I wanted the extra 10 MPG or so over what the MKZ (and similar Ford Fusion Hybrid) got and I wanted a hatchback with folding rear seat that neither of the other 2 cars offered. It's stark for sure but functional in an all-business sense. The seats aren't great either but adequately comfortable, though they don't approach the level of the Ford models. However, in balance, I felt the Prius was the more sensible choice for me.

 

$4.15 in SoCal right now!

 

I guess I'm pretty easy to please.

 

I get it ECO box, light weight, etc. However just a hair more quality on the seats would have been nice.

 

I still owned my 2009 2nd gen Prius in middle of May 2009 when the 3rd Gen Prius first landed in Bay Area at Piercey Toyota. I shot down there like a rocket to see the all-new car, of course looking to see driver's seat height adjust and more travel over the very limited seat travel in 2nd gen Prius.

I got in the car, slid the bigger than 2nd gen seat back, wow, much further back than 2nd gen, height adjust worked nicely.

Slid all the way back, I could reach the foot pedals. I found the adjustment release for steering wheel and pulled it towards me .....

uh oh, what the heck is this?? The steering wheel telescopes, but geez, not very close to me.

I'm going to assume the steering wheel placement is simply a screwup on Toyota's part. 3rd gen steering wheel, pushed in goes closer to the dash than 2nd gen Prius (by about 1 inch).

Some could say, but the Japanese have some very short people who may need the wheel really close to the dash.
I say, maybe so, but the Japanese Prius have right hand drive cars, the steering is on right side of the car.

Bottom line, Toyota jacked up the 3rd gen steering wheel placement. It is something that could cause me to sell the car before its time. I don't like a car forcing me to scoot closer than I'd like just to be able to reach the steering wheel because it lacks good placement or adjustment range. I'm one click forward from full back, right where I'd like to be, but the wheel reach is a bit too far. It's livable, but geez, can't I put the wheel where I really want it? I had been scooting a notch closer since got the car, but through with that.

Those with shorter legs will never know what I'm talking about, but if you buy 34+ inch inseam pants, 35, or 36, you'll probably know what I'm talking about.

 

What's interesting is a Prius liftback Five w/o adv tech package stickers $15 more than a 2013 Honda Accord EX-L w/ nav ($30,800 vs $30,785). Accord EX-L lot more luxurious inside than Prius. Aside from LED headlights of Prius, new Accord has tons of features, except can only get DRCC in touring version.

Not saying Toyota needs to go to a conventional interior design in next liftback Prius, but if they want to get anywhere near the 25,000 units per month Accord sales numbers, or Camry, Altima, Fusion, they need to make it more luxurious. Obviously lot of people are cool with Accord's 30 mpg average, enough to buy it.

 

Avalon Hybrid or Lexus ES or CT Hybrids - oh wait, they don't get 50 mpg and cost under $30k. The CT is a close cousin of the Prius but it's smaller, heavier and has the premium interior touches you're looking for.

 

As a new first time Prius owner, four weeks tomorrow and almost six hundred miles, I understand some of the complaints. I'm neither fazed nor deterred. I accept the Prius as is. My Prius is a plug-in advanced, not a base model, so I have some pluses. One of my favorites are the very rare LED headlights. The main attraction for me is the fuel mileage, followed by reliability and technology. No one has been doing hybrid technology longer (other than Honda) or better than Toyota. My Prius will serve me well.

 

$3.79 Gate gas station Jacksonville, Fl.

 

Ho humm, feeling pretty good about trading in that 6 cylinder, 16 gallon tank, getting 19 mpg. 54.5 on my trip today. Nearly 3X what I use to get.ching Ching .

 

That is the way I felt when I got my Prius. It is a great feeling. Nothing is better than saving money.