Is PIP reliable?

pip is extremely reliable. cr article was a total mistake in models and should be retracted. how many miles are you planning to keep your pip for?

 

The 2012 was the first model year for the PiP, so it will be 8 more years before any of the batteries are out of warranty in a CARB state. (and so far as I know, they are only sold in CARB states)

So in 9 years we can begin to answer your question about how long they last.

While previous Prius are no guaranty of PIP reliability, the Gen 1 Prius (2001 to 2003) are having the batteries replaced frequently now, and Gen 2 Prius (2004 to 2009) are just starting to have measurable battery failures. (High elevation or high temperatures seem to be a correlation)

For both, the rate of cars wrecked exceeds the rate of battery failure, so Prius batteries are fairly cheap on ebay, there is no way to predict how many PiPs will be totaled by their owners. (the battery is so well protected that even in a totalled car, the battery is almost always fine) I would bet it will exceed the battery failure rate, but I have no way of knowing.

Toyota Prius Battery -cable | eBay


While I have you here, here is my post of who should not own a Prius, the PiP will not have the bladder nor the short trip issues: considering a Prius | PriusChat

 

Huh? The only "not reliable" rating I could imagine would be due to lack of data, a blanket "don't know" yet statement.

My ownership observations would put it at higher reliability. Think about how much less the engine is used. The warm-up process involves lower RPM and short-trips sometimes don't use the engine at all.

 

...there are a few non-CARB roll-out states, Virginia being one.

It'll be interesting to define "failure" for the Lithium battery. The NiMH battery in the regular Prius, although rarely fails, when it does die, it is sudden death...Li gotta be better than that? more of a slow decline in capacity?

 

A single data point isn't worth much but I can tell you after 12 months and 30k miles, my PiP has been problem free except for numerous iPod Touch glitches in the audio system which requires constant unplugging to resolve itself.


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A specific internet forum, specifically PriusChat, provides real user feedback for problems, likes, dislikes and general information. I reviewed PriusChat prior to purchasing my 2012 Prius Plug In in January 2013. I was impressed with the positive feedback on the Prius and relatively new plug in. It was here I learned of the great deals available on the remaining 2012 PIPs and swayed me to purchase one instead of the Prius 5 I had decided on. As a personal testimony, from a nine month owner, I'm completely satisfied with my PIP experience.

 

If you read the report, available here http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/TVNews/Nightly%20News/2013%20Stories/60-65_CR_Autos_Reliability_122K13.pdf it shows that the PIP is slightly above category average in reliability and sandwiched directly between the Model S and the Volt. Their methodology says that they require a minimum sample size of 100 responses per model on the charts. I am not aware of any reason why the results should be dismissed for the PIP. I'm sure there will be lots of gloating around here regarding the C-Max's position on the chart.

One thing it's important to understand about CR's ratings is that while they use a formula that weights significant drivetrain problems more heavily than, say, interior complaints, problems with things like the radio or navigation system do still show up in the model's score. Since every PIP is equipped with the problematic Entune interface, that alone could potentially have a lot to do with the PIP's low score. There doesn't seem to be any data indicating that the drivetrain or battery system is problematic, although the li-ion battery pack is new to the Prius lineup so longevity is not yet proven.

 

one year in... no reliability issues to report.

 

This point should be repeated a few times. EV mode driving reduces engine wear and reduces a lot of the most damaging wear (short trips).

For example:
My PIP is ~15 months old and I have almost 12000 miles on it. Two thirds of the miles are EV. That means that my gas engine only has ~4000 miles on it. Let's say that all parts except the Li-ion battery are equal to a regular Prius in terms of reliability. After say 8 years I'll have a car with about 80K miles on it and no more battery warranty. But my ICE will have only about 30K miles on it.
Even if you assume that the battery has a very tiny capacity remaining (like a regular Prius) it should be valued like a regular 8 year old Prius but with just 30K miles (OK, maybe 40K miles since a regular Prius gets some EV stealth-mode miles)

Mike

 

After owning for 16 months and 31k miles, no problems at all. If I really want to pick a problem, it's the winshield blades somehow do not remove the rain well on my PIP.

 

I've had mine almost a year, and no reliability issues to report. The only problem I've had is a squeaky rear passenger seat back. lowering and raising it fixes the problem temporarily, but it's usually back within a day. I searched this forum and found one other GenIII owner with the problem. His dealer eventually replaced the seat back under warranty. I already established the problem on my 10K free service visit. I plan to re-address it with them at the 15K service and email them the case I found.

 

i like to use Rain-X after each car wash. helps a little with dispersing rain

 

The CR report was total BS. I think its a stretch to even include in-car electronics (as in, entertainment system) as a measure of "reliability".

The C-Max, and the other 4 Fords on the top 10 list, most likely made it there because of issues with Ford's in-car entertainment system. When I saw that CR report, I popped into the C-Max forum and that was pretty much the consensus there. Not many issues related to the car (12V battery was an issue), but lots of complaints about the MyFord or Sync (whatever its called) entertainment system. In fact, in the C-Max forum, people there were upset the navigation system issues counted against the C-Max because it was an option to get the nav/entertainment system.

In this article (Japan automakers lose ground in Consumer Reports reliability ratings - latimes.com), you can see that the CR spokesperson doesnt even know what he's talking about:

Nevermind that one of the highest reliability cars, the regular Prius, also has two powertrains.

I've had my PiP since 2/29/12 and 12k miles and I havent had any issues at all.

 

I don't think you can reliably take those CR quotes that have been hacked up by a newspaper editor and draw any assumptions about what CR actually said. Like I mentioned earlier, one of the guys who is responsible for this report posts on another board I'm on and it's clear they understand what they are doing very well.

Problems with the electronics should count as issues because for many people they mean inconvenient dealer visits. What do most of us care if we have to visit the dealer to get a mechanical TSB taken care of, or one dealing with the in-car electronics? Either way it's time out of our day to get the car to the dealer. In-car electronics are so essential today that those kind of issues can be far more irritating to owners than the relatively rare (these days) mechanical ones.

Ford does deserve some of the black eye they've taken for Sync. Who thought it was a good idea to have all the HVAC and even seat heater controls buried in a touch screen menu? Worse yet when those touch screens can be unresponsive. That leaves the driver wondering if their input was accepted or not, and takes your attention off the road.

 

Toyota on the Gen II Prius (as well as sterring wheels toggles)
Gen I was manual knobs. Gen III and PIP is push button toggles.

Mike

 

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Well, unless the LA Times article was misquoting this guy Fisher, it seems to me what he's saying is a plug-in hybrid is more prone to issues because it has two powertrains, right? Yet, the Toyota Prius, which also has two powertrains, is one of the most reliable cars. So how can any conclusions about a plug-in hybrid be made concerning the fact it has two powertrains?

I agree, electronics should count as issues, but its definitely not what I would consider a reliability issue. If this is a ranking of "Top 10 Cars That Are Sure to Send You To the Dealer", I could accept that. But car owners and buyers have talked about "reliability" long before there were radios in cars, fancy in-car electronic entertainment systems or navigation systems.

 

My PiP has spoiled me, being so trouble free. I'd have a hard time looking at something else now.

 

+1 Maybe I am showing my age, but to me the reliability of a car is related to to its transport functionality, not its entertainment functionality. But then again, I consider the radio functionality and ability to make phone calls an important property of a cell phone, rather than its advanced media functionality.