Consumer Reports annual car owner satisfaction survey

I guess I'm one of the 69% I would definitely buy it again.

 

As much as I liked my PIP when I bought it, my next vehicle will be more than likely a Volt or Tesla. I have a taste for EV and Toyota is dropping the ball. I hate GM so that says a lot.

 

I'm not surprised at all. The Prius is a fantastic hybrid. The PIP is a poor PHEV. At least for those who expected it to be more like an EV, hence the disappointment. I was very happy with my Prius, not so happy with my PIP.

 

I think the PIP is the best Prius by far, but I would not have paid full price for it and I'm looking forward to the day I can get a low cost Tesla with 200 mile range. I'm sure a lot of the disappointment is people realizing they overpaid for not a lot of gas savings or EV range. Also, it's still not a great long distance highway car. Lots of better choices coming soon, even an upgraded PIP that one hopes will have better comfort.

 

pip sales are so distorted by cali hov stickers, who knows what to think? i will be another pip, but i hope and expect something better before then.

 

Been driving Toyota Prius since 2005, already 4 of them and the last one is a PiP. My next will be a vehicle with a better range in EV mode and certainly NOT a Fuel Cell EV.
Today day, if I could afford it, will be a TESLA; in the near future, a TESLA or similar class alternative.

 

We knew what we were buying thanks mostly to the frequent postings on this chat board. For us, we have tons of short hops in the city, but then need to drive very long distances outside of the city. We needed a trunk and seating for five occasionally. Fyi, we just took a 550 mile trip on hilly PA Turnpike, fully loaded (4 humans, 2 dogs, full sized spare, and big luggage carrier on roof) and got 47.5 mpg highway. So, we're part of the 69%.

 

Been Prius driving since '04 ... and was ready to pull the trigger on the PiP in 2010 ... expecting the Detroit reveal that a couple dozen of us went to - to be a PiP reveal. Sometimes our expectations are too high I guess. Oh well, the hydrogen car is obviously replacing the PiP so that's why Toyota won't bother to sell it in all 50 states.

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Excellent point.
I was a hybrid agnostic until my company threw a 2010 G3 in the parking lot and forced me into the community.
Over 75,000 miles and 4 years the Prius has pretty much won me over.
If I were going to buy a wireless car, and I didn't need to tow a wildebeest it would probably be a G3.
Even with gas at $2.28 (yesterday's price) the G3 is about the best combination of frugality, economy, ecology, and utility out there, and if you keep if for 150,000 miles or so I can't think of a car that will touch it.
Normally?
Putting a bigger battery, a smaller gas tank, and removing the spare tire shouldn't change the geometry all that much since the G3 is such a strong car.
However (comma!)
If I wanted to spend money for a PHEV today?
I'm afraid that the Pip wouldn't make the cut - even if they sold them here, which they do not. Pips go from being a no-brainer at $25,000 to something less than that for $30,000 given the mounting competition in the PHEV market.

I've been VERY impressed with Toyota's build quality, rather less so with their ergonomics and interior appointments, and their dealership network is abysmul....IMHO.
Toyota is letting GM, Ford and Honda define the PHEV market, and they're letting Tesla and Nissan do likewise with the BEV market.
In fact.....
If it weren't for HOV lanes, how many fewer Pips would there be in the world?

 

The PiP is an excellent fit for my (retired) driving needs, many 10 mile or less trips and occasional 200 - 400 mile trips. Without my solar installation there would have been no cost advantage. I can certainly see where the PiP would have little/no advantage for the average commuter, especially if they couldn't charge at work. So I believe the CU results are reasonable.

 

This. I really liked my 08 Prius because it was a great hybrid, and so I guess I had higher hopes with the PIP. I could go on about why I would not buy a PIP again, but I know nothing about the next gen PIP (if there even is one), so I'll wait and see. Right now, it's Volt 2.0 or Tesla Model S as the only replacement options in my books.

 

The Toyota advertising seems to suggest that they don't want to get into the BEV market; they feel that the charge time vs. the 5 minutes to fill with gasoline (or hydrogen, or some other fuel) will limit the acceptance of BEVs. They seem to be happy with the idea of plug-in hybrids, where the power one gets from plugging in is supplemented by some kind of fuel, such as gasoline or hydrogen.

 

Try this link:

Best New Cars | Worst New Cars - Consumer Reports

 

Hopefully the 2012 will last 10+ years, and by then there will be plenty of other "better" alternatives.

 

Here's a link to the list of "Least Loved" cars.

Consumer Reports Least Loved Cars 2014

 

I belong to the 31%. I sold the PIP for the Volt.

 

Same here...

Not that there was anything wrong with the PIP- I just couldn't pass up the possibility to go gassless for my 50 mi daily commute.
The Volt has let me do that. I have 12K mi on my Volt now- I've used 19.85 gal of gas so far for 604mpg lifetime.

 

The volt's size/GVWR, and poor mpg killed it for my wife and I. We don't have solar panels, so our electricity in CA is pretty pricey. If we had a Volt right now we'd be paying a lot of electricity and a lot for gas (~37mpg combined versus 50+ in a PiP).

Even if we did have PV panels, I'd be inclined to get a PiP and an i-MiEV instead of a Volt. More EV range, better per mile efficiency on both cars and better gas mpg in the Prius.

If Chevy could at least get the mileage up to a 2004 Prius, that'd be good, but when a new hybrid gets worse mileage than my 1982 VW Rabbit, then engineering phoned it in IMO.

Edit- What was GM thinking with the engine in the Volt? An LUU in a new Volt at~250lbs for an 84hp/37mpg combined is pretty meh, especially compared to the 1NZ-FXE in a 2004 Prius at ~150lbs for 74hp/46mpg combined.

2005 Prius engine into 1986 MR2: mk1 1nzfxe Prius swap (gas only) - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com

 

It's all about price and time. They were running out of time to get the car out before the Leaf. Off the shelf engines help reduce pricing. Shouldn't you be comparing the Volt engine to the Gen I Prius engine? First gen to first gen. And you can't compare mpg numbers like that because the Volt weighs significantly more than the Gen II Prius. You'd need to compare efficiency numbers at the engine. The Prius is still better but becarefulhow to make comparisons.

I'm pretty sure you would be spending quite a bit more money with your two car scenario than a single Volt but since it's not all about money your desires trump the bottom line.