Are you happy with the quality?

At 15k miles I'm happy with the car overall. Getting 5 or so MPG better than EPA and it is very quiet for the most part. Paint due to the highways has a few flakes off the bumper/hood despite some through wax jobs. The drivers side floor vent was making a rattle and haven't figured out how to fix that yet. Sound out of the stereo is very good, I have a three with ATP. Seats are decent, I thought they were pretty bad till I took an 800 mile road trip and figured out they were good. The car I came from, toyota matrix, was loud and very unrefined, so if your coming from a decent luxury car, you might have more gripes than I do. For the people that claim brakes need to be done, on my 03 Matrix I replaced the front brakes every 100k, but in reality I could have waited and done them at 150k given how much pad was still left. The rear pads were only half way thru at 275k, according to a local mechanic who I trust so I never replaced them when I sold it locally at 333k.

 

Same coming from VW I am disappointed by the build quality of my 2016 Prius.
In terms of welding, assembly design, gaps between body parts, interior material, etc. I found it hard to swallow the difference after driving VWs for the past 10 years. The body, suspension don't feel solid at all. The car wiggles when passed by F150s on the highway or under side wind, both of which were not experienced when driving my jetta. Prius and Jetta are similar in size, but even with a 200lb battery it still weighs 400lbs less than a Jetta.
Having said all these, I think it's due to a huge difference in design/manufacturing philosophy, or even culture: while Germans try to build things that lasts for hundreds of years, Japanese, with lack of resources, tries to conserve, and save as much as possible. Look at the Tiger tank and Zero fighter in WWII, both are awesome war machines. Tiger is the most feared tank at the time, with thick armors and formidable 88mm gun, but due to its overly complicated design, it's not reliable and a nightmare to maintain. Zero, thanks to its simple and light weight design, out-flew and out-maneuvered all of the US fighters initially, even it's equipped with a under powered engine. But US quickly found out it lacks armor and fire control in fuel tank, making it vulnerable to the least battle damage. Here between a German car and Japanese car, you can see the gap in this philosophy is still as big as 70 years before.
Even Lexus is not any better other than some face lift in interior and painting, while VW is only a tag lower than BMW, Mercedes, and Audi.
Despite above mentioned cost cuttings, Toyota treats its bottom lines VERY well, which is transporting people from point A to point B back and forth for years over tens of thousands of miles trouble free.
In my case, I chose Prius as I needed to sell back my TDI to VW, as a commute car, it needs to be quiet, reliable, and economical, which VW has no offerings after diesel gate. For the extra wiggling on the highway, or the unpleasantness looking at the cheap plastics, I can sacrifice these for the bottom lines. I also have to mention DRCC, it's a feature I absolutely love, it takes away so much stress of driving. For $2000, you get sun roof, HUD, DRCC altogether, absolutely good value!

 

Hi guys I'm new to the Prius forums and read everyone's comments. I to have own several BMW 's , infinity's and vw I would say that the Prius is a well built car. I think you can't compare it to a BMW or other Japanese vehicle. To me it's built solid and durable. Seat comfort could be better but for that great MPG you can't beat it. I'm extremely happy with the Prius.


iPhone ?

 

Interesting - not PRIUS, but relating to driving. I'm not quite sure what the point of a green traffic light is under these circumstances:

 

That's you utility company letting you know that they managed to keep the power on despite all the excess water!

 

Someone please correct me if I am wrong...but take a look at assembly point.

Honda: Ohio
Toyota Prius: Japan

/Thread.

Auto Makers will cut corners where they CAN. My 2017 Three has been nearly flawless. Paint will almost always be skimped on from my experience. I am on constant uneven roads, travel a ton of miles each day M-F and still (to me) drives like a Lexus. It is a very tight ride.

My only negative is that due to the terrain and uphill slopes the little engine that can't just can't tackle them without huffing and puffing.

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So do you also drive a boat on days like this? We used to be able to water ski behind a power boat down the middle of our streets in Pecos, Texas, after a big rain once a year....because the streets were the storm drainage system. It was thrilling then, but I was a kid and swam before I could walk. Hoping your home is a bit more elevated and dry. Maybe they should make a Prius boat/car with roof solar panels and a sail attachment!

BTW I am quite happy with my 2017 Four! This one is a joy to drive; our 2014 V Three feels a bit like driving a tank even though I still adore it. We have owned Japanese cars for about four decades and see enormous improvements. (However, the salt damage problem would seriously bother me if they salted our roads more often, but it is rare in NC.)

 

also pretty disappointed in the quality of my Toyota. even if it's just a C, you'd think as one of the largest global automotive manufacturers that they would have some know-how in quality control and take better advantage of economies of scale

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I'm just going to add this rambling anecdote.....
Growing up and into adult life, my family, Parents, Grandparents, Aunts...were always big Toyota/Honda buyers. With rare exception the vehicle being bought was always a Toyota or Honda.

As an adult...well I owned Toyota's and Hondas...as soon as I could. Although one of my first new vehicles was a Nissan Pick-Up, but that was pretty much born out of budget. * I would say I loved both Nissan small pick-ups I owned...they were stripped down, 4 cylinder models, but I could afford them...and they were reliable and pretty fantastic for the price at the time.

But outside of that? Toyota or Honda. And I've always been happy with the overall quality. I had a very disappointing problem with the clear coat and paint with my Prius, in which I thought Toyota was unhelpful, nearly adversarial in trying to resolve. But The Prius itself? Was IMO very well built.
I'm now driving a Honda Fit, and while it's early in ownership...I'm also happy with it's feel and quality so far.

BUT....

While Toyota/Honda has always been a big part of my vehicle choice life...I would say I think things have changed since the 1980's and 1990's when with a small vehicle, I thought there WAS a huge difference in quality between Chevrolet, Ford, product and Honda or Toyota.
The bar for all manufacturers I think has been raised.
I almost buy Toyota's or Honda's out of habit now, not because I really think there is a significant difference in quality.
It sees to me that the good thing for consumers now, is that you can just pick out what you like best at the best price. I really feel that for the most part, the quality of all vehicles are pretty good.

If there is an exception, or vehicles demonstrate a significant problem...this also becomes revealed pretty quickly. You really don't have to do much but google the vehicle name and the word reliability.

With this? Maybe...only maybe...my next vehicle might NOT of been originally assembled in Japan.

 

I feel the car itself runs excellent. I wouldn't compare the interior and other "bells, whistles" to rate good against other car companies. Toyota, tends to use environmentally safe materials, that seem to scratch easier. But, Toyota goes all out on the "mechanics" of a car. So, your brakes, onboard computer and ICE will run a long time. But your seats, dash board, door trim, etc will seem to wear out a little faster. Personally, I like customizing my cars, so, I got the Clazzio seat covers. I also wipe down my door trim once every 2 months with WD-40 (very lightly). I spray out my enging compartment once every 2 months on "spotless rinse". I have never gone wrong with a Toyota. The big 3 will offer leather seats for the same price. But what good is leather seats when your dealer mechanic spends more time sitting in it than you do?

 

I am coming from VW (GTI) and my wife has a Mazda Cx-5 2014.

I cant say is the best quality because my Gen 4 non - touring is a mix of some hard and soft plastics + glossy parts (which i like but it hold a lot of dust and needs frequent clean up) but in general I like it.

No leather in the seats or special equipment like my GTI but honestly all those fancy details fades away when you start to learn to drive it.

Love mine and will be hard to change it for a decent time.

 

Thanks - no problem with the home, it hasn't peaked yet, but I'll be well away from the flood zone. No - I think if we tried to water ski or power-boat other than for rescue service we'd be stopped immediately. Personally, I avoid boats, swimming etc - I reserve my water use for making coffee.

With the traffic lights still working - a crazy mate has suggested they've been engineered to work in floods to direct the rescue flood-boats.

 

I'll echo this. You give up some MPGs, but the Touring 17" wheels, wider tires, and tuned suspension feels pretty solid on the highway, even next to the larger vehicles. Much better than my previous 2005 and 2014, each with 15".

 

That's right. And somewhere, under the water line, the meter is running ...

 

Its a Toyota as they were the ones that pioneered Lean Manufacturing which is why Toyota/Lexus vehicle's are so well made and honored for its benchmark reliability. I have full service records of my 09 base model Prius, so far its never been in a repair shop for break downs or anything just normal maintenance oil changes... I have 172k miles on it. Runs like a clock. German cars are generally notorious money pit machines. They just can't get the electronics right and like to over engineer things.

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