2014 Car Complaint Index - Toyota Prius #8 - Ouch

Everyone should check the facts. Go to:
Vehicle Owners | Safercar -- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
and do your own search on the 2014 Toyota Prius. (Which this thread's topic is targeted on). The NHTSA has all of SIX TOTAL complaints on file!! The very first complaint I read, (dated 5/20/14) talked about a "Honda Prius" that went in reverse, while in drive, yet it was not taken into the shop for repairs, or even reported to the dealer??? The 2nd complaint was how an owner thought the Prius should come standard with a back up camera, and auto breaking! So 2 out of 6 complaints are very suspect. Lets see,, how many 2014 Prius's have sold, for only 6 complaints?? Um,, I think that link is just fishing for business.

Lemon Law Lawyers can be good! I just used William R. McGee to lemon law my 2013 Dodge Dart:
California Lemon Law | Law Offices of William R McGee Disclaimer
So far, he has done a fantastic job. I am just waiting for the final check. He only works in CA though.

 

That's great, then please explain it to me so it will make sense to me also.

 

It's the bovine excrement index.

 

When you go to that site, you are looking at an advertisement. It only exists to generate clients for some law firm. I don't see where anyone associated with them actually owns one of these cars. There may not be any actual data. If you want informed opinions about a car you should look either for owners who are willing to speak with you, or some third party who collects facts about cars impartially.

The Prius, through no fault of its own, has become as much a symbol as an actual vehicle, at least on the internetz. Because of this there is a fair amount of crazy/fantasy/mis/dis/information floating around. Try to be aware of the source and motives of the author when you see scary/odd stuff about your car on some random web site.

The Prius is a somewhat specialized car. It is one of the cleanest, greenest, most economical, reliable, and efficient cars that an ordinary person can afford. There are however other things that people want or need, and the car may be weak for these other needs. I don't know offhand why you got it, what you expected, how it seems to you. I will say that life is short and if you absolutely hate it, well you should sell it. Drive something you like, something that suits you. Nobody will hate you for changing your mind.

KennyGS:

That's great,... please explain (the complaint index) to me

If I understand the page correctly, they are guessing that there will be one official complaint per every 9,000 Priuses sold. I expect I would get more complaints than that giving out free beer.

 

I wonder what your cow-orker had for a motive? A lot of people hate hybrids because... well they are hybrids. You have to watch out for those people.

The Car Complaint Index is a real thing:
2012: 2012 Car Complaint Index lists top 20 vehicles with complaints | www.wpxi.com
2013: 2013 Car Complaint Index « CBS Philly
2013 Car Complaint Index « CBS Philly

 

Yes, but the database is so small that the results are hardly meaningful. As someone noted earlier in the thread, the inquiry at the Center for Auto Safety site (the data source for Jack Gillis's "Index" which is quoted on all the lawyer sites) shows only 89 complaints for the Prius, all years combined. That's out of 2.3 million total sales in the USA.

And there's no methodology that I can find as to how his numbers are derived- how does 89 complaints on 2.3 million cars equate to an "Complaint Index Ratio" of 9,352 for the Prius in the current report, for example?

I calculate it as one complaint for every 258,427 cars sold - perhaps I should write a book and sell it to all the lawyers. Oh, wait, why would they be interested in that...

 

You should go ahead and sell the Prius and buy a Volt, they are more reliable.

"Your complaint is vital to get help for consumers through safety recalls, warranty extensions and reimbursement programs. We use individual complaints in public petitions to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to obtain recalls of defective automobiles, such as the Ford Pinto for exploding gas tanks. We do not make public email addresses but all other information in your complaint is public so we can force auto companies take responsibility for their defects."

"Add me to the Center for Autosafety mailing list
I am interested in Class Action"

I like this one: Complaint Kenneth Toole Chevrolet Volt 2012 | The Center for Auto Safety

They don't even have any reports for 2013 or 2014 Prius or the 2012+ Honda Civic. That site is pretty worthless.

 

Sudeep, I see what you mean--but I still wouldn't regret buying the Prius.
Here's why: The following effect has been noticed whenever complaints to NHTSA are publicized, as they were with Prius brakes a few years ago--many people think "Hey, yeah, that happened to me too"--and report things that wouldn't otherwise get reported.
For some of the folks, the "thing" didn't even really happen--it's kind of like how, when you hear the symptoms of a new disease for the first time, you think you have it.
So the fact that Prius is high here is, I will bet, a residual of that "scandal" of a few years ago.

The numbers I have seen are that Priuses are involved in only half to two thirds the traffic fatalities of the average car. I think it was Priuschat member bwilson4web who put those numbers up here.
Now, these numbers have their downside too--maybe the Prius isn't that much safer a car--maybe we are just less nutty drivers, on average.
But anyway, this is a number that encourages me.

The one thing I say to be careful on with the Prius is rear and side visibility. Otherwise I think it is a very safe car.

 

I have owned my 2009 Prius for 5 yrs and 3 mths. I have only had routine maintenance- oil changes, air filter changes, transaxle fluid change, new 12 v battery, new tires. I have had no complaints or issues with it. I would not hesitate to recommend a Prius to anyone if it fits their needs and lifestyle. I think that you will not regret buying a Prius. You can look forward to dependable economical driving.

 

Hawgwarsh.

Each of those Pennsylvania TV station stories refers back to the same law firm linked in the OP. That firm appears to be based in Pennsylvania, though it has additional offices in several nearby states.

This looks more like those prepackaged 'news' items from business advertising offices, picked up by lazy or resource-constrained 'reporters'. When I want to see this stuff, I go to Businesswire.com, not local TV.

 

What I'm enjoying about PriusChat.com is that, although we're somewhat self-selected (enthusiasts will tend to come here while detractors will tend to not), in spite of our "enthusiasm" for the model, we all tend to benefit from each other's experiences, positive and negative, as well as each other's knowledge. As true as it is for other subjects for which enthusiast webforums exist, so it is here.

 

I just had to lemon Law my 2013 Dodge Dart, but had been a huge cheer leader for the car when we first got it. It is sad, we ended up with one of the few very problematic Dart's, as "most" of them, are pretty good cars... I was active on the Dodge Dart forum .
Dodge Dart Forum
Coming from that forum, to the PriusChat, i can tell you, this forum is much more POSITIVE towards their cars! Just go and take a look for yourself at all the negative threads on the Dart. I do not see thread after thread of similar / common problems like what I saw on the Dart forum. I think that alone says a lot about the Toyota Prius being a good car, with few major common flaws!