From love it to hate it : how my Toyota [Prius] journey comes to an end

Well, at least your automotive clusterphuck story ends with getting some money back. My last one ended with us selling the car for less than was owed on it and having to dip into savings to pay off the loan. Better luck next time!

 

Argh,

What a terrible story. Had I the same experience I would opt for my $ back as well. If you are ok with the size of the prius then I would suggest looking at the Honda's. A lot of people swear by them and you see a lot older accords still on the street.

I hope your next car treats you better!

/Robert

 

Okay, I can understand your personal frustration level is high, but I don't see how you can genuinely write off an entire model, an entire car company, and an entire country's cars, as you do in your post, based on your experiences with a single car! I could see it if you'd returned the entire *car* six different times and every single replacement car you received developed serious problems, but basically you have one particular unit that sucks -- hardly the basis for deciding to never buy Japanese/Toyota/Prius again. What makes you think anything else you buy is going to be so much better? Me, I'd just trade it, as offered, for another Prius. And maybe start servicing it someplace else.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LMA @ Feb 13 2007, 03:35 PM) [snapback]389684[/snapback]</div>

Being stranded and waiting on the tow truck really really sours that new car experience. I'd probably be gun shy of Toyota after that experience.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LMA @ Feb 13 2007, 02:35 PM) [snapback]389684[/snapback]</div>

Some of you have done the exact same thing with GM and Ford vehicles. Some of you have written off American vehicles based on second-hand stories. How can you fault her with a straight face.

 

INTERESTING... How much trouble one will take to express frustration. Any mechanical contraption [including an automobile] can have mechanical problems. Perhaps the Toyota reputation for quality makes us set high expectations which, in my experience, have been fulfilled. I agree with a previous post... Don't 'write off' an entire manufacturer or model for one bad vehicle. I do agree that he did right to invoke the Lemon Law after his dealer's failure to correct ongoing problems. Ultimately though, Toyota did make appropriate offers.

We have had, now, four Toyotas: 1986 Camry Station Wagon [given to son, still running well with ~130K miles, routine repairs], 1996 Camry [running well with ~115K miles, very minor issues], 2004 Prius [traded for 2007 Prius, no issues except minor warranty upgrades], and 2007 Touring Edition Prius [less than 2K miles so far.. no issues].

All in all, our Toyota experiences make the Cadillac, Mercedes and Jaguar we drove look pretty dismal by comparison.

 

Ug. What an awful experience. Unfortunately, there are always going to be cars like that, no matter the model; this is why companies can't claim that their cars are 100% reliable. Well, you can rest assured that lemons like that are relatively uncommon and, no matter what model of car you get, you're unlikely to have an awful experience like that again.

If it were me, I think that I would continue to play the statistics game: look at reliability ratings for cars and pick the ones that are statistically most reliable. Toyotas are certainly up there on the list, as are Hondas. If you're totally off Japanese cars (an irrational, but understandable, feeling), I imagine you can probably find a relatively reliable American car (they're not all that rare these days). . .

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LMA @ Feb 13 2007, 03:35 PM) [snapback]389684[/snapback]</div>

I agree with LMA, sounds like a sucky service department. Let us know who it was and I'll stay clear of them if my Prius needs service in the bay area.

This could happen to any car, or make. An intermittent problem takes skill, perserverance and sometimes luck to find. It looks like you didn't get any of either.

My wife drives the Prius and this is our first Toyota after 30 years of driving four Accords and a Civic without ever getting stranded. If this happened once to her, she'd probably take back her semi-retired Civic and leave the Prius at home. That's how sensitive she would be to this.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(malorn @ Feb 13 2007, 03:58 PM) [snapback]389700[/snapback]</div>

Personal experience. Just lost a LONG reply I was writing here (grrr!) but long story short, I had to replace the entire engine on my '94 Saturn SL2 after 31K, happily drove it another 100K after that, AND bought a 2000 Saturn SL2 for my husband despite that experience.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Charles Suitt @ Feb 13 2007, 04:03 PM) [snapback]389703[/snapback]</div>

I think in 1986 the Camry wasn't really a station wagon it was more like a 4 door hatchback. I remember my neighbors had a 1983 Camry hatchback and I thought that was pretty cool. Then my parents bought a new 1988 Camry LE white with maroon interior. THAT was cool.

Dave

 

Sorry to hear you had so much trouble with your Prius. I've had mine a little less than a year, 7500 miles on it, and no problems. I'm glad you were able to work out a deal to get a refund! Good luck with your next car.

I'm a satisfied Toyota owner, but lemons DO happen, and I've read enough stories on this forum to believe the poor service you got. And when you have major problems with a Prius, you really HAVE to use the dealer service. My last new car (the only other new car I've had) was a Chevy, so I knew that my regular mechanic who'd nursed several old clunkers for me over 20 years was capable of handling everything except the 5 or so recalls I had over 8 years. Fortunately there are several Toyota dealerships in my area and I've asked around about them, so I'll know who to go to if I ever have major problems.

 

I'm sorry to hear you got a lemon. I've got 85,000 trouble-free miles on my 2004. Would I write off the entire car company if I had your experience? Probably. Does it make sense to do that? No. But with the amount of frustration you endured, emotions carry more weight than sense.
Again, I'm sorry you got stuck with a lemon. Best of luck with your next vehicle.
I don't know about your HOV lane stickers. I would try the DMV website for starters.

 

I'm also sorry to hear about your troubles - that would bother me a lot.

Lemons do happen.

Having said that, don't you think a more dispassionate version of your story would be taken more seriously? While I definitely can understand you being upset, posting a pictures of a lemon and a huge 4x4 pickup truck, etc.. is a bit of an overkill and detractes from the facts.

I'd not only suspect a lemon, but perhaps a bad dealer. Going so far as to say the Prius is bad or all Toyotas are bad is a streach. While lemons do happen, I don't see many reported in either the news or PriusChat.

 

Sorry to hear that your journey came to and end. I think that part of the problem is that the majority of Prius aren't in the shop so the mechanics don't get enough practice on them.

Hopefully the dealer will send the car to Toyota and not put the lemon back out on the street.

 

The stickers are not transferrable so I think you're SOL on those.

 

sucks that you couldn't find a tech who knew their way around the prius.

that's the hard part about prius ownership... if something goes wrong you don't have a conventional car and rarely do you find someone to fix it who has half a clue as to what's going on in there.

haven't seen such a problematic prius yet, sorry you had such bad luck. i guess the statistics weren't on your side this time

 

Prius fr,

As I read your Prius story on your “lemon†I could not fault your decision to get your money back. Many states do have “lemon†laws to protect the consumer and I’m very delighted to hear the law worked in your case for you!

My own opinion, however, with the limited facts given makes me wonder if the car is a real “lemon†or not. I might be more likely to call the Toyota service department that worked on your Prius the real lemon. Giving the car back to you 6 times without proper repairs is most unacceptable by anyone’s standards and if I were a Toyota executive that dealt with complaints from improper service at a Toyota dealer, I would be VERY upset with this service department with the facts as you give them and heads would roll. Your Prius may in fact be a real lemon OR one of the best ones to roll off the Japan assembly line with the exception of one simple part (example: blocked fuel filter) that causes the ICE to shut down when it should not, you just don’t know. Based on the experience of most Prius owners on this forum, I think the Prius in general is a very well built car and considered reliable.

My own 2006 Prius has about 7500 miles on it and I have yet to need any mechanical repairs. This is my first Toyota so I have no experience with Toyota service BUT I expect nothing less that outstanding service from my local dealer service department based on the testimony and experience of other Toyota fans here.

If you do purchase another Toyota, be it a Prius or other model, I would definitely find another Toyota Service Department and I would let Toyota of North America see your documentation of improper service to your 2006 Prius! My guess is there is a part that is otherwise a simple repair (maybe hard to find) but after 6 times of improper diagnostics, that one problem is not getting fixed!

Best wishes to you and your future car purchases!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(prius_fr @ Feb 13 2007, 03:19 PM) [snapback]389676[/snapback]</div>

Your situation sucked, but it was absolutely in the extreme minority for the Toyota Prius, and even more extreme minority for Toyota as a brand, and an even MORE extreme minority for Japanese cars in general. As someone who has had Toyotas, and many high mileage Toyotas, in his family for nearly 20 years I can tell you with authority that these are very well built and reliable cars, and they are much better built and much more reliable than a lot of other manufacturer's cars. Writing them off would be a mistake.

 

Sucks dude!
I had the same problem, except the dealer (Peunte Hills) that the car was towed to actually fixed the problem (Bad O2 Sensor, also got a new cat out of the deal) that happend at about 11, 000 miles.

I now have over 93,000.00 pretty much trouble free miles, escept I did just replace the front wheel bearing assembly $111.00 for the part and my labor. But hey almost 100,000 miles not bad.

Better luck next time, and remember lemons grow on all different trees!