We have had ours for 6 months, 3K miles. AC works just fine for us here in Atlanta. We use the solar option, too. No rattles. Oh, except sometimes when I have a cup in the cup holder there is a rattle that sounds like a dash rattle, but when I remove the cup, the rattle goes away. That is the only sound I have heard, on rare occasion. No lights/warnings/rough starts or rough transitions with the engine. I have experienced the grabby brakes in reverse maybe a couple of times. I have just had the brake recall done; I don't know if that will make a difference. I have seen possible solutions here, but I have not tried them out yet. The grabby brakes are only mildly annoying for me; not significant at all. Again, I have only had it happen a couple of times in 6 months. No complaints, other than that I wish the leather seats (mine are a port-installed option) were a bit better quality, but I am being VERY particular when I say that, and I would not discourage anyone from purchasing leather seats, if that is what you are getting. Ours still look great, and we treat them very gently, but the leather seats in my older cars seemed more durable. Then again, I paid a good bit more for those cars in the dollar value of that time than I did for the Prius. The red is beautiful. Good luck, whatever you decide.
My AC works better than any other car I've driven and the heater works well too although the mileage drops a little, presumably as the engine must be on longer to produce heat. I had rattling problems and took it to my dealer. They heard them too and actually pulled the dash (or so they said) put damping something around it and tightened it down as best they could. This made a big difference and i only heard a little noise when cabin is cold. No regrets.
I dont belive he asked for the medias opinion. He asked the members here for them. Do you always go about life according to what the media says?
My guess is the media will stop as soon as they find something or someone else to trash. The news media is usually pretty one track minded. Toyota will need to spend a billion or so to defend themselves against the lawsuit industry but eventually it will all blow over. Toyota will make a complete recovery and the stock will go back up. Resale value of our cars may take a hit for a couple of years but eventually that will come back too.
Well folks...after a couple weeks of serious deliberation and soul searching, my wife and I decided that an '10 Yaris LB 5-door with the power-pac fit our needs a little better. A light pedal can easily exceed 40 mpg...and at the end of the day it was $6500 cheaper. I appreciate everyones responses. I still love of the Prius and will smile when I see one. Peace to everyone. :hippie:
