Prius to become American Made - Toyota to build plant in Mississippi

FWIW, the CR reliability info (problem areas, frequency-of-repair, etc.) are based on surveys completed by CR subscribers. CR merely collects the data, crunches the numbers and publishes the results. Seems like an objective, unbiased process to me.....

 

It would seem like a objective process until you look into specific cars. A great example former Chevy brand Geo. All of these vehicles were built for Chevy by a Japanese company or as a joint venture. These cars were built on the same assembly line from the same parts by the same people. The only difference between them are the badges applied. The Japanese branded product consistently were reviewed better than the Geo branded product. Why is this?

The same is true of many other joint ventures or rebranded product. The Mitsubishi Eclipse, Plymouth Laser, Eagle Talon is another good example.

 

I apologize for my lack of clarity. The paragraph referenced is about the CR staff in their reviews. I do read them and so should everyone. You just need to know their biases (as always).

jhinton does a good job of pointing out the problems with the CR survey. First, it's voluntary so I suspect you have a disproportionate number of unhappy owners for any vehicle. It assumes that everyone knows exactly what system the air pump is in that they paid to have replaced, and that they can remember if that was in December 06 or January 07. It assumes that the reader knows how much the warranty work costs, and that he/she was told about repairs under "secret recalls." It assumes that the reader can remember that some of the bill for that A/C repair was for the oil and filter change they did at the same time.

And it assumes that all non-wear maintenance is the manufacturer's fault. I've seen the way some people drive their cars. It's really amazing they manage to get 50K miles out of their cars (i.e. I have a friend who gets about 30K miles out of their Blazer's brakes, while I have 93K on mine and the mechanic says to come back at 180K). I've had worse-than-average vehicles from Detroit for 37 years now, and I've never had a repair over $2K, and only 1 over $1K (valves on my 90 Cadillac).

Which is to say, I think my Prius will do fine because I love my cars/trucks and take care of them, no matter what everyone else thinks about them. I suspect I will be happy with my Japanese Prius and its American-made successor as well.

 

I was bored. Just wasting time ---> iPrius_3G en Flickr: ¡Intercambio de fotos!

 

Northeast Mississippi's post-World War II history and culture of entrepreneurship are ready-made for an era of environmentally sound, creative new ways of making money and providing jobs.

The way our communities are physically organized goes hand in hand with the whole concept of sustainability as well. The rebirth of downtowns and the revitalization of old neighborhoods - as well as the creation of new mixed-use, pedestrian-geared developments like Fairpark in Tupelo - are harbingers of a "back to the future" concept that is both energy efficient and quality-of-life enhancing.

Talk of this sort just a few years ago might have seemed a bit on the fringe. The word "sustainability" was not yet in the vocabulary of most business people.

"Green" was a color, and it usually meant money (though it still can, of course). Talk of protecting the environment usually was greeted with skepticism by pro-growth people.

But these last few years have been eye-opening in a lot of ways; $4 gas just happens to be the tipping point for a broad public revelation about the advantages - as well as the necessity - of doing things differently. And smart people are demonstrating that green is not just virtuous, it can be profitable.

No company has shown that more clearly than Toyota with its Prius. Now it will be built here.
Surely many more good and sustainable things will follow.

djournal.com

 

There was also a problem with engine sludge that caused Toyota to extend warranty benefits to affected cars.

 

I'm Blue Skying It. What If...

There is nothing wrong with the Gen II Prius. In it's current state of
development, it could offer more that 2X the current national average MPGs
for years to come. What with simplifying the computerization to one or two
CPUs, it could even be less expensive.

[Edit: And while were at it, ditch the colostomy bag/fuel bladder. If certain
models of the Ford Focus and Subaru Forrester, etc. can achieve PZEV
emission numbers without a bladder, surely the Prius, perhaps with a little
work, can too.]

So, in line with Volkswagen licensing the Beetle for ongoing construction in
Mexico (Or was it Brazil?), when Toyota retools to build the 2010 PHEV Prius,
it ships the Gen II assembly line to Mississipi. The new Gen III 2010 flagship
model is then built in Japan to maintain it's legendary high level of quality,
which will be essential to compete strongly against the many hybrids and
all-electrics which we are told will be on the market by then.

Buyers the world over would have the choice between the pretty damn good
Gen II, and the Holy Cow! Gen III, both at the same time.

 

I do own a 2006 Japan-made Prius.