Which is better, a 2010 Prius III made in Japan or USA?

?. They are all made in Japan...

 

If they were made in both, Japan would be better.

 

Wait....WHAT??

 

I read into (former) NUMMI Mfrg. in Fremont, CA, 10 miles South of my house (It is now Tesla btw).
They produced Corollas and Tacomas for years and the quality and their efficiency was just about as good as in Japan.

Last I read, 87% of Hondas purchased in US are produced in US, including engines and transmissions.

I wouldn't worry about buying a Prius mfrd in US, whenever that happens. I might not buy the first x months off the line though.

 

I would go with the one made in Japan since the other one would probably be a scam.

 

...better how?

 

The made in the USA Prius can have any mileage you imagine because it's an imaginary car.

 

All Toyta Hybrids, regardless of model (Highlander, Camry, Prius) are made in Japan.

 

There is a huge difference in Japanese manufacturing and American manufacturing.

In Japan, the workplaces are clean and well organized, owing in part to the 5 "S's". In addition, the workers take great pride in what they do, there is little horsing around on the line, they normally wear white, or light-colored uniforms to signify cleanliness, and they are accountable for what they do.

In the U.S, a good bit of it is the opposite. I blame a lot of that on American business people trying to wring every last penny out everything and everybody, no matter what the final cost is, which is normally lower quality products, unhappy and careless workers, and ultimately lost business due to inferior products and shoddy workmanship. Being frugal is one thing. Being anal is something totally different and much worse.

I happen to work in a manufacturing facility where the workers are filthy, they act unruly, and the final product is inferior. A lot of this is due to the fact that the company will not allow the managers and supervisors to reprimand the employees for fear of lawsuits, all while "the company" wants to work everyone to death and cut out all spending, including pay raises and bonuses, while raising prices at the same time. Sadly, I have also worked in other manufacturing facilities that were the exact same way.

Currently, my understanding is that all Toyota hybrids are still assembled in Japan. If they started building them in the U.S., I believe I would do what I could to find and buy the ones made in Japan. I think the VINs begin with a "J", or at least have a "J" to signify they are made in Japan. All three of the Toyota's I have now were built in Japan, in addition to two others I have had. I also had a 2007 Camry to just happens to be the worst Toyota I have ever had. I believe it was built in the US, but I can't place my finger on the car's info at the moment so I can't verify that.

I am not saying that all American manufacturing is inferior or that all American made products are junk, but from what I have seen first-hand, it aint looking too good. If America wants to be the king of the hill again, it had better make some major changes in a lot of areas, manufacturing being one of the big ones. I do try to buy American products if I know the quality is just as good as any others, assuming the price is reasonable.

 

Yep. All the Priuses for the US market are made in Japan. There aren't any US made Priuses yet.

I believe you're wrong regarding the HyCam. See toyotageorgetown.com -|- TMMK.

 

yup yup.... all hybrids are made in japan... i had honda civic hybrid which was made in japan also.. it had totally different workmanship compair to the no hybrid civic that my friend was driving... it was easier to tell because civic and civic hybrid looks the same... i would take japan made "japanese" car anyday then american made... although american made are not that bad... japan made with their good work ethic and like the other person said... they take PRIDE in thier jobs

 

I have owned three Honda Accords before buying my Prius. The first Accord was made in Japan, the other two were made in Ohio, US. All three lasted about ten years and 180,000 miles, and had almost identical frequency and cost of repairs numbers over the decade that I owned them. The country of manufacturer, for that brand, and based upon my own experience, made no difference at all.

 

Alright, there's some stuff being strewn around in posts above, time to knock it out .........

I personally toured the NUMMI plant in about April of 2008 (along with others who signed up). NUMMI was a joint venture between Toyota and GM. They built Corollas, Tacomas and Vibes until closing in early 2009.

NUMMI, in Fremont, CA, operated under the Toyota Production System (TPS). They had UAW workers on the lines and operated shifts including day and swing IIRC.

The plant looked pretty darn clean and well organized to me. They built high-quality cars - Corollas and Tacomas, Vibes. Their quality was virtually as good as Japanese mfrg.

They operated under Kaizen principles and others from Japanese culture.

It's the management that counts. If Toyota builds the Prius here in a few years, they will see to it the quality is very high. End of story.

 

Isn't that the Prius with the warp drive hybrid system that converts CO2 and global warming into Jack Daniel's on the rocks.:cheer2:

 

thanks for the info.my wife has been lying to me.she works at tmmk in georgetown,ky.she told me they made the camry hybrid there.now i wonder what she has really been doing all these years.

 

toyotageorgetown.com -|- TMMK

 

Does U.S. built Tacoma recall for rusty frames influence your opinion of US manufacturing quality? On the upside however, Toyota's response to the rusty frames is up to 150 percent of vehicle value, under qualifying conditions. U.S, Japan or any country, they all have issues with quality control, but their willingness to step up to the plate and take care of the customer is, for me, what seperates the players from the wanna-be's.

 

We'll see....
Japanese flagged car companies, Toyota and Honda in particular, have been the gold standard in high quality and reliability in the mid priced car market for a couple of decades now. However (comma) there's pressure from other car makers who have been gunning to knock them off of their lofty perch. Quick Example: The 'rhymes-with-Sunday' company.
I'm not sure if Toyota's Q/A is slipping or the gap between them and other manufacturers is narrowing, or both---but the G3 that I'm currently driving (if not owning) is more than a little inferior in initial build quality to the four Toyotas that I bought in the 80's and 90's.
I've only got 6500 miles in type, so I cannot speak to the long term reliability of the G3, but the nagging complaints that I've had with my car, and the things that I've read about in this forum from actual G3 owners lead me to believe that Toyota is still a "good car" to buy in terms of value and reliability---but there's more than ample evidence to suggest that I might not want to add one to my humble fleet of vehicles in light of the fact that Toyota still charges a premium price for their premium (if not superior) quality.
Honda is suffering from the same phenom. I test drove a Civic and an Insight recently, and was shocked at the initial build quality for both of these vehicles---something that Honda has heretofore excelled at.
I've only test piloted one Nissan recently (I've owned two) so I don't have as much of a feel for that brand.
I've also owned a brace of Mazdas---THE BEST two cars I've ever owned! If they were as interested in fuel economy as Toyota, and if they didn't have a bubble gum chewing 13 year old kid in charge of their design team (and probably moonlighting for Lexus,) I'd probably be more interested in one of their cars.

That's my humble take.
Made in Japan?
It still means something in terms if quality and reliability---BUT, Toyota had better start looking in the rear view mirror (I hope it's clearer than looking in my G3's r/v mirror!) They're in danger of following the same trajectory as the World's Largest Automobile Manufacturer that they supplanted!

JMHO...

 

japanese workers are lemmings and we get the benefit of their poor tortured lives.