Prius Owners w/50K - What We Think Now
railroadjames
Member Posts: 560
in Toyota
I'd like, very much, to here from owners of the Prius with 50K miles or more like myself. Give an appraisal of the car. What's good..What's not so good..and what could be improved. I've owned my '04 Prius 3-1/2 yrs and now have 55K plus and am on my 2nd set of tires. I replaced 1-airfilter 1- hdlt bulb and 1-set of wiperblades. Still on the original brake pads to my surprise.
Complaints are as follows...Windshear, at times, a problem. Ride could be a bit better I'd like to think. Digital gauge lts could be better on sunny days. I sometimes think the center screen is too complex to operate while driving. Replacing a hdlt bulb is next to impossible. It took nearly 1/2 an hr. and some serious cussing and scratched hands. I think I'll let my wife do it next time. Every time I have to clear the "warning lt for oil change" I have to get the book out to remind me "the procedure." Rr carpet mat slides around too much. Special cloth interior is a son-of-agun to keep clean. Can't put a sunroof in car darn it! Lastly, I wish people would go to dealers and give me a break. I feel like a salesman when discribing, "what a great car it is."
Complaints are as follows...Windshear, at times, a problem. Ride could be a bit better I'd like to think. Digital gauge lts could be better on sunny days. I sometimes think the center screen is too complex to operate while driving. Replacing a hdlt bulb is next to impossible. It took nearly 1/2 an hr. and some serious cussing and scratched hands. I think I'll let my wife do it next time. Every time I have to clear the "warning lt for oil change" I have to get the book out to remind me "the procedure." Rr carpet mat slides around too much. Special cloth interior is a son-of-agun to keep clean. Can't put a sunroof in car darn it! Lastly, I wish people would go to dealers and give me a break. I feel like a salesman when discribing, "what a great car it is."
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My son is driving our original 2001 Prius which we had before people knew what a Hybrid was. The original has the 78k on it.
It has Original brakes, 2nd set of tires, will need a set before this coming winter. Runs like it did when we bought it in 2000. Had the converter and exhausted changed around 73k which was under extended warranty and that has been it other than scheduled maintenance. He doesn't get the gas mileage, we use to get on it, but thats his driving. My wife has driven it and can still get 48~50mpg on it.
We converted in 2000 and would not go back,even to a Cadillac again. I know what you mean about being a sales person for Toyota. I have had so many people ask me about the Original as well as the ones I drive now along with letting them try it out at times.
Use of the car is mostly in Milwaukee area with several trips to New York and Georgia a year.
They are great cars.
123 degrees last June..yep thats right ..just for a few weeks then 112 113 the norm.
There is no deterioration in performance at 140K miles. That's important to me as well since I expect to hit 250K miles in 6-7 years.
My only real complaint about the car is the rear window visibility. Other than that, it has performed great. I'm averaging 43 to 46MPG due to the fact that I'm not exactly a conservative driver, nor do I live in a flat area. The car has survived multiple trips up and down the I5 grapevine in Southern California without a problem, and has been up to Lake Tahoe without a problem. No lack of power from my perspective. No regrets at all about the purchase.
One major incident was my 12V battery getting discharged 2 hrs after going home from work. Still puzzles me as to what caused it. I have left the car in the garage for 3 wks and it started just fine. Jumpering the batt was a not an easy task.
Looking forward to use the car for another 50K+ before moving on to the next gen Prius.
KCAir at Personafile
My biggest problem with the car is that the rear blind spots are terrible. I've almost hit somebody several times because I just didn't see them. Any prospective Prius buyer should be very clear that they are willing to put up with it.
After that it is all relatively minor stuff. The gas gauge reads empty and the low fuel light comes on where there are almost 3 gallons left in the tank. That's close to 150 miles of range left. I've gotten into the habit of ignoring the fuel gauge and refilling when the trip odometer reads 10x the estimated MPG. The hood curves so sharply that you can't see where the car ends. That makes turning in tight places more tense than it needs to be. The Prius can get blown around in a strong wind very easily and the lumbar support is not very good.
By the way, my overall average is probably about 47 or 48 MPG. I can get in the low 50's on long flat stretches of highway, and get in the low 40's driving around town in winter. I definitely get better mileage on the highway.
Any thoughts? Thanks
Thanks for the reply, driving in snow is a big concern for me as we have a fair amount of hills and the power to go up them for long distances as well as long comfortable highway drives is very important. I find everyone usually loves their car when it's new. It's when you have some real time and miles in the car that you know it's good and bad points and all cars have them. That's why I asked owners who have 50K+ miles on the cars.
If I was told I bought the one with the bullseye on it I might have looked to switch: ( hit 5 times in 19 mo's :surprise: OK twice were by rocks to the windshield that I had repaired at no cost; one was a deer that stole my O/S Rearview mirror; once I hit a curb and damaged a wheel; the last was a lady who hit me behind the driver's door ).
Despite these incoveniences it's the best car I've ever had in 35 yrs of driving. It does exactly what is expected of it. Quick off the line. 48 mpg lifetime. Room for a 43" flatscreen, golf clubs, briefcase, two pizzas and two humans. For me personally the seating is the most comfortable I've ever had except my 94 Chrysler LHS.
Surprisingly the tires while quite noisy have just reached their limit at right at 50K miles. I'd like a quieter ride so I'm thinking of the Goodyear Assurance Comforttreads. We don't get much snow at all.
No issues with any accessories or electronics.
Mileage and performance are good and I recommend this car to everyone who asks. Based on my experience to date, I would buy another without hesitation. It has been so pleasing to own and drive that now our other vehicles, a Tacoma and a Corolla, seem outdated even though they are dependable.
This is a good point. How in the world would we go back to a smaller vehicle like a Corolla or Matrix or Civic at 'only' 35 mpg on average?
No SKS? And how do I fit all that stuff in the trunk of a Corolla? Buy a Matrix I guess...and get 27 mpg...ugghhh! We've been hooked like fish and can't get away... >>\\\\'>J
I have changed the cabin air and engine air filters myself to reduce the expenses using "quality" Toyota-branded filters. I have changed my tires to relatively long-life tires by Goodyear: Comfortred, again to reduce my landfill contribution, keeping the two best tires from the Integrity (1st set) series for when the Comfortreds are worn or in case of a blowout.
Lastly, I changed my transmission fluid around 65K miles based on studies I read online about others analyzing their transmission fluid and finding the appropriate time to change it around 65K miles. Again, I used the Toyota WS-ATF (World Standard=WS) for the fluid change - and did it myself again. Of course I recycled it with the neighborhood Pepboys too.
I do have a 100K mile extended warranty from Toyota, so I am still careful about what oils and fluids I use. I drive about 2K miles a month (24K/yr) and thus drive about 60% more miles every year than the "average" driver (15K/yr). It's much cheaper the way I maintaine and I believe I have the maintenance down to an art. I am still open to improvements if you hear of any!
Thanks, Tony
But since this is a topic about long term Prius owners, this would be the place to ask if anyone has experienced this or knows someone who has.
Trust the validity of anything posted there on your own peril.
This isn't about pro/anti hybrid. just trying to get to the root of something that SOME Prius owners are bringing up.
As you say, almost all historical instances of "self-acceleration" have been proven to be "driver error" and not a system problem on a vehicle.
If there is an issue with the Prius accelerator system having a problem I would be highly surprised.
As I would with ANY car accused of having a "system problem" which causes "unexplained acceleration."
There was an issue in the past 3 years with a Civic hybrid owner who claimed this and it was proven to be a hoax (at least in my mind) with the intent of discrediting "hybrids" by saying that they "randomly accelerate on their VERY OWN!!!"
I take all these reports with the required grain of salt until the day that scientific testing can reveal that any car can "randomly accelerate" on it's own.
Consumer Affairs may be the only place besides the ODI that a person can complain about a problem with a hybrid. I have witnessed on this site many cases of people having a problem with a hybrid and their integrity was questioned.
You have shown yourself to be much less tolerant of those that are not happy with their hybrids than those that are.
Speaking of randomly accelerating. I drove a new Mercedes GL yesterday. I did not like the way the transmission downshifted when you let off the gas. And it was not very linear in its acceleration when you took off. It would surge with a slight touch of the accelerator. I don't think I would get used to that. So if it happens on $70k dollar vehicles it can happen on hybrids.
Here's a perfect explanation for that sentiment:
If people are telling "the truth" and actually "stating something that is REALLY WRONG with the hybrids that is wrong BECAUSE IT IS A HYBRID" then I don't have a particular logical complaint with it. I might not like hearing it, and I will challenge them in the effort to get to the TRUTH and real cause of the problem - but if it is a REAL PROBLEM which is indeed caused by the hybrid technology in the car, then I will grudgingly accept that fact.
The problem is this: those type of defects are FEW and far between.
My problems with the complainers come about when many times people "blame" something which they perceive as a default in their car on the hybrid technology in the car, when in the REALITY in which I reside, there really is nothing wrong with car which is caused by the "hybrid technology" in their car at ALL.
A firmware bug which needs to be re-programmed in any car is not a "hybrid issue" but a problem created by the person and the team which programmed the hardware in the first place. All modern cars have computers and those computers are programmed by humans, who sometimes, even after all the testing done before the cars are sent into production, miss a problem that only becomes known to them later.
The Honda Insight, being a revolutionary car and a "testbed for hybrid cars in the general population" did have some "hybridization-related problem issues" which were caused by the very primitive hybrid system in that car - the "re-calc" issue. That's one of the only "hybrid problems which are caused by the fact that the car is a hybrid" that I have ever seen or heard of and KNOW FOR A FACT that it is a REAL PROBLEM which can in fact be blamed on hybridization.
Many times owners will file a complaint and incorrectly in their own mind and in the complaint BLAME the problem on the hybridization of their car. Those people and their complaints DO cause me a problem, because they are putting a false black eye on hybrids when it is not deserved.
Gary says, "Consumer Affairs may be the only place besides the ODI that a person can complain about a problem with a hybrid."
Did you forget about the NHTSA complaint site?
Gary says, "And it was not very linear in its acceleration when you took off. It would surge with a slight touch of the accelerator. I don't think I would get used to that. So if it happens on $70k dollar vehicles it can happen on hybrids."
That's NOT the exact same sort of thing we are talking about with the Prius, at all. Slight surges due to downshifting would not be an issue in the Prius because of the CVT.
Why would you say that Consumer Affairs is any more biased than Consumer Reports? Is Consumer Affairs owned by the Big 3 like CR is owned by Toyota? Any entity that says anything negative about hybrids is a hack operation in your opinion. Now that mainstream media and car buyers in general are questioning the need for or the savings owning a hybrid you attack them also.
I think people are just now seeing the light of day on this whole hybrid charade.
By the way. Anyone looking for a hybrid in San Diego. Mossy Toyota has the largest inventory of Prius, I saw 13 on the lot. Plus they have a half dozen Camry Hybrids to chose from.
Thanks for the Friday morning laugh !!!! LOL !!! ROFLMTEO !!!
Gary says, "Why would you say that Consumer Affairs is any more biased than Consumer Reports?"
Um, here are the reasons:
1. Consumeraffairs.com, whomever is the editorial staff there, had apparently been told to publish every single little "here's a hybrid owner who has a problem" story that they can find. If you search their site there are many many of those sort of articles. Any fair, balanced, pro-hybrid stories to balance out the issue? Very few. Consumeraffairs.com has an obvious and glaring anti-hybrid bias, and I know this for a fact because I have read almost all their hybrid articles and have sent them numerous "what's your problem?" e-mails and have NEVER ONCE gotten the respect of a response from them. I even filed a Consumer Complaint about THEM on their site !!
2. Consumer Reports is not biased in any way, and I'm sorry that you are too "set in your ways" to see that. They do testing by REAL SCIENTISTS and they report problems based on REAL OWNERS who report the problems, and they use "large enough groups" to make a statistical difference. What I mean by that is that consumeraffairs.com uses one owner here, one owner there, and then makes little snide comments in the stories which intimate that ALL hybrids must or so have these problems that this one owner in the story has.
Gary says, "Now that mainstream media and car buyers in general are questioning the need for or the savings owning a hybrid you attack them also."
What do you mean "NOW THAT" this is happening? IT HAS HAPPENED FROM DAY ONE with the hybrids - are you kidding me !! I have been here for the last three years trying to refute all the anti-hybrid garbage that gets put out. "Just now" is not an applicable term for people attacking hybrids and YOU KNOW THAT GARY.
Besides, all that technology is just plain fun to drive!
Perhaps someone should look a little closer.
Just to be fair and balanced. When I test drove a Sequoia yesterday. The salesman told me that the Prius is their best selling car. That was Mossy Toyota San Diego. They had at least 13 on the lot and offering good prices through the end of the month. Oh, I liked the Sequoia a LOT....
Oh really? Got any weblinks to that effect? Hard to hide something like that.
Let's move on to another aspect of long term ownership of the Prius and get away from the discussion of validity of websites...
Have any of you long term, higher mileage Prius owners run into any issues or concerns with your traction battery yet? Since the Prius went on sale in Japan in 1997 and worldwide in 2001, we're getting closer to that time when battery lifetime/replacement COULD start to be an issue.
I'm not asking this to prove anything one way or the other about the Prius, so please don't jump in trying to defend or attack the Prius or hybrids. Just interested to hear from owners and their thoughts.
If you've got 100,000 miles on your Prius and the battery is showing no signs of petering out on you anytime soon, let's hear that. If the thought has entered the back of your head and you've started to ask around about costs or recognition signs, post that too.
Again, let's not turn this into a debate over the practicality of hybrids. Thanks!
I have the feeling it's because cars are generally more aerodynamic now than they used to be, and the airflow across the rear doors is relatively smooth. Sort of like blowing across the top of a soda bottle to create a tone. Only in the case of the car, the tone is a VERY low frequency and you feel it more than hear it. :sick:
The Prius has a high profile and Toyota has deep pockets. Those are like chum to attorneys
Of the 300 or so that I've sold..
..One couple has had 4.
..One friend has had two, his first Gen 1 he put 38K on it in one year, sold it and bought a Gen 2 in Jan '04. Now at 45 months he's just turned over 166,000 miles with no issues at all. He can't wait for the Gen 3.
..Several have bought one and then come back to buy another right away. Consider how hard it is to being driving for 2-3 yrs getting about 48-50 mpg then having to 'go back' to driving an outdated vehicle that only gets 30 mpg.
..Not one buyer has come back with anything other than good comments, if not raves.
..One has the perfect driving cycle. He's posted his best tank at 85+ mpg, 1025 mi on 11.9 gal.
'Unintended Acceleration' is wishful thinking by the CA crowd IMO.
Now I see who is using up all our limited supply of fossil fuel. It is the hybrid owners. I have not accumulated 166k miles on nine new vehicles over the last 20 years.
I find it interesting how people embrace entities like CR that tout hybrids, and poo poo the ones like CA & CNW that point out the negative aspects of the hybrids.
I do believe and have said before, if you are commuting long distances every day a hybrid may be a good choice. By contrast if you only put a few miles per year and want to keep a vehicle for 10+ years the hybrid will probably be a bad choice.