Toyota Prius Reviews

This is obviously the inverse of Toyota/EPA claims for the Prius; city driving should yield better mileage than hwy driving, and BOTH should be significantly better than they are. I just read on your site that EPA has recalculated the government-endorsed (if you will) mileage claim for the Prius. That's just fine -- for the people who have NOT yet bought their cars, but are comparing Prius claims to claims of other manufacturers. That, however, does NOT help me. Just to test out the impact of hill driving on my mileage, I have mapped out 2 routes that take me to my daily destinations -- one hilly, and one relatively flat. There is a SMALL difference in the mpg I record. That is to say, if you want to blame my mpg results on San Francisco's hilly topography, you can use the excuse, but FACTUALLY speaking, the terrain does NOT excuse the Prius performance.

This is my question: is there a class action lawsuit now being considered/planned against Toyota??? If there is, I WANT TO JOIN. If not, I will sell the Prius and buy something from a manufacturer that is more honest -- if such a car maker exists. Suggestions and inquries welcome. Thanks, Maia Krache

Obvious: I have spent money on a car -- a significant sum, to my way of thinking -- based on false mpg assumptions promulgated by Toyota Motor Corp and the EPA. I'm not a lawyer, but if the Prius mpg representations are not FRAUD, what is?

This truck has had a new crank shaft kit , oil pump, new fan, harmonized balancer, mass air flow sensor, crank sensor, cam sensors, resetting of the computer and of course all of the labor. The check engine light will come on and the truck will shut down in which it did this while I was traveling on I-40 at a rate of 65 mph and I lost my power steering which made the truck hard to control. The truck is leaving stranded and I can not continue to put this kind of money into a truck that Toyota will not stand behind when I contacted them. I have all of my service records for this truck and can produce them and provide them to anyone. In the crankshaft, there was no key there when it sheared off which allowed it to move forward and ground into the metal.

The truck is sitting still at a garage where the roll back picked it up and has not been touched for the third time. As of today, 12.29.06 I am contacting my state attorney general for help as well as the Federal Highway Safety Commission as this truck is unsafe to drive and is putting my life and my family in danger as well as contacting me local senators and local TV broadcast.

Toyota tried to make me the problem when it is not me, the truck is falling apart and all I want is for Toyota to admit they have a problem with this engine and repair it for me at their cost. Toyota of Lake Norman checked the truck the last time I got it back and said the truck was fine and two days later, it left me stranded again and I had to have a roll back pick it up at 7:00 pm on a Sunday night. I am having to rent a car for transportation issues so that my job does not become in jeapordy due to this issue.

I am contacting Toyota in California again today for relief and help if possible in which if they can not cooperate with me I have no choice but to contact my attorney for help in resolving this issue. What can I do besides the route that I am taking at this point? I will never purchase another Toyota product as my husband has had several and I thought at the time that this was the best product on the road but I was wrong.

We have payed double for gas and we would not have paid the $26K for this new car if we new that the mileage claims were false. We would have simply bought a $10-12K used small car instead.

I spend too much time informing editors of slanted and misleading articles in their papers or online articles. This is starting to affect my work and personal life.

Any Prius or other Toyota hybrid owners who take the word of uninformed sources will be led to believe that theirs is the only vehicle where the EPA standards deviate drastically from the real world. This is quite untrue. If this concerted effort at misinformation continues it will negate any and all of the benefits we have gained by utilizing hybrid technology in the US by creating an unrealistic fear among potential buyers that in buying a hybrid they will somehow not get the EPA mileage, but will get the EPA mileage if they buy a non-hybrid vehicle. If a GMC Yukon's real world mileage deviates by 20% from EPA, noone will notice the difference between 8mpg and 10mpg. If a Prius deviates 20% from EPA, it is very noticeable.

They said this is a very common problem with the Toyota Prius, that all of them need this special larger battery. They said that the new battery, being larger, would require a special kit to install it in the car, and that this kit had to come from Japan. They said that I would have to drive the car around for three weeks with the problems continuing, waiting for the battery to be sent from Japan.

I had to buy a portable battery recharger to carry around in my trunk, so that I could continue to do my job. Toyota has refused to pay for this charger, which cost over $50.

If I were AAA, I would take this up with them, because not everyone would think of buying a portable recharger, and would just misuse AAA over and over. Anyway, I have to drive frail people to their appointments as part of my job, and the recharger makes it hard to fit their wheelchairs,etc into the trunk. I am also afraid of the car getting hit while on the highway during one of its slow-downs.

I do not understand why, if this is such a common problem, why doesn't Toyota corporation doesn't have a lot more of these new spare part batteries and kits here in the USA where they are needed. Batteries do wear out; that is normal; it is not some exotic part of the hybrid engine we are talking about, it is just the regular car battery that runs the lights, etc. It is not normal that a car corporation doesn't provide an ample and timely supply of a part that everyone knows isn't supposed to last the entire life of the car.

However, if you drive the car at or below speed limits, slow down gradually when you are coming toward a stop rather than speeding up and slamming on the brakes at the last second, and group your short trips to take advantage of a warm engine, you will get close to or even significantly more than the EPA estimates. With my driving style, I get 60mpg in mixed highway/city driving in summer and 55mpg in winter (it takes longer for the car to warm up). By the way, do you have any comments for how every other car in the world will have its mileage go significantly downward using the new EPA standards?

Let's see some balance in your reporting.

This nonsense has been disposed of for some time now. The perfect-world shortcomings of the EPA estimates is known, as well as the effect of the most important part of mileage: the driver. The point of his article is clearly to stigmatize the Prius. The facts are these: the EPA is lowering estimates on all vehicles, not just the Prius; Prius owners regularly achieve, and even beat, EPA estimates. Real consumer organizations have surveyed car owners and found that Prius owners have the highest owner satisfaction rate of any vehicle ever recorded.

While it is true that this minor site and minor author will not have any real impact on Prius owners or Prius sales, some people will believe this nonsense and it is those people that will be hurt the most. They will go on thinking that there is no vehicle with superb mileage, there is no vehicle better for the environment, there is no vehicle that can make a difference. --A lead-footed Prius owner that gets, misses, and beats EPA estimates.

Asked Toyota to diagnose car problem. Nothing found. Tried to return car, exchange for other, did not accept terms. Husband will not allow wife and daugther to drive car and has switched cars with wife.

Getting standed on the Frwy. at 11:00 at night when the car dies and can't be moved is quite scary especially when there is no place to pull off out of traffic. I only use this car to drive short trips around town because I just can't trust it on the Frwy.

So I called AAA for roadside assistance. Then, while I sat waiting for AAA, I remembered how the car is essentially silent when first started because it's only drawing power from the electric motor and decided to do a little experiment: I turned the ignition switch and, as usual, the READY light came on. I put the car in drive and touched the accelerator gently. Without a sound or even a shudder, my Prius pulled back out on the road and I was able to drive (albeit slowly) the 1/2 mile to the closest gas station. I LOVE MY PRIUS! And even though I don't get the 60/51 mpg the EPA says the car is capable of getting, I've consistently gotten 45-54 mpg since purchasing the vehicle.

1) Brought car in - ballast was bad - dealership replaced at no cost as it was covered under warranty. Great Service! 2) Brought car in and was told tires needed replacing. When my husband picked up the car he noticed the paperwork said nothing about the headlight problem. When he questioned service representative he said he was not aware of any kind of adjustment that could be done to headlights and that the car was not equipped with headlight leveling system. My husband contacted another Dearlership in MA and was told the problem could be the headlight leveling sensor. My husband called the service manager and told him what he was told and the manager admitted that he wasn't even aware of a sensor - what is with this? I had to purchase a new set of tires. At this point he was not trusting the dealership but with being more than 60 miles away from the next available Toyota Dealership he decided to give it another shot. 3) Dealer said car needs front end alignment. They looked at headlight leveling and said it was working fine. Charged for FE Alignment - not happy as it did not solve the problem. 4) Brought in for Engine Stall Problem and Brake light Sensor Problem. Replaced both at different times. Now mind you we were still having the headlight problem and left front wheel problem. 5)I contacted the dealer and was told that since I had now gone beyond warranty that I would have to pay to have it replaced. 6) Brought the car in and had to pay to have them check the alignment (over warranty now but still having same problem from the start) Was told it was my new tires - they were not good enough. I also brought in a copy of the TSB on the leveling sensor and was told they would contact Toyota. After an 1 1/2 hour wait was told Toyota would cover the cost of the part but I would have to pay to have the part installed (estimated at 2 hours labor) I think the dealership or Toyota should also cover the installment charge since this problem is not unique to my car and has been found to be a defect. I am also contacting Toyota to file a complaint.

Before I purchased the Toyota Prius I compared the gas mileage saving with another car and figured with the price difference of the cars it would take me 4-5 years to make up the difference in gas savings. Now that the car actually gets 22 miles per gallon less then it is advertised I feel I should of bought the lower cost car because it would have saved me alot of money.

Verbally we were told one thing, and the fine print in the contract said another. The Service Dept. admitted that the front desk often does things like that. Obviously, neither of these two things are taped and are just a matter of hearsay or our misunderstanding, unless it can be determined that this is regularly done.

However, we told them not to inspect and/or install the AC filter, for which they wanted $89. I checked online, found directions and testimonies that it was a ten minute process. We ordered two filters for $10 plus $8 shipping, downloaded installation instructions, and my wife and I installed the filter in about 5 minutes through the glovebox.

Since we have had in the past a pretty good relationship with Toyota 101 in Redwood City, and since we still have a service maintenance agreement with them, we do not want to jeopardize our relationship with them, but this verbal misrepresentation (if it's common with other customers) and the overcharging ought to be reported. You may bring it to their attention keeping us anonymous, or investigate the matter yourselves.

The car front fender and the door was dented. The dealership said that it couldn't be the car's fault. The insurance company said that since another driver was not invlved in the accident they would probasbly have to put a sur-charge on our insurance.

This all could have been avoided if the Prius had a simple screen over the place where fresh air is gathered just below the forward windshield inside the plastic cover.

There was a very foul odor in the cabin of the car until the mouse dried up sufficiently not to smell. This is a design defect and the dealer should fix it for free.

I added up all my mpg's which totaled 1494.4 and divided that by the 36 times I have put gas in my car (it has around 13,000 miles right now) and this averages aobut 41.51 mpg. That is way below the promised 60.

I asked the dealership here in Oregon about the 60 mpg and I was told it never happens.

I asked how Toyota could advertise this low amount of fuel usage and she said they just can. Well, I love my car, but I also want to know why I paid so much extra, waited so long, and I am not getting much better than your regular small vehicle that isn't a hybred?

I await your answer, because I know I am not alone in this. Also, like many , I don't get the topsy turvy gas milage. Toyota says the Prius should do better with city driving over highway driving. So, not true - the milage is better on the highway.

Thankfully there was not a blow out at a high rate of speed.

The oil tank was overfilled due to the technician "topping off" the tank. The technician claims this is a common practice (on a hybrid engine system, this is extremely detrimental, calling into question his true experience with this type of car). Oil then flowed into the car's intake manifold and contaminated the air flow sensor.

The station owner, despite his technician admitting to "topping off" the tank, refuses to cover the damages to my car. The dealer has put into writing the cause of the damage (this and all other related paperwork was provided to the Gulf station owner) and has offered to speak with the Gulf station to inform them of their error.

I offered to defer further action, legal or otherwise, if the Gulf station covered the charges, but they have insisted that the overfilling of the tank was done by someone else after I left.

I wrote this letter to request resolution of problems I encountered with my Prius Hybrid, Model year 2005/1224E. I have tried to resolve this problem with the dealer from Toyota without success.

The problem is as follows: On October 21, 2005. I was traveling in cruise control active at 55 miles per hour. Upon approaching a slower vehicle and checking traffic, I proceeded to accelerate the vehicle in an attempt to quickly pass the vehicle driving before me. Upon successful passage of the vehicle, I let off the accelerator and pressed the brakes several times, but the vehicle continued to accelerate under full power.

Under the conditions, I tried to quickly disrupt this safety critical issue. To the best of my recollection I tried to slow the vehicle by pushing the power button, manipulating the cruise control lever, and putting the vehicle in neutral. All attempts were unsuccessful.

Under considerable distress, traveling approximately 20 miles over the posted speed limit at this point, and continuing to accelerate, I elected to apply full braking force to the Prius while laboring the vehicle to a standstill on the gravel shoulder of the road. Regaining my composure, I pushed the power button, and the vehicle shutdown. The cabin of the motor vehicle exhibited a strong odor reminiscent of electrical motor smell.

Per my request,Toyota towed the vehicle to the dealer the following day to begin root cause analysis. On October 25, the dealer informed me that they were able to recreate the safety issue, but they were not able to identify the cause. On October 27 the Toyota technician called to inform me that he drove the vehicle 80 miles, but could not recreate the issue, but he was aware of the comments on the 25th.

On October 28, the Service Manager informed me that they were unable to detect the cause and stated that they would like to ship the vehicle to Cincinnati for further testing. On October 29, I picked up my personal belongings from the vehicle. On November 1, the dealer stated that they could not find anything wrong with the vehicle after driving it 300 miles, and that I must return the loaner vehicle.

To my knowledge the Prius was not sent to Cincinnati for testing. Upon asking the dealership about the comments on October 25, the manager indicated that the person who experienced the
issue is a porter and was not authorized to make any technical assessments. At that point I asked to speak to the initial contact. He acknowledged making the statement on the 25th, but did not want to comment further. During this process I requested arbitration from Toyota and was assigned arbitration number 2005-1028-0355.

I was so concerned about this safety issue that I initially refused to drive this vehicle any longer and under good conscious did not feel that I could sell it. The issue remains not solved.

After six months of tracking, the best mileage I ever got was 43 miles per gallon. Most often my mileage is between 30-36 miles per gallon which is no better than cars I have had in the past. I am very disappointed in your fraudulent advertising and the money I have shelled out only to be disappointed.

Also, my car makes a clanking noise infrequently, as a piece of the front side passenger panel was obviously put in wrong and is not secure. Two "Master" mechanics did not see this problem, which is pretty obvious to anyone's naked eye. I have been waiting for two weeks to hear about the possibility of an investigation, once Toyota figures out that I've already been through my local dealer (they didn't catch on to this fact despite numerous messages I left to this effect). In the meantime, I am told to simply drive the car and count to three when shifting gears: their solution to my problem!

This is obviously a potentially very dangerous problem -- given that I cannot trust that the gear I put my car into is the gear it will stay in. I would think Toyota would want to address it immediately for liability reasons. A recall may be in order. But -- as of now -- they don't seem concerned.

Leave it to ALLSTATE INSURANCE to take away an economic gain by charging us $1,500 per year to insure this car! (We have had absolutely NO insurance claims auto or otherwise for more than 10 years). This is more than we pay to insure our gas-guzzling, expensive Toyota Sienna Van. How can a little Prius cost more to insure than a large van?

Allstate says the parts can be costly to repair/install. Now, it costs Toyota less than $25K to build the whole car; why does ALLSTATE consider it so costly to repair? Personally, I think they use whatever excuse they can think of to raise an insurance rate. I give a big THWFFFTTT! to ALLSTATE and plan to shop all of my insurance policies (they are all with ALLSTATE) next year.

Susan is missing something: insurers base their rates partly on the cost to repair the vehicle being insured. As a limited-production, newly designed vehicle, the Prius is expensive to work on and therefore expensive to insure. There's also been limited experience with whether the large battery causes problems in a crash. Insurance companies don't like uncertainty -- ergo, higher rates.

Second, the gentleman who is advising people not to buy because the battery may run down in two weeks is doing the car a huge disservice and misrepresenting the facts. ONE model, Package #9, has a remote sensing system that automatically unlocks the car as you approach it. This is what can deplete the battery after about 21 days. Toyota provides a button the dash to defeat this function for exactly that reason, which is clearly pointed out in the Quick Guide, the owner's manual and by any salesman with any knowledge of the vehicle.

1. Front end alignment -- cause unknown. Several alignments, still doesn't track well.

2. Gas gauge/tank problems -- went from 45.0mg to 29.5 mpg - took several trips to get the problem "solved" -- not sure that it is totally solved. Consumption screen is screwy and so is the gas gauge. Also told car loses gas mileage as they get older -- car was only a year or so old and a Prius doesn't use gas when stopped.

3. Rack and pinion steering -- several trips to service before they agreed there's a problem and fixed it.

4. 3rd set of tires -- 18,000, 36,000 and about 45,000 miles

Most problems "fixed" but I don't trust this car nor do I trust Toyota of Richardson Tex to fix my car. The second trip for the accelerator I was told there was nothing wrong with the car, but the "sticky" place disappeared after second trip. They didn't want to admit they were wrong.

The latest outrage: I can not determine how much fuel the car has. The fuel gauge gets stuck somewhere in the middle. I can drive for hours with no apparent change in the fuel level. Then, within 15 to 30 minutes the level drops sharply, to "Needs immediate fill-up" level. The Toyota states that this is a normal behavior of this car. They claim that in order for the fuel gauge to operate correctly, the car needs to be completely filled-up all time. What kind of ridiculous car have they produced?

Toyota perfectly knows that there is a problem with the fuel tank. As a matter of fact, when I first brought the car for repair they instantly stated that the fuel tank is bad and needs to be replaced. Once they realized that it is costly, the story has changed.

I have to conclude that Toyota has a death wish. I now understand at least one of the sources of the horrible state of Japanese economy.