Consumer Reports - 2004 Prius

[RossW]

Does anyone know why Consumer Reports rated the fuel economy of the 2004 Prius as only fair, when fuel economy is supposed to be one of the strong points of the vehicle?

It also rated electrical as only fair.

Both of these seem a little strange for a model and a year that Motor Trend named car of the year.

Thank you,

Ross

[ciparis]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RossW @ May 25 2006, 07:24 PM) [snapback]261104[/snapback]</div>

Does anyone know why Consumer Reports rated the fuel economy of the 2004 Prius as only fair, when fuel economy is supposed to be one of the strong points of the vehicle?

It also rated electrical as only fair.

Both of these seem a little strange for a model and a year that Motor Trend named car of the year.

Thank you,

Ross
[/b]

Consumer Reports sometimes bases their evaluations on synthetic situations that many people would consider unrealistic. If their conclusion is outside the bell curve, take it with a big grain of salt.

[Tempus]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RossW @ May 25 2006, 08:24 PM) [snapback]261104[/snapback]</div>

Does anyone know why Consumer Reports rated the fuel economy of the 2004 Prius as only fair, when fuel economy is supposed to be one of the strong points of the vehicle?

It also rated electrical as only fair.

Both of these seem a little strange for a model and a year that Motor Trend named car of the year.

Thank you,

Ross
[/b]

If you're looking at the little colored dots, they represent incidence of repair in those subsystems.

The first model year of any car almost always has some teething pains, and it's standard advice never to buy any completely new model in the first year until they work them out.

CR takes the number of reported problems in each area to determine the ratings.

When you say 'fuel' I think it means the fuel system, not mileage. The early '04s were notorius for tiny bladders and inaccurate guages. There was a TSB out to fix (or at least improve) them that involved replacing the filler neck and recalibrating the ECU. Thus, yes, there was a 'problem' in the fuel system.

There were also issues with some versions of the JBL amp having a parasitic draw that would drain the 12V battery, and problems with the MFD failing. Thus, there were 'electrical' problems. BTW, neither of those was specific to the Prius and other Toyota models with the same Amp and MFD were also affected. There was also a situation where water could get into the engine from the top, requiring a piece of weatherstrip, and there was another problem where a plug on the bottom of the engine would get wet and short, requiring it to be coated with dielectric grease. And, let's not forget the infamous 'stalling' issues requiring a ECU reprogramming. There were also a few other similar growing pains, so yeah, there were 'electrical' issues.

Most of the early bugs were worked out by the '05s, so the ratings get better.

[hycamguy07]

My 04 has had two service bullitens brake light switch & CPU reprogram. Thats it, other than replacing tires & oil changes.. Ive got 44k on her and no problems, Screw Consumer Reports!

[ghostofjk]

Tempus is correct. CR's factors include fuel SYSTEM, separate from MPG. I, too, have a practically trouble-free '04 (46K mi.)

[cwerdna]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RossW @ May 25 2006, 05:24 PM) [snapback]261104[/snapback]</div>

Both of these seem a little strange for a model and a year that Motor Trend named car of the year.
[/b]

As people stated, Consumer Reports reports on reliability as well as depreciation and owner satisfaction. It also states the gas mileage they got in their testing (44 mpg).

Motor Trend DOES NOT compile reliability statistics. What they or any other car magazine picks are their cars of the year, 10 Best, etc. have no correlation w/a car's reliability.