Talk about timing-Motorweek Driver's Choice - Prius Best Car of the Year

Just tripped over this on the Net:

MotorWeek 2010 Drivers' Choice Awards Names Toyota Prius Best Vehicle of the Year | PressReleasePoint

MotorWeek 2010 Drivers' Choice Awards Names Toyota Prius Best Vehicle of the Year

February 11, 2010 - -MotorWeek, television’s longest running automotive series, announced today the Toyota Prius has won the top honor of “Best of the Year” in its 2010 Drivers’ Choice Awards “for making improvements on virtually every front including, fuel efficiency, power and versatility.” Prius was a double winner as it also wonMotorWeeksDrivers’ Choice Award for “Best Eco-Friendly” vehicle.

“If you can only buy one car for your family, the 2010 Prius is the one,” saidMotorWeekhost and executive producer John Davis. “The Prius is a no-compromise vehicle that offers impressive efficiency, cutting edge technology, smart packaging and truly iconic styling.”


...........and as a PS at the end of the article:

We test drove two 2010 models of the Toyota Prius for several months and never experienced any mechanical problems. The cars were put through MotorWeek’s standard performance tests, including tackling city streets, jammed highways, as well as challenging hills and mountainous terrain. MotorWeek’s “Best of the Year” selection was made well before any potential safety issues were raised. We still think it is an exemplary vehicle that is worthy of the Drivers’ Choice Award and the dozens of other awards it has received. MotorWeek is confident any potential issues will be fully addressed by Toyota. “

More from their site:
http://www.mpt.org/motorweek/dc2010/

"MotorWeek’s “Best of the Year†selection was made well before any potential safety issues were raised. We still think it is an exemplary vehicle that is worthy of the Drivers’ Choice Award and the dozens of other awards it has received. MotorWeek is confident any potential issues will be fully addressed by Toyota. “

Thanks for this.
I'm quite convinced this an absolutely correct judgement.

"We test drove two 2010 models of the Toyota Prius for several months and never experienced any mechanical problems. The cars were put through MotorWeek’s standard performance tests, including tackling city streets, jammed highways, as well as challenging hills and mountainous terrain."

This is gonna PO a few trolls and GM dealers.:cheer2:

Gotta love it.

Just gotta wonder how much Press (good stuff) THIS will get.

FYI - the entire Driver's Choice Awards are on the next Motorweek weekly TV show. On both PBS stations and Speed cable channel; perhaps others in your area.
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Also read that Toyota has NOT accepted an award as part of Japan's Month of Energy Conservation. The Prius was one of three products to be offered the distinction this year; the others were a Mitsubishi Electric air-conditioner and a Fuji Xerox copier.

TOKYO — Toyota has turned down an award from the Japanese government for the 2010 Prius. Citing this week's antilock brake system recall on the Prius, the automaker said it would not be appropriate to receive the kudos, a grand prize for energy efficiency and ecological quality that is given annually by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Toyota Turns Down Award for Prius in Japan

Mainstream media won't cover this because they can't sensationalize it to sell soap. We all know how good the car is, and I'd bet none of us are surprised at this award.

thank you thank you THANK YOU!! for a little bit of sanity

But isn't it strange that Motorweek could find no fault with the 2010 Prius when Toyota itself has?

i think that Toyota only provided the adjustment in response to customer concern. i dont consider the issue a problem. its more an adjustment to better suit driver preferences

Never watched it. Is it a good show.

Given the low incidence of brake problems (<5%) why would you expect it to. I'm not sure whether your doubting the problem or the testing. And even though I don't know if the testing was good or bad.

It is hard to see how they saw no fault though. I saw 5 or 6 right on the test drive, and still ended up buying the car. How can any review not think the back up beep is retarded. Sorry sarah, I used the "r" word as satire.

It is relative. The car may have problems, maybe 5 or 6 problems, but which other hybrid would you buy?

Then it is like the Westminster dog show. You have a best in class hybrid, best in class minivan, best in class SUV etc and you just have to pick one and the Prius got it.

You can't really compare a Prius with a convertible. It is so different. So you just have to flip a coin. Somebody just have to decide which one represents best engineering.

These shows/magazines have to pick something to increase viewership/readership. The something has to be accessible too - to increase viewership. You can't pick a $200,000 double turbocharged corithian leather custom made sedan even though it may be way better than a Prius (not in terms of economy). You also need to pick something that is popular, so many people will feel good about already having it. Some years it should be American, some years European, some years Japan. It is a biased contest.

I like the Prius. I am not surprised by the result given what I think is the criteria above..

+1, they know that Toyota will fix the problem.

You and Grumpandyold (and others) simply cannot say much of anything positive about Toyota or Prius. This is getting very old - really.

Kinda reminds me of Politics and the Far Left and far Right. Just can't bring themselves to say anything less-than-negative about the other.
In your, and other, cases I sometimes doubt that you are truly Prius owners. I know these things seldom happen on the internet - you know people pretending to be something else....

But this type of childish sniping is getting very old. If we have objective complaints and constructive feedback, that's fine and what Forums are all about. But your continual sniping is not genuine and irritatingly repetitive.

We all completely understand owners that have sincere issues with Toyota, Dealers, or the Prius itself. It's simply the bickering that irriates so many here that enjoy the give and take of serious and valid members.

Why don't you folks hold your judgement on the award until you see the actual show and contents? Can't read a book by the cover.

I'm done.

I'm grumpy and old. What do you expect ;=)

I was being grumpy about the show, not the car. If you read the problem I wrote, reverse beep, you have to agree its dumb. I bought the car after the dealer turned it off.

What are you talking about?
I said:
"It is relative. The car may have problems, maybe 5 or 6 problems, but which other hybrid would you buy?"
Doesn't this mean I think Prius is the best hybrid despite some problems?
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Then I said they just have to pick one of the best in class.

"Then it is like the Westminster dog show. You have a best in class hybrid, best in class minivan, best in class SUV etc and you just have to pick one and the Prius got it."

Doesn't that also mean I think Prius is the best hybrid - the best in class?
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"You can't really compare a Prius with a convertible. It is so different. So you just have to flip a coin. Somebody just have to decide which one represents best engineering."

Then I said someone has to pick the one that represents the best engineering. They picked the Prius. Doesn't that mean I think the Prius is the best in engineering?
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Then I said they have to be realistic and not pick a $200,000 car. You have something against that?
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Then I said "I am not surprised by the result." I am not surprised that Prius won.
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If I am not positive about the Prius, why would I say these things?
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Why are you so negative about me? All I said was that the Prius has a few problems, is still the best hybrid, represents the best engineering, and is not as good as a $200,000 car.

It is really true. Some Prius owners attack you for saying anything slightly negative about the car. I did not believe it but now I see it for myself. By the way, I do own one. Now you have turned this thread, which should have been about the award, into a negative vibe thread.

Rhino, I think it’s your writing style. It makes it sound like MotorWeek just picked the Prius for some fluff reason such as “flip a coin”. If you ever watched the show you would realize that they are pretty good at testing the cars and are pretty fair. They keep the car for many months of testing and don’t just take it for a spin around the block. It also indicates you never watched the show because you consider it all to be “biased content”.

They specifically said that they awarded it: “for making improvements on virtually every front including, fuel efficiency, power and versatility.” In addition they awarded it for the “Best Eco-Friendly” vehicle. Which is different than “flipping a coin”.


I do see a lot of irrational negative comments on this site lately, by many others. (Look at my join date - I don’t post a lot, but read it.) I can only think that there is a whole influx of new Prius owners, that are just casual drivers of the cars and not enthusiasts of the technology like it was for the gen. II Prius, particularly the early years 2004--2006 and for sure then gen. I owners. The never before Prius owners are clueless as to how everything works and could care less to learn it and understand how the technology functions. (There are always exceptions of course.) They just want it to work like any old car they are used to driving. Those that understand what it is all about know that the braking issue is not a big deal. Those that don’t understand the technology run around like chicken-little as if it is the end of the world. Toyota already new it was a problem, since they changed the assembly line. I’m sure they would have provided a TSB for the ones out in the field, except for the media frenzy making it a recall.

Rolf

Motorweek is the reason I bought my 2010 V .They did a show on

The hybrids Toyota,Honda ,Ford fusion,Toyota was #1

I know. I saw that too. I totally agree with MotorWeek also. Good going!!!