A few quick thoughts...

What exactly do you accomplish by grieving again? Oh yeah, nothing.

 

Skip Prius,

:welcome: to PRIUSchat. :cheer2:

These are tough times indeed for Toyota. What is important is to
dispassionately assess what all the current commotion means to you.
Right now it seems like every media outlet is playing Yoyota's troubles
--they aren't necessarily yours though -- for all they're worth. It is hard
to remember that last year the Prius was rated as the most reliable car
in the US, and that's from actual in-service experience, not speculation
and rumor mongering.

Your car is subject only to the "floor mat recall," which is not a big
deal; don't use the rubber heavy duty all weather mats, make sure the
OEM drivers side mat is on the hooks, don't use another mat on top of
it.

You have a low mileage car, I would expect it to be in great condition
and it sounds like it has provided you with excellent reliable
transportation for years. Why would that change overnight? It
wouldn't.

As to keeping your car in top trim, you might be thinking about
checking your 12V battery. Typical service life is 4 years, and you are
getting there. Over time the battery slowly looses it's ability to hold a
charge. If it shows only 12v after sitting overnight it has lost half of
its capacity, and should be replaced.

What kind of mileage do you get?

 

I don't have a Prius and haven't owned a Toyota for many years, but I would have no problem buying one now. I currently drive a '98 Saab 900 (and love it) and am planning on purchasing the 3rd generation Prius when the time comes to replace my car. Yep, even with their current issues and struggles I still would purchase a Toyota and I would have confidence that my car would be fine and any issues would be fixed.

I'm not the PollyAnna type either. I think Toyota will come back just fine from this. Their cars are good ones, despite THIS issue, which WILL get fixed. They're not going to be bankrupt either. This is a blip for them, perhaps a big blip, but they're still a solid company.

 

I love my Prius! :cheer2::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2:
I am blindly in love with my Prius!:cheer2::cheer2::cheer2:

I am love sick!:cheer2::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2:

I am gaga over my Prius!:cheer2::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2:

 

If I watched the the corporate controlled news, I would have the belief that politicians care and make changes for the better!! I would think the earth is on fire from global warming, I would not leave my house because there is a murderer, rapist, robing gang banger at every corner, I would not fly in planes, I would not go to NYC, I would not eat any food, I am going to do grave damage to myself for eating to much of this or not drinking enough of that, I am a sinner for not believing in religion, I am not watching news for this reason!! It's all crap to make us sheeple!! stop watching the crap and go enjoy life!!!

 

You are seeing some knee-jerk posts questioning people's ability to drive. This is just push-back at all of the hysterical "sky is falling" posts that have flooded the site over the past few days.

The fact is that the Prius is a very easy car to drive. In that respect it is no different than most modern cars. But it is also a new type of car with new technology. With the new technology comes new sensations and new techniques. The automobile world has been through this many times, with each new shift in technology: gasoline engines, manual transmissions, automatic transmissions, power steering, power brakes, fuel injection, and many more. Each change required some adaptation from drivers. The auto companies work hard to minimize the required adaptation, but some residual works through.

This is exactly as it is with the Prius. Toyota has done an excellent job making the Prius feel like a normal car. Even so, there are a few small differences that a Prius driver must confront. As a driver of a car, it is your responsibility to understand the quirks. As a manufacturer of a car, it is your responsibility to minimize the quirks and educate drivers about the ones that still exist. Many new drivers refuse to be educated.

Airplanes, like automobiles, have largely standardized controls. I have a pilot's license that allows me to legally fly a large variety of aircraft. I could go out to the airport, climb into a make and model of aircraft that I have never flown, and take off. Most likely I would live through the experience, but I won't try it. Why not? Because it's a dumb thing to do. All pilots take a check ride in a new aircraft. We get used to the control layout, the handling, the quirks, before we fly it on our own. It shouldn't be any different with a car. In many respects a car is much more dangerous, since you drive in close proximity to other cars and obstructions.

The recent problems with the Prius fall into the quirk category. Unsecured or multiple floor mats isn't even a quirk; that's just plain stupidity. The brake issue is a quirk. It is easily overcome by pressing harder. The workaround is simple and not particularly scary if you know what to expect. That said, is this something we should expect drives to live with? I think not. This is one that Toyota and Ford will have to address. Apparently they have both made improvements to shipping models. Hopefully they will shortly retrofit the fix to existing vehicles.

Tom

 

+1 on the reactions of the brand apologists. They are on every car board I am a member of. You have to just filter them out (either mentally or with the Ignore function).

It is not unreasonable to expect any manufacturer to make their car as safe as possible and if there is an objective defect, to be compelled to remedy that defect at no expense to the consumer. That is why the NHTSA is active in the acceleration and brake issues - to make sure that Toyota gets with the program.

My only complaint with Toyota at this time is their apparent slowness to respond. It is not as if they found out about the problems with acceleration and braking in January. They have acknowledged that they applied a manufacturing change for the Gen III Prius back in January. My issue is why did they keep mum about the change and not commence an upgrade campaign for the cars that were produced before January, 2010. There may be a similar issue regarding the Gen II Prius - if Toyota has made mid-lifecycle improvements, why haven't they made those improvements available to the earlier cars if the improvements are safety-related?

 

Since Toyota had the fix in-hand back in January, Is it possible that
firmware fixes have been made to the Gen III brake/regen issue at
routine servicings and not mentioned? (Gen II may also get a recall on
this soon.)

If such were done, I would think that there would be some notation in
the Toyota maintained "official service record" for the car. Normally,
most folks -- me included --wouldn't think to ask just to see what the
record says when next in for service.

 

Toyota messed up. Big time. But when you look at all cars and car makers. Toyota and Prius are still among the most reliable cars on the road. And they are fixing the problems. I would have no hesitation buying a Toyota again if I needed a stinker. And I'd buy a Toyota in a heartbeat if they built a full EV.

 

For safety or emissions related items, the manufacturer is required to contact the consumer and to encourage them to bring their car in for the repair. Certainly, if the car is in for some other service, the safety/emission repair gets done along with what the car was bought in for. So far, Toyota has been mum on the brake issue. I have received a letter from them about the HID lights (no longer required to replace the entire unit if the light fails; and the price of replacement bulbs was dropped to the $120 (from $720) level). But so far, nothing on the brakes.

 

Unfortunately, IMO, they are still messing up. I wish they would get their act together and stop the denial.