Review: 2010 Toyota Prius

No thanks. That's not a problem with the car,
it's a problem with our culture.
.
Other than that, it seems reasonably balanced considering that
it's from a gearhead...
.
_H*

 

Seems a reasonably balanced review. My one grumble is the photo of the back seat which appears to show the fronts seats pulled right back to give the impression of tight rear leg room.

 

It's hard to read an article with such an incredibly misleading & incorrect statement. Looking back afterward is always problematic...

Sales were highest in the US, not elsewhere. That remained true up until the last year or so too.

Sales were limited due to extreme misconceptions and intentional undermining from the competition. Selling as many as possible wasn't even an objective back then either.

Sales in the early years were still higher than what many still are now for the competition. That lack of perspective is missing, which easily allows for assumptions.
.

 

The author is the fellow who is trying to compete with CR's reliability data service. I have read his posts here a number of times, asking Prius owners to contribute data.

I'm not sure I agree with his statement that the Prius is more complex than a conventional car, with the expectation that reliability will be poorer. Transistors can be called more 'complex' than vacuum tubes, but they are vastly more reliable although more expensive per unit. So MTBF ends up being by far the most important aspect of average cost, even though the rare failure is quite expensive sometimes. In this sense electric motors, batteries, and the inverter are superior to mechanical parts. Additionally, the overall HSD design has done away with or spares more components than it has added. One can count on three thumbs or so the number of Prius transmission failures, and of course belts, starters, and alternators are done away with. ICE wear is half, and brakes last a long time.

Nah, M Karesh is simply wrong in this regard. I do wonder though if an enterprising person could set up a profitable business by selling inverter/cpu/battery warranties, at say $100 per car life.

 

Reviewer wrote:

One missed element from previous generations: the large, prominent,
oh-so-entertaining multi-colored power generation and distribution
display has been downsized and robbed of its dramatic coloration in
the new car.

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'Nuff said.