Ten Ten Worst Used Cars and Trucks - Prius among them ???

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Jun 18 2007, 05:25 PM) [snapback]464276[/snapback]</div>

The power split device is a transmission. It's just not an "automatic transmission" or a "manual transmission". It is what Toyota calls an "Electronically controlled continuously variable transmission (ECVT)". But a transmission it is, none the less.

 

Numerous Studies show that Consumeraffairs.com is one of the 10 worst sites for a consumer to visit for factual information.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tempus @ Jun 19 2007, 08:43 AM) [snapback]464610[/snapback]</div>

Absolutely.

'Consumer Watchdog' Website Faces Complaints, Lawsuits
ConsumerAffairs.com now finds itself a defendant, facing one federal defamation lawsuit from a New York car dealership and plans by a California pet supplies firm to file a federal patent infringement lawsuit against the organization. Both suits claim the site misrepresents itself as a legitimate consumer organization.
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page...T20070212a.html

And from Answers.com
The site contains a disclaimer stating, “ConsumerAffairs.com Inc. makes no representation as to the accuracy of the information herein provided and assumes no liability for any damages or loss arising from the use thereof.â€
...
A notice on the site states, “Complaints and consumer reports to ConsumerAffairs.com may be considered a request for legal advice and/or a request for a free consultation with an attorney to whom we may refer you.â€
http://www.answers.com/topic/consumeraffairs-com

 

The first Prius was released in Mid 2000, assuming you were lucky enough to get one of the few... it is Mid 2007 now.. This statement alone that the place seems to keep regurgitating pretty much says they don't check facts, they make them up.

 

HOW THE SCAM WORKS

The purpose of websites like Consumer Affairs dot com is to get you to click on their Google ad links. Every time you do they make money. But, how do they drive traffic to their own site in order to get you to click on those high paying ads? They find popular websites, like ours, and link to them. Then, when you type "High Tech Pet" or "High Tech Pet Store" into the Google search box, as about 3000 consumers do each day, you will see their website listed among the search results with a tantalizing, but highly misleading tag line "Consumer Complaints about High Tech Pet Store". You are interested in purchasing pet products so you click on their link to check us out. When you get there, you will see all sorts of pet product ads to click on. You click on an ad. They make money.

http://store.hightechpetstore.com/consumer...rs-dot-com.html

 

Seeing both consumer affairs articles and how they are written with very little actual information and a generous helping of FUD its quite obvious they are not to be trusted.

The Prius is a car with above average reliability despite having an unusual drivetrain. Three years ago I would have even said 'unproven' but time is on Toyota's side now. Eight years proves to most people HSD is a good system. Seven years is the max I have owned a car personally.

The only warning I can give..... NO CAR COMPANY WARRANTS CARS THAT ARE OUT OF WARRANTY except in unusual cases. At 100,001 miles you are on your own. Honda, Dodge, Ford and Mercedes will ignore you just as fast. The exception is of course problems then involve lawyers and class actions.

Toyota is not going to give you a free or discounted repair because you have been a loyal Toyota fan for 10 years. Sorry.

 

Well, to be fair, THS has been around for 8 years but HSD has only been round (on the streets, anyways) for a little less than 4. Either way... "Ti-i-i-ime is on my side, yes it is now"...

 

consumeraffairs.com claims on its website to be independent and there's nothing that I've found on the internet that suggests otherwise. That said, it's entirely possible that the complaints they use are false ones made by Detroit 3 people. Just like any other industry with a lot of money and a lot at stake, they're very good at misrepresentation, prefabrication, half-truths, distortion, propaganda, et al. Whenever JD Powers comes out with something favorable to the Detroit 3, I automatically think that the surveys are sent to too many Detroit 3 people who of course would state that they're happy as heck with the American cars and have had zero defects yada yada yada. The only thing that consumeraffairs.com may be guilty of is shoddy journalism and lack of interest in verifying the garbage that they "report".

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ Jun 19 2007, 07:57 AM) [snapback]464585[/snapback]</div>

I disagree. It is *not* referred to as an ECVT...it is called a PSD, or 'power split device.'

This is not the same thing as an ECVT, and it's not referred to by Toyota as this, either.

The PSD in the current Prius is not 'continuously variable' in the way ECVT's are. There is no gradual transition from 'low' to 'high,' and there is no torque multiplication as in an ECVT (or conventional transmission), either.

The MG's and the inverter perform this function.

There is no 'slippage' in the PSD, so it doesn't make heat, like a transmission. The heat from what I think of as the action of a conventional automatic transmission actually ends up in the inverter, in the Prius.

 

Toyota do refer to it like that, Pinto Girl, at least in the UK.

In various official places they have to specify the capacity of engine and type of transmission. And indeed in their own generic model comparison charts.

They generally give the "transmission type" as "E-CVT". Occasionally they'll be less specific - eg on the site at the moment they have a heading "1.5 VVT-i Petrol Continuously Variable".

They use "HSD" when referring to the system as a whole.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Jun 20 2007, 06:52 PM) [snapback]465324[/snapback]</div>

Ah, just realised some of us may be talking at cross purposes.

You're talking about the PSD specifically. Toyota rarely talk about this, as it's a subcomponent of a non-serviceable part.

As far as the service manuals go, Toyota only go down as far as the "hybrid transaxle" - the complete MG1/PSD/MG2 assembly. That very much is a E-CVT, with gradual transition from 'low' to 'high' and torque multiplication, as long as it's being controlled correctly by the inverter and computers.

If anything goes wrong with that part of the system, the entire hybrid transaxle has to be replaced. It's not dealer serviceable.

 

From the article ..."The Toyota Prius is proving to be a good, solid car but as the hybrid approaches 100,000 miles a number of odd problems are popping up that ought to be cause for concern among consumers shopping for a secondhand hybrid."

What 100,000 mile car doesn't have some problems? None that I've ever owned. I don't usually keep cars that long, (only 2, 1966 Mustang, and 1996 Subaru Outback) and if I do, problems of some kind are to be expected. Why pick on the Prius? Come on, its just a car, not some kind of SUPERcar. A load of BS, in my opinion.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Jun 19 2007, 07:49 AM) [snapback]464581[/snapback]</div>

You only need to consider the source- anyone who reads and then believes, this consumers reports rip-off "rag", most likely believes everything they read from the supermarket tabloids too- aren't they on the same shelf at the checkout?...mmmmm...wonder why?