Consumer Reports Names Toyota Prius Best New-Car Value, Unseating Honda Fit

I don't put much if any value in what CR says

 

Gives Toyota an incentive to ask top dollar again.

 

CR is good at statistics . Their frequency of repair charts are considered accurate. But they tend to be absolute "standardists" otherwise. Any car that deviates in any way from what they believe to be an ideal standard vehicle gets ragged on. SAABs would catch hell every time they reviewed them because of the key next to the gearshift, etc..

OTOH, I think there's more to car value than fuel efficiency. CR could do more with their vast array of statistics to calculate durability. This is extremely important, because the amount of resources needed to produce a new car is staggering, therefore any calculation as to how good an overall value a car is should include how long it will last. This must be calculated in to the overall value of a car, right along with over-the-road fuel consumption.

Then there might be some sort of index calculating interior space / load capacity v. fuel efficiency.....CR could do more in areas that are actually their strengths.

 

CR appears to do nothing with fuel efficiency in their scoring and ranking. Instead the CR data suggests acceleration 0-60 mph must be 11.0 seconds or less. The 'Prius c' received a 25 point penalty after it missed 11.0 by 0.3 seconds. CR's acceleration requirement is pass/fail for what looks more like a 'street racing' metric.

Although I didn't mention it in my letter, their 'city' mileage number is exceptionally poor . . . more in line with "Car and Driver." But if they combine 0-60 mph timing with their 'city' mileage testing, it begins to make sense. In effect, they are using 'Top Gear' testing methodology.

Several years ago, Chris Hogan posted this formula:

(volume * miles) / gallons :: cubic feet miles per gallon​

He reasoned that we buy cars to transport some useful load, defined by the volume, some useful distance, at some cost in fuel. It remains one of the best metrics I've seen for mapping vehicle efficiency.

Bob Wilson

 

Both above posts have nailed it. When it comes to families of 4 or 5, space is an issue, and not all of us want a Stupid User Vehicle, or worse a (GAG)minivan. Getting the most out of a car Space and MPG is a big thing, and they dont make it easy trying to determine best bang for the buck. When it comes to testing, if you dont test drive a Hybrid the way a Hybrid is to be driven, and they are not known for 0-60 times, then you get poor results. No Hybrid buyer/owner is looking to race the dang thing!

 

I don't put much faith in their research for 2 specific reasons. I had a Honda Civic and a Lotus Elise a few years back Consumer reports said the Ellise handled no better than a Miata. Total crap just look at the numbers for cornering etc. Also posted outrageously high gas mileage for the Elise..almost 40%-50% more than what I ever got. Conversely the gas mileage posted for the Civic was crazy low.

Although I do agree that their data collected from consumers on reliability etc can give some good insight It is their own derived data that I don't put much stock in.

 

One thing though that skews most reports, people don't complain when everything works, but if there is something that causes grief, plenty of complaints.

You know what the saying is, you can do 1000 good deeds, but it only takes one bad one to ruin it.

 

I heard it as:

10,000 At'a Boys don't equal one "Oh, shit!"

Bob Wilson

 

Ok, that's great - CR's best value. But Toyota better massage the 4th gen in so many great ways cause the lot of Prius monthly is about 10k units short of the top dogs - Camry, Accord, Civic, Corolla

Another thing - not sure how a Camry LE hybrid is a bargain. Aside from maintenance savings, I calc'd 82k miles to make up the $4k cost diff over LE and 80k ish more miles to 'save up' to replace the traction batt.
But, I know ... you buy it to save gas and maybe cause you like the way it runs, and the smart key.

 

But those ways won't improve its CR score

If the rumors about the gen IV are true it will increase sales, but those things will make car and driver like it better not consumer reports.

Both the camry and fusion hybrids are much better values than the last generation.

Talking specifically about the Camry, you get more hp, fuel economy, engine off instead of idling, and only give up trunk space. Your fuel savings versus the non-hybrid should be greater than the increased depreciation as long as you drive it for at least a year. But all of these miles to payback mis out. The camry gives you more passenger space and comfort, better acceleration than the prius, but you give up fuel economy and cargo space and cash. When I bought my car 3 years ago it was a trade off biased to the prius. Now, at least for customers like me it is biased in favor of the fusion hybrid and camry hybrid.

 

Depends on what car you are going from to the Camry/Fusion Hybrids. Going from a 2010 Sport averaging 21 MPG to the FFH averaging 39 MPG, 18 MPG over 35K per year adds up quickly. The higher gas prices go, the faster it adds up.

Same car, different drive train, and haven't noticed any trunk space limitations on our part between the two.

Going from a Camry Hybrid to a Fusion Hybrid, its only 1 MPG difference, 39 vs 39. A wash.

 

Congrats to the Prius.

 

I've owned two Honda Fits through the years, a 2008 and a 2010. Loved them both. Truly a blast to drive and great non-hybrid MPG. I agree with some of the other posts though, in that I don't see how the Prius lift back fits into the same vehicle category, from either a size OR price perspective. Not sure what CR was thinking there...

 

I agree.

 

Wow when you look at the list and all that Toyota Hybrid winners in multiple areas I wonder if Toyota catered in a lunch for the CR employees a few times.

 

The problem with CR is the sample size in some of their reliability reports. IIRC, you can have as little as 100 cars in a model year and make their charts and their stats are subject to self selection bias to the extreme at such low numbers.

 

Just an opinion with nothing to back it up: CR basically painted themselves into a corner. The Prius C is the natural fit (no pun intended) to unseat the Fit in the category they were evaluating. BUT, they had already went out on a limb and promptly sawed it off behind themselves when they tore the Prius C a new tailpipe. Hence the strange sight of a $25k lift back unseating the $16k Fit. What's really funny, is on the cover of the magazine, the picture advertising that particular article is of a Habanero Prius C... Freudian slip perhaps?