Consumer Reports Prime vs Prius

No rear wiper. No real spare tire for starters. Reduced cargo space compared to the standard Prius is another.

 

Sometimes Consumer Reports makes me think that their ratings are totally random.

I got their latest hardcopy issue yesterday and then saw a steam mop featured in it and decided to look at their online ratings for steam mops. When I looked at the numbers, it made me scratch my head as I did not understand the relation between the category ratings (cleaning, steam output, and convenience) and the overall score, as it made little sense.

 

Consumer Reports provides a combination of objective and subjective data to get their overall rating number. You have to read all the way through the ratings breakdown to see if the particulars mean anything to you. Prime takes a hit on braking distance and acceleration, certainly due to the battery weight. The subjective data comes from CR in-house testing, and member survey data. Despite the lower overall rating, for the 2022 models, 84% of member respondents said they would buy the Prime again, but only 75% said they would buy the standard Prius again. The standard Prius ranked much lower in perceived value, with 68% of Prime buyers saying they got what they wanted vs. the price that they paid, compared to 46% of standard Prius owners.

The percentage of buyers who say they would buy again is interesting to me, because it doesn't account for the rationale behind the number. We have a 2021 Prius Prime XLE, which we think is one of the most useful cars we have ever owned. 2/3 of our ~18k miles are on battery power. We also have a 2015 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. By any objective measure, the Wrangler is inefficient, unreliable, and full of polarizing, quirky "Jeepness." A few years ago, CR's evaluation of the Wrangler gave it a "much worse than average" rating for reliability, but the number of owners responding the they would buy it again was 85%. The Wrangler is at, or near the top in retained value over 5 years of ownership for all classes and models of vehicles sold in the USA, soundly trouncing more reliable and better-performing vehicles. The "tool vs. toy" comparison looms large. We all want to have a bit of fun now and then, and that does not come with the utilitarian Prius.

 

What are the margins? Can they even be calculated usefully when the score is already a hash of standardized and subjective?

What I'm getting at is that CR appears to be saying they're both good cars, and a 12 point difference may not be particularly meaningful, even though everyone in this game wants every single point to matter.

 

Prime took a hit on acceleration? Did they not charge the traction battery? I understand the braking distance hit; Prime's battery is larger and heavier; but acceleration? The Prime has the best acceleration of any hybrid I've ever owned. It rivals that of any small engine gasser; as long as the traction battery is charged up. It's not a sports car, but it has decent acceleration.
I do manually switch to HV mode once I'm up to speed on the highway and reserve the traction battery for city driving - where I need the extra power and maneuverability. It's much better than looking for a large opening in traffic, to try to merge in - like in my old Prius C. I can jump right in and not worry about getting rear-ended.

 

I'm also miffed by Consumer Report's most recent report. By contrast, here's CR's evaluation from last Feb 2022...

 

I can see that making a difference to a lot of people. Lack of that 5th seat was an issue for a while too but the biggest is if they have no place to charge, like if they don't live in a single family home.

 

I stopped reading/trusting CR years ago. Much of their "research" is just asking people how their vehicles are lasting and the majority of people don't know diddly squat about vehicles....just have to put gas in there, right? Why did my engine die after just 90,000 miles...I changed the oil at Jiffy Lube every two or three years!
The best indicator for vehicle longevity is to look what vehicles mechanics are driving around...Toyota's, Lexus, Honda. Why? Because you don't make money working on your own car.
CR just downgraded the new Tundra's reliability! How can you do that when it hasn't even been out for a year? Idiots.

 

Well, many of those Prime owners probably paid less for the car than the Prius ones. Buyers now are looking at used prices, or mark ups for the few that might be on a dealer lot.

Some of the criteria that went into those ratings no longer apply.