Overall quality - A little concerned

Be careful of how you interpret information on the Internet. Because no site exists for ecstatic consumers raving about their product, the information comes off as overly negative. You also can only take the information at face value. In some cases the owner was negligent and is responsible for the troubles they are reporting or is simply falsifing the information. Other cases may be perfectly legitimate. It is nearly impossible to differentiate the two.

Also bare in mind that no car is exempt from problems. Especially a vehicle like the Prius which is radically different from most autos. I will say this however, I have owned a 2007 Prius and currently own a 2010 Prius. I took excellent care of both vehicles by performing the recommend maintenance. Neither of my Prius' have required any repairs or maintenance that would be considered non-routine. My recommendation is to enjoy your car and don't get caught up in what you read on the Internet.

 

One common theme, also present here on Priuschat, is the the symptoms of 'bad' are sometime different on a Prius.
The HID headlights 'flicker; instead of 'burnout' at end of life.
The 12v battery draws a lot of current, rather than 'can't start' at end of life.
The gas tank has a variable size with temperature, you want to have more gas before the gauge starts blinking, I get gas at 400 Miles.

These symptoms are not worse than a normal car, just different. Neither owners nor mechanics are used to detecting these symptoms. Priuschat can help you become aware of this BEFORE it happens to you. Early headlight repairs often included the CPU because no one recognized 'flickering' as a end of life failure, now Toyota is reimbursing owners who spend money on CPUs.

Despite having a low drag co-efficient, the Prius spends most of it's horsepower pushing aside air, the faster you try to push aside the air, the lower your gas mileage. This is true for every vehicle made.

 

relax.
Don't borrow trouble that isn't yours. You bought the car, sounds like you did your homework first and it checked out fine. I wouldn't spend a bunch of energy worried about what might happen. Heck, any of us might have a problem tomorrow, it's only a car.
On another note, I worked on a project yesterday to get a Geo Metro drivable and safe for a young carless couple ... made me so grateful for my Prius! Our cars really are soundly and well made!

 

This depends on your use of the word "common". The Prius has a very good reputation and is very reliable. In this respect, these problems are not common, as the vast majority of owners will never have them.

On the other hand, if you mean which problems are the most common for the few that experience problems, then yes, that list covers the most common complaints.

Think about it like this: heart attack is one of the most common ways for men to die. Does this mean that it is common for a man do die of a heart attack? No. Most of us live long lives, and when we die, we only do it once. It is *not* common to die from a heart attack, but heart attack *is* one of the most common causes of death. Do you see the difference in these two statements?

Getting back to your question, a couple of comments:

First, the site you link is well known as an anti-Prius hack site. There are several. It is believed that most of these sites are funded by lawyers looking for class-action lawsuits or by the Big 3 automakers looking to damage the reputation of the Prius.

Second, the problems mentioned all have a basis in truth. Their presentation on that site is disingenuous, but they all exist. PruisChat covers every one of them in great detail. A little searching and browsing will yield hours of reading. To save you some trouble, I will hit the high points below, but remember that much more information is available on other threads:

Problems:

1) Unreliable gas gauge. The Gen II Prius uses an advanced gas tank with an internal bladder. The bladder causes some variation in usable tank capacity. Empty is always empty, but full could mean anything from 9 to 11 usable gallons. Note that the 11.9 gallon specification is for gross capacity, not usable capacity.

The gas tank bladder annoys some people very much. It also appears to cause refilling issues for some owners. None of these problems are safety issues. Mostly you need to understand the limits of the tank and gauge and you will be fine. Most of us never have any trouble with either.

The Gen III Prius has eliminated the gas tank bladder. The fuel gauge is still no more accurate than any normal automotive fuel gauge, so don't bet your life on its accuracy.

2) Can't tow or move a Prius with a dead 12V battery. This is true. Like most modern cars, the Prius cannot be towed with the drive wheels on the ground. The front wheels must be lifted. Also, since the Prius does not have a clutch or shiftable gears, the front wheels remain locked without 12V power. If you need a tow, make sure to tell the dispatcher this information when placing the call. They will send dollies which allow the Prius to be moved. This is no different than towing any other car that has suffered a locked or damaged drive train.

3) Mileage. Many factors affect mileage. Short trips, high speed, and cold weather all hurt mileage. Many new owners are naive and unreasonably optimistic with their mileage expectations. They read about best case mileage under ideal conditions and angerly wonder why they don't get the same under worst case conditions. There is a reason the EPA states "Your mileage may vary."

The Prius gets very good mileage - the best you can currently get. Even so, your mileage may vary.

Don't believe the hate mongers, and don't fret. You bought a fantastic car. Spend some time reading these forums and you will learn many useful things.

Tom

 

ConsumerAffairs.com - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

I also had the same worries, I am on limited funds and the prices are crazy since i could not work on it myself.
it was a great car and i am sad i sold it, but will buy another someday.

I only had one issues with my pris Both 2004s that was a 12 volt battery, I ended up with a RX8 which lasted me a short time because of the 18MPG went to a smart car and love it, will I buy another prius.... In a heartbeat

 

Tks for the link. I had looked at their site in some depth and saw some of this but the Wiki article fills in a lot of info.

 

Its been discussed in the past on PriusChat as well. They pose as consumer advocates (even adopting a name similar to Consumer Reports) but their real purpose appears to be posting dubious and controversial info to gather litigants and ad revenue.

 

It's amazing that for all of the millions of things that CAN go wrong, nothing usually does.

 

When the 12volt Lead-acid battery dies, you can pop the hood and jump start the car. You can open the door with the mechanical key to pop the hood.