From the logbook: Toyota Prius Touring

History shows that Toyota made the right decision when their designers made sure that the second-generation Prius looked like nothing else on the road. Most buyers wanted the world to know that they were proudly piloting a hybrid. Unlike the Honda Civic and Accord Hybrids—which looked nearly identical to the non-hybrid models and sell in much lower numbers, so much so that the Accord version was dropped—the latest Prius silently screams, "Here I am! And I'm burning less gasoline than you."

Actually, because the car is so quiet when moving on battery power alone (except when you put it in reverse and an annoying beep reminds you to be careful backing up), it makes its biggest statement at the gas pump.

This time around we're testing a Touring model with stability control ($23,220) to see if it improves the Prius' handling. What have we learned over the past few months driving it? Is the Prius just a rolling science project or is it a real car? Read on for our test teams' initial feedback:

"First impression isn't too hot, but this car grows on you."

"Switching from electric power to gas makes the engine shudder to life; I don't remember our last Prius doing that."

"Not impressive to drive (stiff ride, poor steering feel)."

"This car was more amazing when we tested it in '04."

"Transmission selector makes you push forward for reverse and pull back to go forward? (I remember complaining about that arrangement in another vehicle with the initials 'B.M.W.')"

"One display screen for all secondary functions is ridiculous."

"I spent too much time switching from screen to screen when I should be looking at the road."

"All this software to calculate 'instant' and 'overall' fuel economy but no 'distance to empty?'"

"Sub-par driving position - plenty of room, but the [steering] wheel is too far away and the dead pedal is badly angled and too close."

"Visibility is OK, but there are lots of pillars and that odd back window."

"Great packaging for four people and lots of luggage space for what is a small car."

"Good rear-seat room for kids."

"40+ mpg is still amazing."

As you can see, while the Prius doesn't deliver an engaging driving experience, it delivers fuel economy in spades. ("A genius of a car, but too bad it's not fun to drive" said one engineer.) There's enough substance here to help you understand why this car continues to be all the rage for environmentally-focused people. And I think this line really sums up what we feel about the Prius thus far: "An impressive, ground-breaking product, but far from perfect."

—Mike Quincy

Comments

[patti kisner]

love my prius- I get 52 mpg. lots of storage room, great features, like smart key and bluetooth. would not trade!

[Alfred Santoro]

I have an 06 Prius with approx 16,000 miles on it. I have averaged a bit over 50MPG since I got this car. I added a few things like custom seat covers but overall the car is good just like it comes. It has much more room inside than it appears from the outside. I am considering buying a second one for my wife.

[Robert Robinson]

I almost purchased one, till I saw one at the dealers back lot that had been in an accident and was totally crushed in. The sales person steered me away from it, and on the way back to the sales room, I decided to keep my Avalon. It gets 31 over the road at 65 mph, and should fare much better in an accident. On my next day a visit to the Toyota dealer, the smashed one was gone.

[Pierce]

Consumer reports rates the Prius as the highest rated Family Car, but it also appears to have the highest percentage rating of all categories. How do you report that the car is the most consumer satisfying and say "it is far from perfect."

Consumers have begun to re-prioritize what is important and the test team's comments should reflect that more. Fuel efficient cars have become a category of car like sports cars. Do you say a sports car is less than perfect if it doesn't have much luggage space? When you rate and comment on the Prius, it should be against a fuel efficient baseline of standards. When you look at it that way, it comes off .....well, just about perfect. Why, because no other car competes with it. And until another car comes along, the Prius is it. Consumer Reports should start to understand that there is more than one type of car consumer out there, and more and more, fuel efficiency trumps many of the minor comments that make cars like the Prius less fun to drive.

Someone in my family is very conservative so they put a Republican sticker on their Prius. They do a lot of driving so it made logical sense to them to buy a Prius, but they didn't do it because they are an environmentalist. We have a local paper and the conservative editorial contributor bought a Prius to improve our nation's security by reducing our dependence on oil.

As an owner of a Prius my wife and I have competitions to see who can score the best mileage. It is satisfying to know that every minute I'm driving our Prius I'm helping reduce green house gases. I understand reducing my driving time would be even better. People gain satisfaction by giving and doing the right thing. We do charity work, we do nice things for others, etc. partly because it makes us feel good. It's fun to hear the engine stop when it's not needed. It's fun to know when I break its charging a battery. It's satisfying to know that I'm starting to do my part to reduce my carbon footprint. The Prius is helping us change our driving habits.

My favorite line would be something like "The Prius is the gold standard with no close competition....whatever happened to follow the leader? Don't they get it yet?"

[Dennis O'Connor]

"Fun to drive" varies, I guess. My wife and I both think our 2007 Prius Touring is fun to drive. Only serious complaint: the passenger can't fully run the nav system when the car is moving over 8 MPH or so. But in our litigious society, I see why this is.

[Robert Stein]

I'm rather disappointed at this "damning with faint praise" from CU. As others noted, this car has the highest owner satisfaction rating of all cars reported on.

I've had my '04 since Oct '03, with close to 80K miles on it, and averaging lifetime 47 (and I don't baby it).

Lately, it seems that CU has a vendetta against Toyota.

[Tom Dettloff]

I drive an '02. With Blizzak snow tires (the WS-60s are fantastic) its my primary car to skiing (Colorado). Did have a cold weather problem that Toyota knew about but didn't tell owners until I had the problem it so my impression of reliability is no better than my Ford Explorer. Why don't we have a hybird minivan and a plug-in hybird yet?

[Edward Gaddy]

The Prius gets the best mileage available, has a stellar safety record, has one of the highest reliabilities reported and is the most responsible car to drive for protecting the environment. So, Consumer Reports gives it three positive comments out of thirteen. I believe that you should review whether you are being responsible to consumers and fair to Toyota.

Your report said that "most owners wanted the world to know that they were piloting a hybrid." This does not apply to my ownership. I purchased a Prius because it delivered the best fuel economy. I have no interest in making a statement using the car's styling. I'm curious to know if Consumer Reports has any data to back up the quote?

You've also said that the "transmission selector makes you push forward for reverse and pull back to go forward." I do not understand why this somewhat negative statement is made about the Prius because it is true for every car with an automatic and a shifter on the floor. This unfortunate arrangement is actually the result of regulation.

The "odd back window" is so designed that the lower part is generally not obscured by snow. It is also lower than that on most cars, which means there is less chance of backing over a child that would otherwise be hidden.

I disagree with the statement that "One display screen for all secondary functions is ridiculous." The screen is located so that it takes minimal eye movement and minimal eye focal distance change from the road to the screen. And, as you say, everything can be taken in. Something that few other cars have.

I really like my car. I enjoy the silence when it is stopped for traffic or lights. I enjoy that it is large inside in comparison to its outside footprint. I sit high in it and feel quite comfortable. I am glad that $3.50 for a gallon of gasoline does not bother me (much). I am also thankful that it has one the best real world safety records.

I believe the car is the most advanced vehicle produced. It has one of the lowest drag coefficients of any car, it has a thermos to store the hot anti-freeze for use on the next cold morning, it has one of the most efficient gasoline engines produce accomplished by using an Atkinson Miller cycle, it has brake by wire, it has electrically boosted power steering, it has regenerative brakes, and it manages with all this to be among the most reliable cars on the road . . . by your own accounting.

Prius envy?

[Steve]

They forgot the best parts! When I fold the back seats down, I can comfortably sleep in the back (I'm 6'3" tall). It's great for impromptu camping trips! Best of all, if I'm sitting in a parking lot working on my laptop before a meeting, I can run the air conditioning without keeping the engine on. Every car should have this feature!

[Jess Alvarado]

I test drove a Prius about a month ago, and I thought it handled and accelerated much like a luxury car. I was very impressed by it and the added bonus of the best gas mileage in the industry is very appealing too. Perhaps my impression of how the Prius handled is tainted because I have only owned much older and much smaller used cars in the past, but I was pleasantly surprised by how the Prius drove. I definitely plan on getting one very soon.

[Paul Rivers]

"I almost purchased one, till I saw one at the dealers back lot that had been in an accident and was totally crushed in...and on the way back to the sales room, I decided to keep my Avalon."

Assuming you have a *relatively recent* Avalon, there's no doubt an Avalon is going to be safer than a Prius - it's just a bigger car, with more weight and more space for crash protection.

But I just wanted to point out that all the cars with the best crash test ratings get their front or back ends crushed in in an accident. That's the way they're designed to work. (I know the crash test videos are around here on consumer reports somewhere, wish I had the link available). See, the important part in an accident is how much impact your body takes. So a well designed car's hood crumples and absorbs the impact of a crash, totally the front of the car. But in exchange the middle of the car that you're sitting in stays intact, so the footwell doesn't collapse breaking your leg and the steering wheel doesn't impact your chest impaling you.

Now, I didn't see this car that you did, just wanted to point out that certain parts of the car being crushed in is actually a positive sign (and the wrong parts is bad, etc etc).

[Paul Rivers]

P.S. I found the url for the videos of the crash test ratings on this blog:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/safety-recalls/carcrashtest/crashtestvideo.htm

Check out what they say about the Dodge Neon (ouch!) vs. the Prius (or nearly every other car they rate).

[John Colatch]

I have learned to take CU's car comments with a grain of salt. The engineers' comments about their daily experiences with the Prius seemed on the whiny side. I have been driving an '07 Prius for almost one year, have put 15,000 miles on it, and have no complaints. It rides nearly as well as our Camry, has plenty of room, and I have no problem seeing out of the windows. The Prius is not a luxury car, it is a sane car that happens to be a pleasure to own and drive. And I love driving right on by the gas pumps!

[Matthew Zenkar]

My wife and I are Consumer Reports subscribers and we currently own a 2006 Prius and a 2002 Corolla. When the plug-in Prius comes out, we intend on trading in the Corolla for the plug-in Prius.

I find the following comment from your blog quite interesting: "Most buyers wanted the world to know that they were proudly piloting a hybrid."

Just where is your hard data to back up this statement? My bet is that you don't have any. If you want to verify this, why not a question on the annual survey that says something like this:

"If you own a Prius, what were your reasons for buying it?" and leave the answer space free-form.

I'm willing to bet that very few respondents would provide the answer that you presume to be correct.

As with my last car, one of the reasons that I bought the Prius was because of its reliability ratings. Another reason was because of its high mileage ratings. Yet another reason was because of its roomy interior. I think it a very nice car, extremely comfortable on trips, and it gets great gas mileage. I am looking forward to another summer of 55+ MPG, and even when I get 37+ MPG in the winter time, I have to remind myself that most of the people that I know get maybe 2/3 that at best.

I seriously considered buying a Civic hybrid. The primary reason that I did not was because I felt the cabin space was far too cramped in comparison to the Prius. In addition, the interior of the Civic did not impress me in that it was ripe with analog components that presented what I felt was archaic technology in a supposedly advanced technology vehicle, and its mileage rating was lower in the city than on the highway; city driving is where I do most of my driving.

Personally, I do not care what people think of what I drive. I drive what I drive because I think its the best solution for me, and I think it egregious that a supposedly unbiased ratings agency would come anywhere near supporting a viewpoint that people should or would buy a car because of what other people will think of that car. WOW!! Can you spell clueless???

I think it gravely unfortunate that Consumer Reports employs someone who seems to think that people drive cars because they think that their friends, relatives, neighbors, other people on the highway, etc., will think that they are cool in the particular car they choose. IMHO, this focus on appearances and being "cool" interferes with the ability to give an objective opinion on a car, and is not the basis for what I would call an unbiased opinion on a vehicle.

So vehicle buyers, buy a car because its cool. Buy a Hummer so you can spend most of your time getting it filled up with gas and because it looks cool. Buy a BMW because people will think you look cool in it and because you have all kinds of time to spend with it when you bring it to the repair shop because it is one of the least reliable brands out there. Forget the real reasons that would compel you to buy a car because Consumer Reports knows better than you why you really buy cars.

Consumer Reports, set your standards for your testers higher lest you lose your reputation in the drivel of irrelevancy.

[Thomas Lanvers]

Being a lifelong subscriber, I'm more and more dissapointed with you guys.

Rather then focusing so much importance on the responsiveness of steering, cornering at 80mph, and horsepower, you should be focused on mph's, and cost of ownership.

You guys have become Dinosaurs when it comes to your auto ratings.

You're stuck in 1997....

[Linds]

I've owned my 04 since June 14, 2004. I'm approaching 92k miles fairly fast. I don't baby my prius. I have 215/45/17 tires and i average around 40mpg. If i baby it, I'll average closer to 50. with stock wheels i was able to keep 48mph while aggressive and 62mpg while conservative.

With Synthetic Oil, My intervals are every 10k miles. sh.. don't tell Toyota! -_0

[Eddie Glayzer]

Matthew Zenkar, your argument is faulty. A person who buys a Prius absolutely does WANT people to know that they are driving a car that makes a statement. Every car, shirt, pair of shoes that you are seen in makes a statement about you and you are aware of it. People who buy hummers and bmw probably would not say that they bought them because they look cool either as you apparently assume they would. A hummer buy would say, "well i wanted something safe that i could pull a boat with and fit my family in." BMW owners might justify their purchase by saying that german engineering is just better than others, ect... As many of the blogs above indicate, prius owners are quite full of themselves. With comments such as "I know I am doing my part to protect the environment/reduce my carbon foot print." OF COURSE these people bought the car for that reason, and they want everyone to know it! If people were really trying to stop their dependance on oil they would just stop driving, there are plenty of reasonable alternatives to owning a car. It seems to me that Prius drivers want to make a statement that they care about the environment but only enough to purchase a product from a company that is still ultimately responsible for producing hundreds of thousands of vehicles that belch carbon dioxide into the air everyday. Its an image. Cars are not a necessity anymore than a toaster oven, Calvin Clien jeans, or Prada bags. I dont understand why everyone is coming down so hard on CR for stating the obvious.

[Matthew Zenkar]

Eddie Glayzer, the reliability data for BMW simply does not back up the assumption - "that german engineering is just better than others".

Whether my comments made it apparent or not, the point of my post was to magnify the fallacy of the statement because it is based on an assumption and not a reasonable attempt at gathering of opinions of people who own a Prius. There are people out there who buy vehicles for good reasons. Buying one because you want everyone else to notice you in one is not a good reason; however, it may be a good reason to go get counseling. :O

Now if they had said, "we presume that people who bought a Prius want the whole world to know it" that would be different because at least they would be upfront with the fact that it is an assumption rather than presenting it as fact when, in fact, they have no data to support it. An "expert" claiming "expertise" in this manner is simply not an "expert." The word that comes to mind is "scammer."

CR should be bashed for making unscientific assumptions as unscientific assumptions have no place in an unbiased product assessment.

[Andries Engelbrecht]

I find the statement about buying the Prius to show the world to be utter nonsense, at least in the area where I live. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Prius has been the top selling car (or one of the top selling cars) for quite some time. Most people chose it as it has very good packaging, hatchback for utility and midsize interior for comapct exterior. This makes it easy to fit 4 adults for long trips and very easy to park in the city.

On top of that it has been one of the cheapest cars to run I have owned. Apart from the great gas mileage for everyday commute use in traffic and highway (50MPG for me) the services are no more than a small Yaris or Corrolla. I have yet to see any car get even close to that mileage keeping up with traffic and ranging from stop adn go to 75+ on the highway.

The Prius is no longer an oddity around here as some folks might want to think, it has rather become the standard like the Taurus of old or the Camry. Your not special if you drive one, just part of normal society adn enjoying a very well packaged vehicle for transportation.

[Jason Coby]

Eddie Glayzer, your argument is very faulty and you are quite full of yourself if you actually think that you know the individual purchasing motivations for the hundreds of thousands of Prius owners in the United States. From your misguided post, it is quite obvious that you have dreamed up a standard statement that YOU believe nearly every Prius owner is trying to make to the world. Since you are not an all-knowing and celestial being, you really are not capable of ascertaining the individual purchasing motivations for every Prius owner.

You may attempt to tell your friend or neighbor that he/she bought his/her Prius to show off to others, but your friend or neighbor may just inform you that he/she bought the Prius because it is an affordably priced, extremely reliable, fuel-sipping, easy-to-maintain mid-sized hatchback sedan with plenty of room to comfortably seat 4 adults and transport some cargo items that will not even fit in most similarly-priced vehicles.

Even if some Prius owners do truly want to make a statement to the world, how is that bad? Does it offend you or make you feel uncomfortable?

For many people, it is natural to want to take an active part in solving a public problem and there is nothing wrong with choosing a Prius if you want to reduce your personal contributions to air pollution or greenhouse gas emissions, or even for national security purposes, etc.

What are some of these numerous ways that a person can avoid car ownership that you have alluded to? Do you not realize that there are some large cities like Arlington, TX that have over 300,000 people and no centrally-planned public transportation? I still have not met any human beings that are capable of running 60 MPH for at least 20 minutes and consumer bicycles are not quite up to that speed either. I suppose a family of 5 could buy 3 mopeds or motorcycles and possibly spend more than they would for 1 Prius while greatly increasing their chances of death by vehicular accident; I don't know of any family that can comfortably make such a trade-off. It is not always possible to work within walking or bicycling distance from your place of employment, especially if you work at a major airport or a chemical plant. This isn't the '90s, where you could quit a job on Tuesday and start a new one on Wednesday; few people have the option of quitting a job just to avoid using a car.

The Toyota Prius is simply a game-changing vehicle. It allows many people to enhance, and not detract from, their overall lifestyle while also delivering low-cost ownership and reduced adverse environmental impact versus nearly all other passenger-vehicles sold in America today.

[A. Survivor]

To the person who mentioned the crushed Prius on the backlot--my girl was able to survive a highspeed highway accident in our Prius. Damaged was sustained to the front end--completely destroying it. Modern car frames are designed to crumple like that -- allowing the shock to be distributed away from the passenger area. The airbags deployed properly. We all agree that the car did its job. I think they could have designed the car to handle better (ride too soft, turning you can really feel the body roll on the car). They're still too expensive though. We bought ours for $18.9 -- before TTL -- package zero -- now they sell for about $22k. I am wondering what the margin is on these things.

[John Jensen]

The logbook proves how biased CR has become. When the current model Prius was reviewed with high praise and a few negatives. One negative was that the steering was over-responsive. Now, despite no change in design, the steering is "vague". Come on! I'd rather they just say "We don't like it cause it don't go VROOM VROOM!" They are just like all the other gear-head reviewer. Their reviews are quickly becoming irrelevant. All of their other product review tables indicate the better value, not their automobile tables. You have to hunt through the detail reviews to find MPG! And what about emissions? If any other type of product produced harmful carcinogens, they would scream at the top of the mountain about it. Not automobiles, you can't even find that information in CR reviews. All CR might say is "um yeah, it's a Green Car." If CR wants to be unbiased, how about adding MPG and emissions levels to the main product ratings tables. And -- GASP -- including it is their rating of the vehicle.

[IDA]

We do love our 2006 Prius. It has 20,000 miles.
My husband and I share the car, whoever needs to travel most that day get the car.

But...I just had a puzzling and frustrating experience yesterday.
Had a flat tire on the front left one, changed to the spare tire,
drove to a tire shop and had the original tire fixed, and replaced back.
Afterwards, it really puzzled me when the car would not start, when I pushed the power button, as I was ready to leave the tire shop.
All the warning lights were on and I was not able to shift to D or R, it kept going back to N, and all those lights stayed on.
Tried many times to restart by pulling out of the key, and insert it and push the power button again, nothing happened...but kept doing the same thing! Finally had to have the car towed to a dealer, and now am still waiting to know why!It is frustrating...
Anyone had a similar experience?

[MtnBiker]

We're trying to decide how much different the Touring is. Although the report is on the Touring, no mention of how it differs from the standard model. Anyone care to comment on the differences?

[brooks quinlan]

i have a couple of questions. hope some of you can help...

i just bought a used '05 prius with 80,500 miles. i have only had it for 5 days but have driven it alot (mostly hwy miles) mainly to test out the mpg's. i am getting 47/48 on hwy and only 49/50 in city. i thought the city miles were supposed to be in the 55-60 range?

also, when i turn the car on, sometimes the car will sit (as it should) just getting juice from the battery. but then all of the sudden, without moving into gear the engine kicks on. if i let it sit for a minute or two it will then kick back to battery. i thought that it should only sit on battery until i give it enough gas to then switch to the engine? it does this at random times and also at random times i cannot even start off (very slowly) in "battery mode". it goes straigt to burning gas instead of battery power. any thoughts?

[Ken Good]

Just bought a new 08 Prius yesterday for my wife. When we drove it off the lot, it had 24 miles on it. After a few spins and about 50 new miles, we parked it for the night.

What a suprise that on Mothers day - as we're going to take mom to brunch, we get in to start the car and NOTHING! After less than 100 miles, we need to have this vehicle towed from our garage because something is wrong with the electrical system. The battery seems fine (radio, lights, etc.) work - but the car simply won't start.

Can't wait to hear what caused this - OH...it wasn't that we forgot to have our foot on the brake when pressing the start button. Needless to say, mom's day has turned out to be a bummer.

[lantyinatlanty]

Good luck getting one a the moment..oh BTW once they pull your credit it only lasts 30 days but it takes 6 weeks to get the car , so unless you can pay up front or you have a credit score that can afford to be hit twice in 6 weeks forget about finance.
I even told them I didn't want it till August 5th couldn't guarantee that and would have to pull my credit twice....Car max here I come - thanks Team Toyota for the unnecessary angst and credit check

[Marianne Pagos]

Now that I'm spending the summer in Europe, far from my Silver Bullet 2004 Prius, I'm missing it more than ever! It makes me so envious to see quite a few on the roads here--in the land of challenging, manual-shift driving--while negotiating hairpin curves over sheer, vertical drops with no guardrails with ease.

Soon, I'll be home, though, and enjoying driving it again. For the record, my Prius now logs 241,489 miles and still has its original equipment brakes. No brake job. No maintenance issues -- I just fill it with gas, change the oil, and go....

I continue to be delighted by Prius' great engineering, excellent performance, and fun ride. It's a car with an awesome set of qualifications for any machine, or any human, for that matter.

[Don D]

Regarding the comment "and is the most responsible car to drive for protecting the environment" is misleading at best. A study by CNW Research makes a point that just because a vehicle has a high MPG and produces little greenhouse emissions it should not be automatically assumed that it is an environmentally friendly car. The study shows that the Prius was ranked #157 out of 284 cars using a “dust-to-dust” comparison for the model years 2007-2008. The dust-to-dust comparison is something to consider before purchasing a car if environmental concerns are one of your top priorities. To assess the overall environmental impact, the manufacturing process, must be considered as well as how to dispose of the car when it is no longer usable. You can Google to read the entire study if this interest you.

The environmental impact a car has is not the only motivating factor for car buyers so many will but the car because it is a great car and it has uses very little fuel. I just don’t like the perception that the Prius is a "green car" when recent studies are suggesting this is not the case.

[Susan]

I have just purchased a 2008 Prius. I have been driving it for only 4 days now, but waited 2 months for it and did tons of research on it before committing to the purchase. I previously owned a 2002 Pontiac Bonneville SSEI. For those who don't know, that vehicle came with a sweet supercharged engine. Talk about fun to drive! I will miss so much about my fun car - but I needed something more practical for my own lifestyle (i.e. long commute to work, weekend trips to see family 300 miles away, ect.)

Attempts were made to sway my decision by those who think they know me better - so I'm not doing this to gain anyones approval or opinion. I'm doing this to save money. People who judge others' reasoning for things they choose are ignorant.

I look forward to getting to know this new car and enjoying the savings along the way. I may even get a bumper sticker for those naysayers that reads "Think what you want; I don't care - I'm getting 45 miles to the gallon!"

Happy car shopping!