Faults:

Nothing, it has been faultless.

General Comments:

Vehicle bought after previous Land Rover Freelander became too expensive to run, have been impressed with its overall lack of cost to own. Depreciation has been minimal, servicing costs minimal so far (enough support online to service this car yourself quite comfortably).

My wife drives it about 2 miles to work each day (so four miles return journey) and we never get less than 42 miles to the gallon, may not sound a lot but the Landrover achieved about 18 MPG (and that was a diesel!) due to the short journeys.

When we take it on holiday, I achieve 55-60MPG on a motorway run, fully loaded with the family & luggage. Also road tax at £15, makes my day when the annual reminder comes through.. the Landrover would be £400 when the latest raft of changes come through..

Fears of battery degradation appear unfounded, I can still do 28MPH for about 1 1/2 miles on a full charge (once rolling that is!) Our vehicle is one of the original press fleet from the release of the NHW20 model, and so far has proved the most fascinating car to own, the technology still amazes me now after 2 years.

Faults:

At 10,000 miles, the special computer-screen type dashboard started flashing "engine and vehicle failure". Toyota offers roadside assistance for the first 36,000 miles, so I had the car towed back to the dealer, about 2 hours away from me. It turns out the computer program stopped performing and the dealer had to wait to get a new computer program from Japan. There was a second Prius in the shop at the same time that had the same type of failure. It took about 10 days to get the car back.

General Comments:

A very nice, zippy, high-performance vehicle with a great turning radius and terrific pickup; it feels like an expensive sports car.

There are some flaws though: 1) an extremely small rearview, causing blindspots 2) no ability to buy extras from Toyota (like seat covers), since Toyota carries nothing for this car; 3) small trunk that won't fit a large suitcase 4) a car probably not for heavy winters 5) a dashboard that requires you to touch-screen for radio, CD, tape, which also requires you to fiddle with the screen, taking your eyes off the road. The dash with all the features on one screen is not intuitive.

Faults:

Nothing has failed.

General Comments:

We purchased a Prius for several reasons: mileage, quietness, smoothness, comfortable cabin for two senior citizens, and the environment.

Current view: It is the sheer serenity and comfort coupled with the maneuverability of the machine that now speaks most strongly to me as a driver. We would replace it "on the spot."

Negatives (Mild) : Homely exterior, driver leg room, and as with early Porsches, I will want to be careful of potential, abrupt over-steer on slippery surfaces. Also, the machine is vulnerable to side winds. I suspect all these negatives will be eliminated or reduced with the forthcoming model (Fall, 2003).