23rd Nov 2009, 15:08
I agree with previous commentor. The Prius is an excellent vehicle, but it's not the largest hybrid vehicle available. But I must add that the hybrid SUVs and trucks are not really great hybrids, they get only slightly better MPG than their fully gas powered counterparts. The best hybrids on the market are by far the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight.
24th Nov 2009, 12:10
"The best hybrids on the market are by far the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight."
Not according to any reviewer I have read. I was asked to take part in a charity event where we were asked to test drive the new Ford Fusion hybrid. Ford donated money to local schools for each test drive taken. Unlike the other hybrids the Fusion is a real car, not a toy. It LOOKS like a real car, DRIVES like a real car, does not have the neck-jerking lurch when the gasoline engine kicks in and it is plenty fast. All the reviews I've read totally agree. All of them refer to IT (not Honda or Toyota) as the "best hybrid". My impression was that it would be hard for the hybrid Lexus to match the Fusion, let alone a lowly Honda or Toyota.
27th Nov 2009, 18:27
A wise decision. Toyota now holds the record for having the biggest safety recalls since the automobile was invented. However I think you'll find that the Ford Fusion hybrid is the best hybrid in the world. I drove one and they are on a par with most luxury cars. They ARE pricey, but they are worth every penny. I'd be leery of the first Volt. First years of ANY car are subject to problems, and I doubt they'll be much cheaper than the Fusion.
24th Dec 2009, 20:47
NHTSA reviewing third generation Toyota Prius braking 12/24/2009
http://www.leftlanenews.com/nhtsa-reviewing-third-generation-toyota-prius-braking.html
25th Dec 2009, 18:33
"A wise decision. Toyota now holds the record for having the biggest safety recalls since the automobile was invented."
Really? So the 14 million vehicles Ford had to recall a few years back because they were a fire hazard count as nothing? Toyota slipped up a bit for sure, but the "biggest safety recalls since the invention of the automobile"? That's pushing it.
17th Jan 2010, 18:01
Ford is not perfect, but I'd take a Ford car melting in my driveway over a Toyota that I'm trapped in that's decided to open the throttle to max, and the brakes aren't stopping it..
Toyota also has epic safety issues. I worked for a company in '08 that helped defend them in court. The amount of incidences is unbelievable.
Nobody's perfect, but in '09, Toyota took the medal for most recalls, and they won by a large margin. They also recently announced that they're trying to cut their parts cost by 33%..
10th Feb 2010, 10:46
"The Prius is an excellent vehicle, but it's not the largest hybrid vehicle available." Just thought I'd point out that the original commenter said "car" not "vehicle."
19th Feb 2010, 21:39
To Mr.13:00 Nov. 23/09 - Give me your address & contact info.; I would love to take your terrible Prius off your hands, as I'm sure you'd be willing to give me a great deal on such a 'lemmon.' I got mine from my Dad so I'd have transportation while in university. That was over 200,000 km ago and with the usual upkeep and sensible driving, it's given me nothing but happy memories. Many of my friends drove old Toyota 'beaters' (non-hybrid) that were equally reliable, as long as their expectations and maintenance were reasonable. As someone else said, don't disregard problems in other makes, while condemning one. By the way, I WOULD be picking up Dad's current Prius, but he doesn't want to give it up yet!
15th Jun 2012, 22:26
I would not even try to compare a Prius to a Ford Fusion Hybrid. It is pricey, unlikely to get claimed fuel economy, and is a recent and untested model from FORD. I think hybrid cars should be designed from the ground up to be hybrids, so they can benefit from being designed for fuel economy only. The Fusion is FORD's cheapo way of getting a basic gasoline car to market quickly.
The discussion about Prius recalls is not necessary; there have been way more recalls for many other vehicles. My 2001 Taurus just got a recall notice in the mail the other day, yet it's perfectly fine.
The fact is, the Prius is the best overall hybrid there is. You cannot compare a Fusion to it.
17th Jun 2012, 17:38
I'd rather be seen driving a Fusion, as opposed to something that looks like a dust buster (Prius).
18th Jun 2012, 11:09
Most of the anti-Prius comments seem to be about the same as they've always been: That the Prius isn't a "real" car because it looks different, and woe is me if a car happens to look different, and not the same as every other car on the road.
It's also interesting how the comments have changed over time. When the Prius was new, people claimed the batteries would fail and cost $10,000. Well... the Prius has now been on the road for almost 15 years, and so far very few of the batteries have failed, and now you can buy a re-manufactured battery for well under $2,000.
The Prius is one of the most reliable cars you can buy. It does what it's supposed to do. I'm not sure what the problem is here...
19th Jun 2012, 21:08
There is no problem, nothing was said about the reliability of the Pruis or the battery, or being a "real" car.
The styling being butt-ugly is the point being made. Sure, I see the thousands of examples of the Pruis on the road, but the same goes for the Fusion, and that's the one I would take if I had a choice of the 2.
20th Jun 2012, 11:14
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There are also plenty of people who think that "XXX" car or truck is also ugly. Given that the Prius sells extremely well, that's proof that a lot of people are just fine with the way they look.
21st Jun 2012, 16:58
I completely agree. Personally, I have no problem with the looks of the Prius. I don't think it's anything special, but it isn't ugly. Actually, I really like the look of the new Prius C (a smaller version of the Prius, built on the Vitz/Yaris platform).
I also really like the new look of the Ford Fusion. It really does resemble an Aston Martin. Very sharp looking car. In fact, I can only think of a few vehicles made today that I really don't like the looks of. For starters, the Smart car... nothing good about that car. The Nissan Juke...it's an interesting look that's for sure. And the new Chevy Malibu. Uh, I'm surprised Toyota isn't suing for copyright infringement, because the new Malibu is nearly identical looking to the '07-'11 Camry. It's not that it's ugly, but if Chevrolet is trying to make cars that are less "bland" than their imported counterparts, this is not the way to do it.
However, I also realize that putting someone down because they drive a vehicle that you don't like is foolish. People are going to drive whatever they want to drive. Trying to preach to others on what they should be driving is a waste of time.
21st Jun 2012, 22:00
Most people on a tight budget could care less what their 45+ mile to the gallon car looks like.
The Fusion sells just as good, and many folks will agree that it is much better looking than the dust buster.
22nd Jun 2012, 10:16
And once again, the way a car looks has absolutely nothing to do with its quality or appeal. I am pretty sure that there are people who think the Fusion is pretty ugly, as well as folks who like the way it looks. Same with the Prius. If everyone disliked either models, then they wouldn't sell... would they?
Also - it's important to realize that "people on a budget" doesn't have a lot of context when discussing these two cars: BOTH are at almost the same price.
23rd Jun 2012, 14:10
I too also agree that the Prius is hideous looking compared to the Fusion, which looks like an everyday car. I was browsing the other day on threads, the topic being unattractive looking cars, no surprise the Prius was one of them. I know they sell, but so do the Mini, Smart Car, Insight, Cube, Aztek, and they are all ugly too.
Personally I think the Prius and Insight both look like a door stop wedge on wheels, but I do like the "dust buster" comment LOL!
23rd Nov 2009, 13:00
Do not be fooled. I have had my Prius for about for months now, and like ALL hybrids it is not fast. Take caution when merging on the freeway and into high traffic. It did NOT get 50 MPG as promised; I got about 46. You can get 50 if you drive slower than the speed limit and have down hill drives. I still wonder about the recalls on many Toyota cars about sudden acceleration problems, so I may just sell my Prius if Toyota can't fix the problems. I may just buy the Chevy Volt next year.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-toyota-recall18-2009oct18,0,739395.story