Comments | netgecko: Prius oops

netgecko

Prius oops

Jun 01, 2005 14:17

Apparently, there are more than a couple reports that the new Toyota Prius has a software glitch that can cause the engine to mysteriously shut down. In traffic. At highway speeds.

Feds Open Prius ProbeAfter a bit of fishing around, it looks like none of the other hybrid models have complaints filed about the same thing at all, so this isn't a ( Read more... )

cars

Comments 4

lord_smeg June 1 2005, 22:31:48 UTC

Makes sense if you look at it.

The Prius was pushed out to be a mass use hybrid vehicle, so Honda didn't get the lion's share of publicity with the Civic hybrid. The price of the Prius is a major motivational factor that sets it above comparable models.

Over here for example, there's a month wait for a new Prius - hence 1 year old ones sell for the same price as new ones.

Toyota also have the largest number of hybrid vehicles available out of any major manufacturer - ergo it makes sense that a fault is discovered sooner in the Prius than in any other model.

netgecko June 1 2005, 23:14:56 UTC

The fact that Toyota brought it to market extraordinarily fast, combined with the low target price-point, make it very understandable that it has a flaw like this.

Sales volume isn't related in this case, though. Prius has less than triple the sales volume as the Civic, but the Civic doesn't even have enough safety complaints for me to find anything at all about them (leading me to believe it's less than 3 or 4 on any particular issue vs. the 33 on the Prius engine shutdown).

What remains to be seen is how Toyota reacts. No fix yet after a few weeks of working on it, but they've got a bit longer before I start to think less of them.

lord_smeg June 2 2005, 00:33:44 UTC

I'm not so sure on the sales volume ( ... )

netgecko June 2 2005, 16:11:11 UTC

Yeah. Honda brought it to market slowly and worked the bugs out. Toyota rushed it to market, and whoops, it shuts down on the freeway (though rarely, at least). In my mind, Honda scored better than Toyota on quality control. That's all I'm saying. :)

I'm looking at a new car, too. Well, used, but new to me. Something that can haul bulky camping stuff around to SCA events, though, so no nifty compacts for me.