Faults and Problems - quantitative survey

6296 Views 10 Replies 9 Participants Last post by RSnyder, Jan 5, 2003

twoheads02

Discussion Starter · Dec 26, 2002

:lol: I have recently queryied the cost of a service warranty taken out at the time of purchasing our Prius. Given the age of the car, the annual premium seemed somewhat excessive, and the excess for each claim turns out to be double the usual amount charged by this particular company.
Though I have no real proof, I feel they have been a bit arbitry about setting the charges, purely because the Prius technology is still in the realm of unknown territory - and are perhaps wanting to cover their rear - with a well padded cushion.
To challenge their charges and perhaps their preconceived views too, I would like to find out from fellow 'Priusnix' - in the form of a quantitative survey; what faults, problems and breakdowns have been experienced - with particular interest in the age of the car and distance it has travelled at the time the problem occured.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - Thanks to one and all :!:

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Gene

· #2 · Dec 26, 2002

Problems ... no stinkin problems!

The MarvMobile (superwhite 2002) all options, 1,300 miles, 3 months old, NO problems.

I did sink the $850.00 for the Toyota Platium 7yr/100,000mile extended. (why? ... Ask me in 6yr./9 months or 98,700 miles)

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WmHPowell

· #3 · Dec 27, 2002

My first Prius (2001) went 2 years and 50,000 miles with no problems other than an initial rotor/pad glaze when brand new and the original tires that lasted about 36,000 miles.

I could have had pending fuel injector problem based on dropping MPG, occasional rough Idle and other subtle symptoms but there is nothing special about Prius injectors; just the THS is more sensitive to critical parts that are subject to normal wear.

When the opportunity presented itself, I "upgraded" to an 03 with new warranty and the free 3/36 service at basically the same financial terms as my first Prius.

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RSnyder

· #4 · Dec 30, 2002

Pikachu is starting into his 3rd winter, and has recently passed the 50K milepost. So far no major problems, the CD player had to be replaced in the first month, but the replacement has been fine. I replaced the tires at 30K with Michelin X-Ones which will clearly last far longer, but have cost 3-5 MPG. He's a bit grumpier during the first minute of cold driving this winter than in the last two. No reports of trouble at the 45 K service and no check engine light, it's just a feeling I have.

He did do the transient, unexplained check engine light plus Hybrid warning icon thing once. Nothing ever came of that though.

All in all, I've been VERY happy

with his performance and reliability.

My daughter is looking over my shoulder and insists that I use the wide eyed emoticon. :shock:

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jeff

· #5 · Dec 30, 2002

My prius is just over a year old now, 16k miles and no problems at all so far.. just drove it from NY to Florida two weeks ago.

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Smitty

· #6 · Dec 31, 2002

Mine is going onto 10 months now. The only problems I have is the black top roof molding strip on "both" sides of the car are coming unglued just where it meets with the windshield.

I also have a real annoying rattle in my front dash somewhere around the touch screen. (seems to come and go with temp change)

Other then that, no big problems and I am happy as a kid on Christmas Day everytime I drive my car.

BTW, has anyone else noticed a funny odor when you open the trunk. I have nothing stored in mine, and I never have used it except for a few runs to the food store. (Wife does all the food shopping in her car) It smells like the new car smell with an added strong chemical type smell. Could this be the smell from the hybrid battery pack?

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mrv

· #7 · Dec 31, 2002

Smitty said:
Mine is going onto 10 months now. The only problems I have is the black top roof molding strip on "both" sides of the car are coming unglued just where it meets with the windshield.

I also have a real annoying rattle in my front dash somewhere around the touch screen. (seems to come and go with temp change)

Other then that, no big problems and I am happy as a kid on Christmas Day everytime I drive my car.

BTW, has anyone else noticed a funny odor when you open the trunk. I have nothing stored in mine, and I never have used it except for a few runs to the food store. (Wife does all the food shopping in her car) It smells like the new car smell with an added strong chemical type smell. Could this be the smell from the hybrid battery pack?

I, too, had the rubber moulding coming unglued on the roof. Dealer replaced it no questions asked (when I mentioned it). I just had to wait a week or so for the parts to come in.

As for the rattle, if you trust your dealership enough, some have reported the same, and all that was needed was to tape down a connector wire that's behind the display that would occasionally make rattling noises...

As for your smell in the trunk - have you tried isolating if it's the spare tire (most common), or are you certain that it's coming from either the 12v battery (on the left) or the hybrid battery (shelf)? A few people have had issue with the smell from their spare tire, and getting a tire bag from a local tire shop seems to help them.

My only other dealer-replaced item so far (other than the roof molding) was my combination meter (the display where the spedometer/odometer/fuel gage/etc. live), as for some unknown reason around 5000 miles my main odometer stopped displaying (ODO didn't display anything, yet Trip A and B (which use the same display digits) were working fine...) anyhow, I keep good records of service visits and gas logs, so I know how many miles off my new odometer is to within about 2 miles (assuming rounding error with the trip odometers).

Earlier in the month I did have the check engine/hybrid warning light scenario, which cleared itself on its own in the parking lot of the dealer (~3mi. drive). Error P3191, which the dealer claims that a new 12v battery is needed and keeps insisting that I must've had to jumpstart the car sometime (I haven't - the little 12v has been good to me). Still waiting on that replacement 12v (backorder), and the dealer is also waiting for 3 more for cars that are on their lot...

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Smitty

· #8 · Jan 2, 2003

mrv said:
Smitty said:

Mine is going onto 10 months now. The only problems I have is the black top roof molding strip on "both" sides of the car are coming unglued just where it meets with the windshield.

I also have a real annoying rattle in my front dash somewhere around the touch screen. (seems to come and go with temp change)

Other then that, no big problems and I am happy as a kid on Christmas Day everytime I drive my car.

BTW, has anyone else noticed a funny odor when you open the trunk. I have nothing stored in mine, and I never have used it except for a few runs to the food store. (Wife does all the food shopping in her car) It smells like the new car smell with an added strong chemical type smell. Could this be the smell from the hybrid battery pack?

Click to expand...

I, too, had the rubber moulding coming unglued on the roof. Dealer replaced it no questions asked (when I mentioned it). I just had to wait a week or so for the parts to come in.

As for the rattle, if you trust your dealership enough, some have reported the same, and all that was needed was to tape down a connector wire that's behind the display that would occasionally make rattling noises...

As for your smell in the trunk - have you tried isolating if it's the spare tire (most common), or are you certain that it's coming from either the 12v battery (on the left) or the hybrid battery (shelf)? A few people have had issue with the smell from their spare tire, and getting a tire bag from a local tire shop seems to help them.

My only other dealer-replaced item so far (other than the roof molding) was my combination meter (the display where the spedometer/odometer/fuel gage/etc. live), as for some unknown reason around 5000 miles my main odometer stopped displaying (ODO didn't display anything, yet Trip A and B (which use the same display digits) were working fine...) anyhow, I keep good records of service visits and gas logs, so I know how many miles off my new odometer is to within about 2 miles (assuming rounding error with the trip odometers).

Earlier in the month I did have the check engine/hybrid warning light scenario, which cleared itself on its own in the parking lot of the dealer (~3mi. drive). Error P3191, which the dealer claims that a new 12v battery is needed and keeps insisting that I must've had to jumpstart the car sometime (I haven't - the little 12v has been good to me). Still waiting on that replacement 12v (backorder), and the dealer is also waiting for 3 more for cars that are on their lot...

The rattle is coming from the plastic gray molding housing the touch screen, radio, a/c controls etc. If I hold down on top of the dash sometimes it stops. Other times if I push on the front near the center airvent it stops. Also noticed it depends on the temp inside the car too. Noticed it does it more in the summer when Im running the AC. Im affraid to take it in because I dont want anyone tearing apart my car and not getting it back together right, and having further problems.

As for the smell in the trunk. I have been in the spare tire area. And that isnt it. I was thinking maybe someone in Japan while putting the car together may have left their lunch there. (Just Joking) But seriously, I really think its coming from the hybrid battery. Not the 12 volt. Guess I will have to take it in a see at the dealer.

The car is getting great mileage, even in the winter, about 4 mpg less then summer. I never use the defroster. I have found that when the windows fog up I just switch to fresh air rather then the re-circulate. Re-circulate makes the car still have that new car smell rather then sucking up those nasty fumes from the cars ahead of me. I have often accused my car of being a vacuum for the smelly cars in front of me, as I choke when I switch to fresh air. But fresh air takes the humidity from the windows so I dont have to use the defrost.

Love my car, hope it lasts longer then any I have ever owned....

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dbsuthe

· #9 · Jan 3, 2003

Problems? none.

My 2002 has 6500 mils on it in six months. I work from a home office, so I have NO commute. This means all but 500 miles were for the fun of driving it.

I've had no problems of any kind. I am looking into a replacement 12volt battrery from Exide technologies. The orbital has higher energy densities in a smaller package. You can look at them at
http://www.exide.com/products/automotiv ... l_XCD.html
I am looking into this as a proactive purchase.

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cabobrett

· #10 · Jan 4, 2003

Reliable enough to opperate 1200 from a dealer?

I live in Cabo San Lucas Mexico - a ling way from a dealer. Thoughts?

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RSnyder

· #11 · Jan 5, 2003

As with most modern highly computerized cars, you need access to specialized diagnostic tools to figure out what's gone wrong when something fails. The Prius is very reliable, but things can go wrong. What would your strategy be for another low production model? Say a late model high end Porche, or Ferrari? Try talking to owners of these kinds of cars.

Maybe you want to consider a used Prius? That way you get the benefit of the lower price to make up for not being able to conveniently (if at all) take advantage of the new car warranty.

Unless you really like the challenge, I would suggest getting something that local shops are familiar with. The high voltage stuff is a very small part of the whole car, and very reliable, but if any of it fails, it could be tough to find someone trained to deal with it safely.

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