Having spent over three months with a third-generation Toyota Prius, it was time to hand it back, however before doing so I thought, what better way to get a conclusion than to attend the Prius Club of QLD meeting (yes, Prius owners have a club).
The Toyota Prius is as much a car as it is a symbol of the ages, its environmental credentials may always be under extreme scrutiny but the fact of the matter is, it’s by and large a brilliant car. It’s so much more than just a hybrid car to save the planet, its a showcase of the latest in technological innovations Toyota has to offer.
Given the number of electric cars joining the market, the Prius may indeed be an interim car, but so is every other car currently on the market. The technology is changing so rapidly that manufacturers have to pick and stick to one system to make it viable. Toyota arguably kick started the environmentally friendly vehicle crusade and it has picked the electric+petrol combination for its entire lineup.
One way to look at the Toyota Prius is to view it as the S-Class of Toyota. It comes feature packed with pretty much every single bit of technology the Big T has to offer at a reasonable price. If you haven’t done so already, read all the reviews on the Toyota Prius.
After three months and almost 5,000km of driving, any previous dislike that I had for the Prius is long gone. To put it simply it’s a package that comes together nicely. It does exactly as its told, it never misbehaves, it gets the job done and it does so whilst using a very reasonable amount of fuel. Plus, if there are Prius clubs popping around it certainly means there is some emotion attached to the car as well.
The Prius Club of QLD meets monthly in a local library, and no they don’t sit around discussing who had the better fuel economy or who saved more trees this month (I have been asked that far too many times). In fact you may be surprised that the majority of owners didn’t list the car’s fuel efficiency benefits as the main reason for their purchase.
Rated highly on the list of why they bought a Prius included: Comfort, solid feel, technological innovations, reliability, green-image and of course Toyota loyalty and eventually fuel economy.
It’s hard to argue with them on any of those points, the Prius is all those things and more. I was however curious as to why it was picked over other eco-friendly vehicles. When quizzed about swapping to diesel powered cars, many still had preconceived ideas about ‘dirty, smelly, noisy diesels’. It goes to show how much work diesel cars still have to do to gain acceptance.
What about electric cars? Of course, who wouldn’t want a full-electric Toyota Prius. Toyota is set to release a Plug-in hybrid version of the car later this year and that will no doubt pave the way for an eventual full-electric Prius in the future. As I said before, the current Prius is an interim car, so is the upcoming plug-in Prius and so forth until the technology hits a point which it no longer evolves as rapidly. This is still decades away.
If you’re in the market for a Toyota Prius don’t worry about waiting and waiting for newer generations, but perhaps a little consideration should be paid to the car’s resale value. Given the type of car it is and how quickly technology evolves, the Prius does not necessarily hold its value all that well. This is similar to the Mercedes-Benz S-Class or BMW 7 Series, both of which suffer from the same issue. However if you want the latest in car technology, you have to pay the early-adopters fee.
High on the list of “what would like to see in the next-generation Prius” current owners wrote:
- plug-in capability (coming)
- rear air-vents
- More noise – Too quite at low speeds in car parks, no one can hear you coming (interesting problem)
- Beeping – When reversing the Prius beeps on the inside, the driver knows they are reversing! Why not beep on the outside?
- New wheels – The car’s wheels can really do with an upgrade (17-inch alloys now available)
- A proper spare-wheel and not just tools to band-aid a puncture.
- Smart entry not to unlock all doors at once (possibly able to be set through the car’s ECU)
- Improve handling (bigger wheels will help eleviate this issue)
- Native iPod/iPhone support
- Improve Sat-Nav with ability to read out street names (should be simple)
- Voice activation (should be simple)
- Front camera (simple)
Many have argued strongly against the Toyota Prius on the basis of “you won’t get your money back on the fuel savings“, the Ford Fiesta Econetic which has recently taken the title of the most fuel efficient vehicle in Australia consistently has a go at the Prius.
I admire Ford for their efforts and I do think the Fiesta Econetic is a marvelous car, nonetheless no potential Prius owner is considering the Fiesta. From what I’ve gathered, a Prius owner spends considerable amounts of time researching their vehicle and makes an informed decision based on desire for the latest in car technology and a soft-spot for the environment.
Three months ago I wouldn’t have been sitting here writing an article in defence of the Toyota Prius, but times have changed. The Prius is quite possibly the most misunderstood vehicle on the market today, forget the fuel efficiency and green credentials for a minute and focus on the fact that it can drive itself, park itself and get you from A->B in comfort. Isn’t that what matters the most?
See your Toyota Dealer to have that annoying reverse beeping turned off, they simply plug in a electronic diagnostic tool and change it in the vehicle settings.
As a Prius owner, you hit the nail on the head. I bought my Prius for it’s space, comfort, relaxing nature and smoothness. After driving an Econetic, Punto Deisel etc it’s far more relaxing and comfortable to drive. People misunderstand the Prius and the reasons people buy them greatly..
There isn’t much to misunderstand. Economy goes out the window on the highway as the petrol engine struggles to move the mass. The car is grossly overpriced and when you take into account the energy used to produce those batteries and then the issue of disposal, this isn’t the green car toyota want you to believe.
It’s a yuppy’s toy .
What about the ability to tow? If you have a trailer/boat/caravan/etc you have to own another vehicle.
Also a VW Golf can drive itself, park itself and has a reasonable tow level – all at a lot less cost. And they are fairly green as well.
Each to his own.
Buy a golf to tow?
What a joke…
Daan,
I have a Golf 2.0 TDI DSG and it tows the hell out of my JetSki trailer and my motorbike trailer. Just point it at a hill with 600kg or so on the back and it wants to rip the draw-bar off the trailer.
Pound for pound it might just be the best small towing package out there.
Don’t be so quick to dismiss it.
Josh.
Or there is the Mazda 3 Turbo diesel with even more torque than the golf… ;-)
You mean the one with no auto transmission available?
That is the one Reckless. All I can say is just as well because you don’t really want to tow heavy things with an automatic… ;-)
If you need to tow every day then obviously the Prius is not the right car. I did consider this before buying but I realised I was being stupid – with my old car I towed a trailer maybe four times a year just to take stuff to the tip or pick something up. With the Prius I am saving at least $40 a week in petrol costs over the old car – my local servo rents utes for about $50 for a few hours – so I can rent a ute every second week and still be in front on the cost- with my normal usage I am WAY in front.
Sorry Mate you still have a Terrible car that really is just a body mover and nothing else.
I really do think if people want something economic just buy a Diesel they do more Km/l.
Buy a Diesel Smart if you want a people mover. Europe is all going the Diesel way for something and if you want to follow an example Europe is the place to follow in terms of Cars/Driving.
Your comment demonstrates Alborz’ point to a tee regarding the misconceptions about this car. Hybrids are something the car industry could and should have done years ago, and their is no reason that this sort of technology shouldn’t be in pretty much every car in production. It’s a no brainer to me.
No Philthy, its over-priced, over-rated, over-hyped and unfortunatly over-here. If you want economy buy a fairly priced Fiesta and make real savings.
They make cars with brakes and a throttle which actually work and they don’t activly try and deceive their customers like Toyota do.
Besides as soon as plug-in technology comes no-one will want this intermediate technology step and the term rampant depreciation will be completly re-defined.
Have you ever driven a Prius or even a Fiesta? Both of them are in my garage so I know how different they are to each other. You also should realise there is no such thing as a honest corporate. Everyone lies through their teeth, not just Toyota. If you compare who’s more honest than the other, you’re a naive 15yo boy.
See my post at 3.38 p.m. above today. If you think Toyota are at least as honest as the other manufacturers, I suggest its you that’s naive.
Toyota are facing an absolute barrage of legal actions including numerous class actions, no there’s nothing wrong with our brakes and throttles YEAH RIGHT !!
I know who needs to get a reality check! get real! Toyota would be as honest if not more than the best of them, they all make mistakes and they all have recalls!
full electric is not cheap
hybrid would remain as the middle ground for some time to come
Yaris & Jazz Hybrid are the segment & price competitor against Diesel Fiesta
(if you are looking for a small, medium, large, or SUV you probably wouldn’t buy a compact in a hurry)
YOU HAVE TO JOKING RIGHT! There is not one ounce of technology in a fiesta and how much are they? ford has to be dreaming with the fiesta, the prius is far superior in every way even if it was 4 times as much!
(click to show comment)
Isn’t this made by Toyota ????????????????
Me confused
@ Philthy, I agree with you 100%
@ Reality check, I think You need a reality check, plug in technology IS here, but at a price simply too high for consumers (iMIEV, tesla). Hybrids like any technology are getting cheaper with time and will just get more common. A Fiesta is NOT that great, it’s manual, lacks many standard features of a Prius ( it has manual rear windows?) and it offers MUCH less cabin space. Not to mention it’s slower and less powerful than a Prius
Fiesta is said to have six speed DSG auto out soon, in the meantime it does come in a normal four speed auto. The six speed DSG will be quicker than a Pious, and at about half the money it makes the Toy Otter look severly over-priced.
Plug-in is too expensive to be a reality in an economic sense at this stage.
Do you have to tick the options box on a Pious for brakes and a throttle that actually work or are these currently unavailable items LOL.
There are no performance stats even released yet on the Fiesta Econetic Dual-Clutch gearbox, considering the manual does a 0-100 in 12.3 sec and a prius does it in 9.8, that gearbox better be bloody brilliant! (if what you say is correct.
& F.Y.I a a Prius base model costs $40k, a Fiesta Econetic costs $25k, thats pretty far off costing “half the money”.
The “Toy-Otter” is a much larger car, comparing it with a Fiesta is plain stupid, like comparing a Focus Sedan with a Falcon.
Toy-Otter? That’s a new one.. and a rather lame one.
It is. A standard Fiesta is less than half a Prius and BTW I never said they were the same size, rather I am referring to the fuel economy, but if you really want fuel economy, as you are no doubt aware the Fiesta Econetic trumps your Prius, as do other small diesel vehicles.
On another issue, Good luck with your re-sale value, as soon as the plug-in version comes along, which isn’t that far away, who’s going to want the old model, your one ? and with the brand value being diminished almost daily due to Toyota’s quality control issues, I’m sure that won’t help either.
There are so many people who contiually say “out soon”. The Prius is here NOW and many other manufacturers continually boast Prius beating fuel consumption in the future. But instead of always thinking long term, how about do something now, like Toyota have.
BTW Fiesta still doesnt have rear power windows or alloy wheels.WTF?
It’s Manual! So What!
Anyone who does not know how to Drive a Manual shouldn’t Drive at all!
But if you do Drive an Auto Learn how to Left-braking on the tight curves.
Overpriced, not a great deal of better economy, no smother than any other car and a complete stop gap for the long term future of transport. Toyota would be best putting its money in hydrogen fuel cell technology and not the false economy of battery technology. Top gear has already proven this to be true when you take into account the transport of nickel for the batteries, the transport of batteries to the factory then the production of the car. If memory serves me correctly in the uk it would be better for the enviroment to drive a locally manufactured land rover than an imported prius ( taking into account transport oil for the large scale import for raw materials ). Top gear also raced a prius against a B.M.W M3 around a race track at the same speed to test real world economy figures guess what the prius lost to a 4.0 litre v8 economy is more about how you drive and total weight, not about hybrid.
so what happens if something goes wrong with the various hybrid electronics and batteries down the track, how much will it cost to fix?
an arm and a leg i would think!
It may have lots of tricky toys in it that make it nice to drive around, but I would never consider buying one because of the reputation that Prius drivers have – I don’t want people to assume that about me. Similar to why I would never play bongo drums lol
gman, racing cars around a track to test real world economy is a pretty stupid test.
Reality check, the prius is not over rated or over hyped, just read all the reviews. BTW have you actually driven one? I have and can say that they are a good car.
Also, there havent been any throttle issues with the prius in australia and the brake issue was to do with feel not with actual stopping distance, so check your facts next time. Ford also had many problems with falcons and territories regarding brake issues and also refusing a recall so they are just as bad.
Without hybrids, plug in technology would never come around, and at least toyota is doing something NOW, and not like others who are always promising new technology. How about they act NOW??
The race was capped at 60 k/ph to test to test driving under suburban road conditions to prove fuel comsumption has more to do with how you drive, than the car. Maybe you should take your foot of the loud pedal and learn how to drive a vechicle to obtain best results after all the prius is not all that light and it takes a certain amount of energy to shift a certain amount ot weight ( law of physics ) desite the size of the motor and weather it is hybrid or not. Secondly I never mentioned anything about toyotas fall from grace in the us ( allthough It could happen here as the problems have not been fixed in the us look up the facts toyota have been recieving calls after the recall in all models affected ). And what does another company have to do with toyotas stuff ups are you suggesting that toyota is no more reliable than a Humble Australian ford falcon or territory. You need to read the post rather than make a fool of your self remember better to be thought the fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Falcon have direct injection LPG coming out in July, new four cyliner eco-boost engine and their inline six will be Euro 4 compliant from 1 July.
No I havn’t driven a Pious, why the f would I when I drive an F6 ?
Like I said I prefer real cars with real performance, but I also like giving Toyota a good kicking simply because I believe they deserve it, all their mis-information and concealment of qulaity control problems, people put them on a pedestal for their perceived quality, oh please…they’re no better than any other and the “myth” of Toyota quality is exactly that.
Its good that Ford are trying to do their part as well but they were also playing catch up with their falcon when the aurion came out and maybe they always will be.
Im not saying the prius is everyones cup of tea either but you just cant bag the crap out of it cos you dont like it. I also drive a much more powerful car but driving a mates prius i can say it is a good car and it doesnt deserve so much crap, especially from people who have never driven it.
And does driving a f6 mean you cant even try other cars? cars that are helping lead to the future?
And im pretty sure toyota doesnt deserve so much crap since they are the world’s most popular car maker. i agree they have had their fair share of recalls but look at all the surveys, they are constantly at the top. Owners of cars dont usually lie
I tried to post a couple of links showing what deception Toyota have perpetrated upon us but the moderator didn’t like it.
Toyota’s numerous recalls and legal problems are a matter of public record and both my links were to well respected news sites including CNN. Go figure…..
Who cares about Hybrid tech it\’s simply stupid.
Hydrogen is they way not Electric, we don’t have the tech to have electric motor cars and they are always too Dangerous.
Just imagine a malfunction on an electric motor receiving energy and refusing to stop, what will you do unless there is a emergency power off button?
Hydrogen powered engines will not only use our actual engine Technology but will help it improve even more. The best part is it’s pollution free so that the greens can even be happier.
Only problem with Hydrogen is to actually produce it is actually requires energy it self.
I don’t understand why Hydrogen isn’t being used I guess Governments are too lazy and more keen on not wasting money on Hydrogen production centers, because it’s $$$Time Wasting$$$.
Do people realize the Electric magnetic fields that Electric engines produce and how harmful it is for the Human body? It’s the cause of our major Cancer’s! But people are so stupid that they prefer to save the Earth than themselves.
If everyone would stop and think for themselves and not let the governments think for them, thing’s would change for the better for us not for the Government$$$$.
Electric cars are dangerous but hyndrogen powered cars would be safe??? ROFL!!
There are so many problems with hydrogen that I can’t list them all. For starters:
1. Highly explosive (have you never heard of the Hindenberg?) – despite what you see in movies petrol is actually extremely hard to ignite and therefore fires after car accidents are very rare even when the tank is ruptured. Not the case with hydrogen which ignites very easily.
2. Hydrogen is hard to store and transport as it is very bulky in gas form and has to be kept extremely cold to get it into liquid form.
3. Because of 2. it is very hard to carry enough hydrogen in a vehicle to give a decent range.
4. The main commercial way of producing hydrogen uses huge amounts of electricity – I don’t have the figures handy but to replace petrol with hydrogen you would need a huge increase in electricity generation capacity – which of course in most cases is produced by burning fossil fuels.
Of course the funniest part of your comment is that almost all research for hydrogen powered cars is based on fuel-cell technology. In simple terms the hydrogen is used to generate electricity which is then used to power an electric motor to drive the car! So a hydrogen powered car is really just an electric car that uses hydrogen as the power source instead of a normal battery.
Its a neccessity that it has to drive itself. As toyota’s brand tragics are flumoxed by roundabouts and think merge is a type of cheese.
Prius owners club…….teheehee.
Meet in a library…….BAHAHAHAHAHA.
Seriously. $40K+ for a small car that moves like a slug and looks like a wedge.
Plug in technology sounds great,but we’ve just gone through a big increase in elecricity prices and more are on the way to help upgrade the grid. What happens to the Elec prices and the power stations when millions of cars plug in.
It might actually be cheaper to fill up with petrol by then.
Anyone notice this:
“…..a Prius owner spends considerable amounts of time researching their vehicle and makes an informed decision……”
When earlier in the article it was pointed out that a number of actual owners (from the club) believe diesel powered vehicles to be “……..dirty, smelly, noisy”
It’s almost a perfect oxymoron……..
Regards
Whitbomb07
A couple of decades ago VW produced a prototype of a superb car. It was based on the Polo and was battery powered with a 250cc petrol engine. The car normally ran on battery with the engine cutting in to increase speed on open roads and to charge the battery if the charge became low. It was obviously many years before its time and for some reason VW dropped the concept and no one else has ever picked it up although it would appear to be an ideal solution to battery cars.
Thanks Alborz, for your time and unbiased comments about the car and our Club.
We currently meet in a Library only on a short-term basis. Our original meeting venue was in a Toyota Dealer’s showroom, and that will resume again in the near future when a new building is finished there.
From a long-term owner’s point of view, the ABS brake software update was really a non-issue, and no Australian Toyotas (including Prius) are affected in any way by abnormal throttle issues.
If any Prius owners would like more information about the Prius Club of Qld, please visit our website at http://www.priusclubqld.org You will be very welcome.
Cheers,
John
Prius Club of Qld Inc.
John
What is your personal take on Diesel engine vehicles?
Regards
Whitbomb07
My personal opinion on Diesel engine vehicles is that it really is a personal choice for the driver’s needs.
New-generation common-rail Diesels are very efficient and much more user-friendly than older designs. However, although they develop great torque (as does an electric motor), they still cannot get their emissions down to a good level without extensive exhaust filtering, and are more expensive to buy and service than an equivalent petrol model. Good, small, turbo-diesels are certainly viable for some passenger cars, and obviously diesel is the only way to go for heavy transport.
Now that the oil companies have reduced pricing for diesel fuel, it compares favourably in price against premium grade petrol as well….also making it more competitive.
I have always thought that a small turbo-diesel would team perfectly with the Hybrid system as it thrives on torque, if the engine shut-down/start-up system at vehicle stop can be perfected to suit.
Regards,
John.
“It drives itself” …. Good, no one else would.
I find it really funny that all the people who bag the Prius have never driven one (or not for more than a few minutes). Take some time to actually read the review before sprouting off and you will see that the reviewer had preconceptions about the car at first but after driving it for a while he discovered that those preconceptions were false and that it is a great car. Of course it is not suitable for everyone (no car is) but if you mainly use your car for commuting to and from work, working, ferrying kids around town, etc, then it is an extremely good car for the job, exceptionally comfortable and easy to live with and extremely economical. If you want to drive like a hoon or tow a boat then get something else but don’t bag the car just because it can’t do those things (lots of cars won’t tow safely). And please stop comparing the Prius to the Fiesta and saying you should buy a Fiesta because it is cheaper – they are in two completely different categories – it is like comparing a BMW 1 series with a Kia Rio and stating that the Kia is better because it is cheaper.
The Prius is a different driving experience to a standard car and it does take a day or two to get used to it so a quick test drive is not always enough to fully judge a car (hence why they do extended tests).
Finally regarding depreciation – take advantage of it and buy a 2 year old model (thats what I did) – for under 20K I have a car that takes the whole family in comfort and does well over 1000km on a 45 litre tank of petrol so who cares if petrol hits $2, $3 or even $5/litre (and that is where it is heading quite soon if the global economy really recovers).
Just curious… is that 1000km on a tank around town, or driving Melbourne to Sydney? From what I’ve heard the open road figures aren’t that special.
My wifes 10 year old Vectra 2.2 gets almost 1000km out of a (60l) tank on the open road, averaging 6.1l/100km. It also has a 500 litre boot, and plenty of space inside. Finally it’s fun to drive and still looks the biz.
My real-world figures on a 2006 model Prius are 4.1 L/100km around town on regular unleaded or 3.9L/100km on premium (I originally used regular but switched to premium about 6 months ago – the extra economy doesn’t quite offset the higher price but it ends up only costing me a little bit more but i have been told it is better for the fuel system and engine). On a long highway trip it goes up to around 4.4 L/100km if you sit on 110 all the way but comes down a bit if you are in 100 km/hour zones. Note that when I say “around town” we live on the Sunshine Coast so have very little traffic so the town figure is a mixture of 40-60 km/h suburban driving and 80-100km/h short bursts on the motorway and major roads. I recently did several hundred kilometers in true town traffic in Brisbane and saw even lower figures.
Tank capacity is 45 litres so that gives a range of around 1000km on the highway and just over 1100km in the city (I have done 1140km on a tank and the only time I have ever filled up with less than 1000km on the clock was because I was doing a big trip the next morning).
The Prius definitely gives the best results around town but it is no slouch out on the highway either (there aren’t too many cars that can return 4.5L/100km on the open road). If I was ONLY doing highway driving I would probably go for a diesel option but like most people I do a fair bit of suburban driving so am very happy with my choice.
I almost choked when I saw the comment about an Aurion and a Falcon. An Aurion may have more power than a base Falcon, but is still down on torque and is FWD not RWD. An Aurion also has non switchable traction/ESP, and has the typical boring as bat crap Toyota handling dynamics. On that point, just how well does a Prius handle a driver’s road ?? I doubt that a Prius owner would go for such a drive on a road with challenging bends, switchbacks and sweeping curves. Why exactly do Pious owners want a front camera for crying out loud? Quite frankly I consider most Toyota driver’s gormless, and not particularly interested in driving. Toyota’s are whitegoods on wheels, bought by ‘consumers’ that get sucked in by slick marketing and really have no clue about vehicle dynamics, let alone what kind of engine is under the bonnet or how it does its job. Corolla has not been ‘best in class’ by ANY measure for quite some time yet is still a best seller, same goes for the pitiful Yaris. Similar to many Holden buyers, who have bought and continue to buy Craptiva’s and Cruze’s because they have Holden badges on them, like the Barina series from Korea (Daewoo)that was an absolute discraceful replacement for the European sourced model that was superior to it. Badge snobbery, stupidity (ignorant consumers), and slick marketing. Toyota, Holden kings of such.
my sister in law is considering buying a second hand one, but i have seen a few people on the net complaining about the electric steering failing, and because the car is out of warrenty they are being charge upwards of 10k for new steering systems, has CA or anyone reading this heard of the issue?
We have numerous Members in the Prius Club with high mileage models, all of which have had no problems, and I know of many (and increasing numbers of) Prius taxi owners who have had virtually no problems at all with their cars. Taxi owners do not want unreliable, expensive to repair cars. I have not heard of any instances of steering problems since buying my first Prius in 2005.
There are documented instances of Prius taxis both in Australia and overseas that have done in excess of 300-400,000 km without ANY major problems. Like any car, check for a proper service history before buying. Regarding servicing, the Prius actually costs no more to service than a Corolla, and Toyota provides an 8 year (from first registration) warranty on the HV battery…..of which there have been only 3 recorded replacements since the Prius was introduced to Australia in 2001 (another common myth refuted).
Cheers,
John Prius Club of Qld.
“From what I’ve gathered, a Prius owner spends considerable amounts of time researching their vehicle and makes an informed decision based on desire for the latest in car technology and a soft-spot for the environment.”
“When quizzed about swapping to diesel powered cars, many still had preconceived ideas about ‘dirty, smelly, noisy diesels’. It goes to show how much work diesel cars still have to do to gain acceptance.”
These two paragraphs contradict one another. The first says Prius owners are very intelligent, the second says they are the complete opposite.
I’m inclined to think the second interpretation is the correct one.
They are smarter that’s why they have a Prius?!
Anyone who buy’s a car with the least intelligence will read reviews compare km/l, test drive.
So I came to a conclusion that the Focus XR5 is better than the Mazda 3 MPS or the Honda Civic Type R, that’s why I Bought the Focus.
So am I stupid for buying the Focus XR5 and not the Prius? Does it make Me dumb am I not intelligent now?
Wake up and Smell the Carcass!
It is all relative – diesels are much quieter than they used to be but they are still much noisier than a Prius! Also I find the fuel pumps tend to be messy and smelly (particularly if it is one used by trucks frequently) and at least at our local servos you almost always have to queue up for the diesel pump as they only have one compared to 8 petrol pumps. Finally although the modern small diesels come close to Prius economy (yes officially the Ford is better but that is only on the test results – on real world around town economy the Prius is better) they are still much dirtier in terms of tail-pipe pollutants.
I have just read all the comments, very interesting. I hired a car from sydney airport a couple of days ago for 2 days and ended up with the toyota prius. Didnt have a clue what I was driving other than it was a toyota but what a nice drive after I got used to its idosyncrasies. Have owned a toyota hilux dual cab 1994 model for 16 years. Yes when diesel changed toyota contacted us and did the fuel parts change over free of charge and even organised us a loan car. At that stage the hilux was over 10yrs old. Have you ever had a car recall before I was impressed at how it was handled and how helpful toyota were. Lets also say in the 16 years I have owned the hilux it has only had to have general services and the odd battery replaced. Not a bad record. I bought a brand new Jeep Commander in 2006 and did we love it with all its bells and whistles. Well we treated it same as hilux 4wheel driving, towing, lots of milaege per year first 3 months it had been back to the dealership 6 times for things that didnt work and by 200000km tailshalf fell out. I paid $70000 for the damn car and after sales service was lousy. Great fuel economy, 520torque mercedes motor felt like a race car to drive really good handling. Nice car but maybe not long term buy. I also own a PT cruiser and have had a holden commodore. At the end of the day the toyota has by far been the better car and had the best after sales service against all the others. I really enjoyed driving the Prius when from the airport across harbour bridge to north shore then out to Westmead in lousy peak hour traffic then next back to airport. The car was so good am going to look into buying one, we didnt use barely any fuel. the sounds were good, aircon was great, visiblity was good and handling was good, easy to merge into traffic even on motorways. And yes the car is ugly but you know what when your sitting in it watching it not use any fuel it really doesnt seem to matter.