TOYOTA PRIUS Hatchback 2009 on

As with virtually all Toyotas, the Prius is a sensible choice. It cannot be described as exciting or fun, but is rather a tool well fitted to its purpose - "it does exactly what it says on the tin."

The main selling point for this model is of course economy and whilst I have never seen consumption at the 'Official' level of 70mpg I regularly achieve 56mpg in mixed motoring and can get up to 65mpg on a motorway run which I regard as more than acceptable.There may be some economy special diesels which claim to exceed these figures but diesel comes at a premium and few are automatics.

Performance is perfectly adequate when driving in Eco mode and there is always the option of punching the power button for an instant surge.

The cabin layout is more jet fighter than family car but everything is sensibly laid out and I would actually find it hard to go back to conventional dials after a digital readout. The head up display I rather dismissed as a gimmick, but in reality it is a safety feature.

The interior is surprisingly spacious and the seats are comfortable although the ride is a little firm; certainly more so than our other Prius which is the previous model. This may be down to the choice of 17 inch wheels and 45 profile tyres - the optional 16 inch might be better.

Gripes? One irritating one, which is a result of the excellent aero, is that the lower panel of the rear window very quickly gets covered in water/mud in bad weather and there is nothing to clean it off. Surely it is not beyond the ability of Toyota's engineers to find a solution to this. The only other point of comment is the load capacity which is a little less than one might hope for in a family car. The area is fine, but the space is shallow although there is a useful space beneath the boot floor and the cover can be retracted for taller loads.

There have been no reliability issues, although there has been the infamous brake recall which was dealt with in an hour's visit to the dealer, who I must say is always excellent.

Would I buy another? Certainly, and with the plug-in version coming soon that will provide yet another reason to stick with Prius.

The Toyota Prius, from the start has been a pleasure to drive. The car has only been driven from new for the past three months so the cars reliability can only be judged over this short period. My ideal car would be a large diesel estate capable of towing a reasonable load yet still be good on fuel. Reality is, i opted for the technology of the Prius & will buy an old work horse later. Daily use of the car is mostly around town with 240 mile round trips 2 or 3 times a month motorway driving. The motorway trips at 70mph+ seem to return around 55mpg. Around town you can achieve good fuel consumption if you adapt your driving to suit. By that i mean allow the hybrid system to do its job & dont drag race between traffic lights. The satnav system is up to date, functional & gets you to your destination one way or another. Not as user friendly as a Garmin. Voice recognition is not so good. Have called the casino many a time when trying to phone home (maybe the accent). Adaptive cruise control - fantastic. A very relaxing way to drive. More soon ....

Let's start with the good points

I have been driving this car as a taxi for 12 months. It never breaks down. It's 2 years old now and it's got 85K on the clock. For this period it has done servicing only plus the regular stuff like break pads and new battery. The servicing costs are very , very LOW. Miner service at our local Toyota dealer costs £120 ( every 10 000 miles). We never missed a day's work - the car is working 2 shifts per day 10 hours each shift. The fuel economy varies from 55 to 62-64 mpg in town( as a taxi)

Now the not so good points

Comfortable it is NOT - far from it. It has a bumpy and indifferent drive. Feels very heavy around the corners in town - more like a van. It is noisy and vibrates a lot. The suspension is very stiff and the seats are bad. The boot is very small. On the motorway the car is noisy and the ride is bumpy. Generally the handling is very average.

In a nutshell - Reliable - 10 out of 10 , Economy 10 out of ten but not much else. I can never like this car and I have spend a fortune on a chiropractic to sort my stiff neck!

More impressions regarding Prius

Drove it for 14000 miles in 7 months

Fuel MPG calculator 2.5mpg optimistic( e.g your actual consumption might be less than 2.5mpg of what the Prius calculator shows)

Rear suspension..squeeking sounds,

The front seat, plastic trim keeps poping out

No USB port ( Toyota charging 285GBP for installing one)

45 litres tank would mean you bave to refuel more frequently

Sat nav issues..in terms of finding a post code or destination

Overall verdict:

The car is an excellent runner more for intercity driving , for motorway driving diesel could be a better option

Some quality issues, in addition to being pricey

An amazing car.....extremely econimical, very comfatable and a great drive. Jeremy Clarkson obviously does not know what he is talking about when he is so negative about the Prius.

A fantastic car in and out of town.

After doing a great research, I went for Prius T Spirit, Orion Blue( with off white dashboard exclusive to the blue colour)

Initial few days, I couldn’t make sense of the car in terms of driving capabilities. I drove on the electrical mode and was honked few times that put me off. I then read about how the car actually works, including HSI( Hybrid Synergy Indicator), Battery charging, effective regenerative braking etc. Since then, I have been loving the car much more.

Prius hybrid is built aerodynamically to keep the drag coefficient down; by all this I mean it should glide smoothly. It has got a fair bit of weight due to the hybrid battery, again serves a purpose, and improves cars inertia and momentum. Once you attain a reasonable speed, take your put off the paddle and gently press the paddle again for electrical motor to kick in .It does work!

In the town, drive what the speed limits are, such as 30..( permissible upto 33mph)..motorway up to 77mph, it gives 61-67 mpg. With proper use of the cruise control ( if equipped) you can tweak the speed/revs and overall cutting down the percentage of the petrol engine used.

Regarding the interior, it is of good quality but doesn’t compare with the German interior crafting. It has many gadgets to play around, and to make your journey enjoyable

no brainer. Dose what it says on the tin. ++++++++

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

not a bad car but abit noisy but as its a free comapny car i cant complain. but it is quite good for fuel will go from birmingham to penzance on 3/4 of a tank

the toyota has proved very satisfactory, its reliable and its spacious.

Its not very sporty, but very relaxing on a long journey.

Having only had sports cars in the past I was concerned that I'd find this car boring. On the contrary, I love to see how much petrol I'm saving with the on board display! It's totally changed the way I drive, I now drive more economically and safely. The Prius is so comfortable and the keyless entry and locking is so convenient I couldn't go back to having to rummage for my keys again!

Cons? I honestly can't think of any!