Faults:

The right front passenger window made a strange sound when it was cracked about an inch... it seemed to have a hard time going up and down smoothly..

I called within the week of picking up my brand new car, and the next day (Toyota said to bring it in on Monday) Saturday... My family was going down the road at approx 35mph.. and the front right passenger window shattered into a million pieces all over me, and cut my daughter in the back seat under the eye..

Toyota had the car over a month to replace the window and repaint scratches from the shattered glass... they advised it could have been a twist in the mechanical regulator??? Anyway.. the window rattled and the Toyota mechanics said.. this is just the product..

We sold the car during a hot streak and only lost $3000... we were desperate to get rid of it...

The car is okay for a single person, but when you fill it up with 3 people.. the mpg goes to about 41...why pay all that money for an economy size car that will require very expensive maintenance?

The tires wear out fast.. they are the size of a tricycle... Also the car gets very hot from all the glass.

The heater/air conditioning was very hard to get adjusted.. when neither is on.. the car sends a lot of heat from the engine..

Faults:

Discovered crack in base of rear window wiper. Looked like someone tried to cover/fill it with black goo.

The LRR tires don't provide very good traction on wet roads, so be careful and drive slow. No sudden moves or sharp/fast curves.

The gas tank has a bladder that expands and contracts depending on environmental temp. You can never be sure how much gas is in your tank, and the guage is not calibrated. The first 1/4 goes forever, but once you drop below 1/2, it really starts dropping. When you get to 2 blocks, fill up. When it starts blinking, get thee to the station now.

General Comments:

Agile and decent acceleration. Good vision and very comfortable interior. The transitioning between ICE and electric takes some getting use to and the feeling that the car has stalled when you stop (and it goes "off") is uncomfortable at first. But the car is is fantastic - appearance is stylish and simple. The interior design is rather luxurious, also simple, and designed to minimize eyes-off-the-road. It's bigger than it looks, and with the side and curtain airbags, I feel safe, despite it's outwardly small size. They thought of everything, right down to the standard traction control and tire pressure monitor. You get constant feedback through the visuals and how the car "feels." It really is a modern marvel. Just finished my second tank of gas and have averaged 49.6 mpg in town. It improves in heavy traffic or combined fast freeway driving with congested in-town roads. Max has been 51.4 mpg.

The faults noted are insignificant in my mind. It's a FANTASTIC car.

Faults:

First of all, this was a rental car, I rented mostly out of curiosity since I'd never driven a hybrid vehicle before.

The only imperfection I could see was a hairline crack on the front bumper moulding. Unacceptable for such a new car, but I can't imagine it's treated well, being a rental.

General Comments:

I have to really commend Toyota for thinking outside the box on this one. The car looks and drives truly futuristic. It has a real funky interior and exterior, plus a cool dash display that has different modes showing climate control buttons, a car navigation system, a diagram showing whether the car is using gas, electricity or both, etc.

During the time I had it, I noticed that generally the gas engine was used during hard acceleration, up hills or starting out when cold. However, the electric engine often helped out and was almost always used exclusively during cruising/coasting type driving, especially at lower speeds (ie around town).

The car had decent acceleration (supplied by the gas engine) on demand, considering it was only a modest 1.5 L. It was comfortable and amazingly spacious. There was, however, a bit of a blind spot when shoulder checking due to the car's high back end.

Perhaps the best thing about this car, and the car's main selling point was the fuel economy. Over 180 km (city, highway combo), I used a mere 6.5 L - a phenomenal 3.6 L/100 km!! Of course there's likely some inaccuracy when filling up after using so little fuel.

I realize a first impression is hardly a review for long-term minded owners. The longevity of all the electronic gadgetry in this car is largely unknown, although if I were to trust one car company over others it would probably be Toyota.

In all, I recommend renting a car before buying. What a great way to see if you like a certain car or not, without having all the long term financial commitments of buying it.