2002 Toyota Prius 4 door from North America - Comments

Gas tank broke

Six tires needed replaced despite rotation

Windshield housing broke off

gaskets needed replacement

transmission broke.

Price of transmission repair $8400 after only a little over 75,000 miles. No repair covered under warranty. Primarily highway mpg ~ 40, but takes plus gas, so not much cheaper to run than a Corolla.

Wow, your previous car was a Toyota Honda Passport. I think my brother used to have a Nissan Mitsubishi Eclipse.

I am shopping for a small car with the best possible fuel economy, and considered the Prius and Insight. However, when I "ran the numbers", I came to the conclusion that the Hybrid autos are not a very good economic choice in the US, at least as long as gas doesn't get too much more expensive. The Prius and Insight both cost over $20K, compared to only $11K for an Echo or $13K for a base model Civic. And the hybrid's fuel economy is only slightly better than that Echo/Civic. Bottom line is that the "break even" point, in terms of cost of purchase and cost of ownership doesn't happen until almost 500,000 miles (assuming gasoline of $2.00/gallon). Two other considerations: The proprietary battery pack in the Prius and Insight has a replacement cost of at least $3000, and the hybrid powertrain components, like the planetary gear box in the Prius, are much more expensive than in a "regular" car due to their very low production numbers. Second: as stated above, the fuel savings in the Prius don't pay back the high purchase price until almost a half-million miles, and how likely is it that a Prius can actually last that long without incuring major repair costs? In Europe, where gasoline is much more expensive than in North America, maybe hybrid autos are a better value. As long as the Echo stays priced at around $11K, there's just no way you can beat it for value, at least compared to an Insight or Prius at more than $20K. I just wish the Echo would offer factory cruise control.

To the above poster comparing the Prius to an Echo, yes, the Echo/Yaris/Vitz is cheaper. However, it's also a smaller car with less interior room. To make the comparison fairer it would have to be between a Corolla and Prius (and don't forget to add electronic goodies to the Corolla like ABS, etc).

Hybrid cars are very unlikely to ever recover their cost in reduced petrol consumption. Owners can feel happy about owning a medium sized car (OK, small car in the USA) that uses less of a finite largely imported resource.

Hi, you say you use plus gas. It specifically specifies regular, 87 octane gasoline. Maybe this had something to do with your drive-train related problem.

You have to be seriously lacking in mechanical knowledge to think top grade gas could cause a transmission problem.

It wouldn't even cause an engine problem.

You never harm an engine by using higher-octane gas than required.

It is possible to damage some engines in older cars by using a lower-grade gas than specified.

This would cause knocking, (or "pinging" in US-speak)

commonly called "pinking" in the UK or simply "detonation".

Most modern cars automatically retard the ignition to cope with use of too-low a grade of fuel.

To the June 9th post:

I think it's totally fair to compare the Prius to a small economy vehicle when price and gas savings are your primary concern. The Echo was a great vehicle with lots of interior and storage space. I've heard Prius owners complain about the lack of trunk space.

I ran numbers comparing a base Echo to a Prius and even allowed for gas prices to increase $0.01/L per month and a tax rebate for the Prius. It took 20 years for the costs to even out for the two vehicles and I highly doubt the electronic/technical marvel of the Prius would last 10 years let alone 20. A base Echo with minimal electronics? 15 years minimum.

I don't disagree with your comment, but I just wanted to point out that from a purely economical standpoint the Echo or other small car is the better choice than a hybrid.