Goodbye Prius

[j2d]

Had my Gen 3 T Spirit since early 2010. It has had to go! Three times to the dealer to cure rattle from dash. The technician who tried to fix it worked hard and well making cures which did not last. Toyota totally disinterested. Their attitude is you are only the buyer you don't count for anything. Local dealer said, after I had repeated that I liked the Prius but not the rattle, that they would give me a very special deal against either a new Prius or the demo car that they have, 127 miles only. Checked trade- in values around the franchises locally. They all offered exactly the same trade in price. I have an aversion to total lack of interest from Toyota and to a dealer who lies through his teeth. Wife will keep her 2011 iQ until problems hit that car and it will be gone because I now realise that in spite of buying over £120,000. of Toyotas over the last few years I clearly am not a good customer who is worth keeping.

[Ancient Nerd]

Had my Gen 3 T Spirit since early 2010. It has had to go! Three times to the dealer to cure rattle from dash. The technician who tried to fix it worked hard and well making cures which did not last. Toyota totally disinterested. Their attitude is you are only the buyer you don't count for anything. Local dealer said, after I had repeated that I liked the Prius but not the rattle, that they would give me a very special deal against either a new Prius or the demo car that they have, 127 miles only. Checked trade- in values around the franchises locally. They all offered exactly the same trade in price. I have an aversion to total lack of interest from Toyota and to a dealer who lies through his teeth. Wife will keep her 2011 iQ until problems hit that car and it will be gone because I now realise that in spite of buying over £120,000. of Toyotas over the last few years I clearly am not a good customer who is worth keeping.

My sympathies. I've not had your problems with the car, but I agree with you completely about Toyota GB.

[stompe]

Hy Guys Ditto! about customer service

[flow]

Ditto about the rattles & customer service

The Prius is a good car but, in my opinion, let down by poor quality interior.

[stompe]

Ditto about the rattles & customer service

The Prius is a good car but, in my opinion, let down by poor quality interior.

That's what happens when accountants build cars now,flow, and its not things that would cost a lot of money. If they can do it with Lexus, shows they could do it with Toyota.

Funny how the Toyota has now slipped down the tables in JD power survey, now perhaps they will listen.

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/jd-power-survey-2011/the-results/257096

Stompe

[fossey]

Had my Gen 3 T Spirit since early 2010. It has had to go! Three times to the dealer to cure rattle from dash. The technician who tried to fix it worked hard and well making cures which did not last. Toyota totally disinterested. Their attitude is you are only the buyer you don't count for anything. Local dealer said, after I had repeated that I liked the Prius but not the rattle, that they would give me a very special deal against either a new Prius or the demo car that they have, 127 miles only. Checked trade- in values around the franchises locally. They all offered exactly the same trade in price. I have an aversion to total lack of interest from Toyota and to a dealer who lies through his teeth. Wife will keep her 2011 iQ until problems hit that car and it will be gone because I now realise that in spite of buying over £120,000. of Toyotas over the last few years I clearly am not a good customer who is worth keeping.

I agree with everyone regarding the rattles. Surely these must be global problems and one would think that Toyot has a solution by now. I enjoy driving the car etc but am so irritated by the rattles that I do not think that I would purchase a Toyota product in future.

[wass]

Hmm . I am showing my age. To me it is important that the car doesnt break down, doesnt quietly wear itself out until, at a predeturmined, cost engineered mileage,everything breaks at once, and doesnt go rotten. Thankfully, gone are the days when one used to listen to tappet rattle, big end rattle and camchain rattle. A few inner dashboard rattles go un-noticed mostly since I am normally concentrating on driving.

[afl1606]

Makes me glad I've got a Gen2! Although to be fair, 5th in the JD Power ratings isn't bad. Complaints about rattles seem to be common to most mainstream cars, and there's usually a lot more to complain about with other manufacturers...

I've not had much experience of Toyota GB yet, but my local Toyota dealer seems very good. I've had Hondas for years, and I've had no complaints about the cars, the dealers, or Honda UK. I'd hoped Toyota would be similar...

[j2d]

was s. I think that you have missed my main point. The car did no go because of the rattle but because of the attitude of Toyota UK and the lies told to me by the dealer. It was a shame, but I am the customer and if I am treated like that by both organisations I cease to be that customer. Simple, but clearly beyond the intelligence of the dealer and Toyota UK. I was planning on buying a CT200, sale lost! I usually buy at least one new car a year and Toyota and the dealer have already lost two sales. Great result for both of them for forgetting what service means.

[Chris Dance]

I have had no problems with the Toyota dealers and I have used 3 different ones.

I do not know if I am fortunate but my 2011 Gen 3 has no rattles on normal roads. I think it is unfortunate you have had such a bad experience j2d. You never mentioned what lies you were told.

[Jan&tone]

J2d, it must be your dealer... i've had a new Toyota every 3 years for the last 7 cars, now have 2 and no problems at all with my dealer, I always feel that I am a 'valued' customer and have no reason to complain.

As for the dash rattle, it stops when the car warms up and is not noticeable on smooth roads anyway, so I suspect it's the recycleable plastic that is prevalent in a lot of modern cars.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

My dealers are great too. Sure they have their moments but don't we all. But equally I think we get spoiled dealing with Toyota despite some of their 'issues'. Try dealing with a Citroen or Ford dealership and you'll soon understand why you're not presently a member of the Citroen Owners Club forum! :)

But I also hear what you're saying about Toyota and Lexus. It seems that quality on Toyota has been allowed to slip so as to make Lexus look better. I guess that's to make you want to buy a Lexus but it might also make you consider an alternative manufacturer instead.

[wass]

Yes, I did miss the point about the dealer, since I had assumed that you had already changed dealers. I actually did go down the road to look at a CT200 and didnt like the local dealer at all so I went away from Cambridge to Hatfield, Milton Keynes and Tunbridge . I found that all the dealers apart from Cambridge were very very good and I reported this to Toyota/Lexus group who were going to show their Cambridge branch my report praising other dealers and critising them.

I now have a CT200 and my wife has the old Prius. The CT200 is looked after by Hatfield Toyota whilst the prius is looked after by Letchworth Toyota. Problem with local dealer solved. I wasnt going to allow a problem with my local dealer disuade me from having the car I wanted.