Honest John satsfaction index 2018 - Prius no.1 for reliability

[FROSTYBALLS]

See - https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/honest-john-satisfaction-index-2018/top-10-most-reliable-cars/?image=0

[Catlover]

Thanks for that link, I saw some review of Honest Johns list yesterday but now can see whats behind the listing.

Certainly enjoying my purchase of a 2016 Prius Excel, such a joy to drive, but probably not found all the gadgets yet.

[BhxTrev]

Had my Gen4 Excel, which I replaced for my 7year old Gen3 T Spirit in 2016. Can't fault either car & never had a single problem with them whatsoever. What a excellent motor car.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Also includes the Avensis at no.4, the Lexus CT200h at no.6 and the Yaris at no.8.

[mpm235]

I like the Honest John website, intelligent content, without any Clarkson type nonsense.

Completely unsurprised Prius is number one.

[Chris Dance]

Good honest report. The Prius is an excellent car but the Gen 4 is the best one yet. Just a shame about the storage in glove box and under the boot.

[PeteB]

2 hours ago, Chris Dance said:

...the Gen 4 is the best one yet. Just a shame about the storage in glove box and under the boot.

Absolutely agree, except I'd add dangerous auto headlights that can't be overridden and bad rear headroom to the list - if I travelled in the back much I'd have had to delete the Gen 4 Prius from my short list - at only 5' 10" I'm amazed I can't sit in the back without cranking my head to one side!

But apart from that, the best car I've ever driven, never mind owned.  Here's a summary of my likes and dislikes: 

 

[Catlover]

11 hours ago, PeteB said:

Absolutely agree, except I'd add dangerous auto headlights that can't be overridden and bad rear headroom to the list - if I travelled in the back much I'd have had to delete the Gen 4 Prius from my short list - at only 5' 10" I'm amazed I can't sit in the back without cranking my head to one side!

But apart from that, the best car I've ever driven, never mind owned.  Here's a summary of my likes and dislikes: 

 

Hi Pete, I must have a completely different Gen4 to you (its a "standard" Excel - not plug-in).

I can turn the auto headlights off, in fact, to turn them on I push the light stalk backward (toward the dash) to activate them. I getting confidence in them as I use them now in darker nights.

And I am 6ft tall, and get sit in the back seats comfortably with clearance for my head, and I got short legs (28" inside) so from waist up must be quiet long, therefore I should be hitting the roof, but that's no the case.

Strange.

[PeteB]

43 minutes ago, Catlover said:

... (its a "standard" Excel - not plug-in).

I can turn the auto headlights off...

...sit in the back seats comfortably with clearance for my head...

Mine's a standard non-plug-in Excel too.

That's the auto dip beam - yes mine are turned off, as it's too much of a recipe for getting flashed by 9 out of 10 oncoming vehicles.  What I can't turn off is the Auto main light feature (except by manually turning on parking or head lights).  They come on randomly in bright conditions when passing under overhanging tress or shade from tall buildings (even though they're set to minimum sensitivity), particularly on a couple of roads I use frequently, and I've had three near misses so far when at the moment they come on people think I'm flashing them and start to move immediately.

I'm short leg/long body, plus rather well padded.  Local taxi firms seem to be moving away from the Prius because of the headroom - when I book a car I ask them not to send a latest generation Prius for this reason and apparently I'm not the only person to make this request.  A shame, because rear legroom is excellent, and it's very comfortable in every other respect.

[kithmo]

On 10/20/2018 at 9:26 AM, Catlover said:

Hi Pete, I must have a completely different Gen4 to you (its a "standard" Excel - not plug-in).

I can turn the auto headlights off, in fact, to turn them on I push the light stalk backward (toward the dash) to activate them. I getting confidence in them as I use them now in darker nights.

And I am 6ft tall, and get sit in the back seats comfortably with clearance for my head, and I got short legs (28" inside) so from waist up must be quiet long, therefore I should be hitting the roof, but that's no the case.

Strange.

+1, I'm 6' 1" , 29" inside leg and sitting bolt upright, bum right at the back of the seat, the only way I can get my head to touch the roof is by tilting my head backwards over the headrest.

I also hate the fact that I can't turn the lights off completely. I sat there on my drive updating the Nav for half an hour (in the dark) a couple of nights ago with the lights on (turned to parking position to get the headlights off), the neighbours must have wondered what I was doing.

[PeteB]

3 hours ago, kithmo said:

+1, I'm 6' 1" , 29" inside leg and sitting bolt upright, bum right at the back of the seat, the only way I can get my head to touch the roof is by tilting my head backwards over the headrest.

I also hate the fact that I can't turn the lights off completely. I sat there on my drive updating the Nav for half an hour (in the dark) a couple of nights ago with the lights on (turned to parking position to get the headlights off), the neighbours must have wondered what I was doing.

Mine's 27", bu I do have quite a long body it seems.  My salesman's about an inch taller than me and he sat in it just ok, but probably he weights about half as much as I do, so I don't think my extra padding helps.

That said, I've been in a number of cars where headroom was tight for me, even when I weighed half as much as I do now.

Strangely, no problem in an original Mk 1 Mini, nor an even smaller Fiat 126.  My first brand new car, in 1980, was a Mk 1 Ford Fiesta, and my head just touched the roof of that until about 15,000 miles when sagging seat padding gave me a bit more room.  On another tack, the whole car felt completely knackered when I sold it at 40k miles, whereas all the Prius I've driven felt barely run in at 60k!  A Gen 1 I sold at 9 years old and 163k felt almost factory fresh in every respect.  A Volvo V40 I bought in 1997 was a major problem with a sunroof, and it was quite a chore to get the high spec I wanted without one.  It actually cost £600 more without the sunroof than with!  The 2012 onward Yaris I find almost impossible to even get in the back, never mind sit in it.  Two Yaris I owned, with their sliding rear seats that got deleted from 2012 onward, were both fantastically room in the back (head and leg) if one didn't need a lot of boot space.

Auto lights: apart from my safety concerns when the lights come on in shade and  on the odd occasion or a second people think I'm giving way I, too, often park with the parking lights on because for one reason or another I need the system on and don't want to flatten the 12V Battery.

[QuantumFireball]

On 10/27/2018 at 11:05 AM, kithmo said:

I also hate the fact that I can't turn the lights off completely. I sat there on my drive updating the Nav for half an hour (in the dark) a couple of nights ago with the lights on (turned to parking position to get the headlights off), the neighbours must have wondered what I was doing.

I can't confirm with the Gen 4, but on mine if I start the car with the parking brake engaged, the DRLs don't come on until I start moving. Of course that means if you want to do this after driving, you need to restart the car.

[PeteB]

2 minutes ago, QuantumFireball said:

...the DRLs don't come on until I start moving...

which is sensible, but we're talking about the headlights, which if the car thinks it's dull/dark enough come on any time the ignition is on or the car is 'READY', whether you like it or not.  If the car switched the lights on, then the DRLs don't come on.  The only option (part from switching the car off again), is to switch to parking lights, but it's a royal PITA.  Plus, when entering shade, the headlights can come on suddenly, and the driver doesn't even know unless s/he sees the green warning light on the dash or hears the quiet click of the relay operating.