I can echo everything that
perk1329 said: I have a 2018 PHEV that has been trouble free and I have about the same miles that he does (not a lot of miles).
I have been a fan of Toyota quality since I purchased my first used Toyota about 35 years ago. It was 12 years old when I purchased it (in the New England rust belt) and I was amazed that (unlike the two Chevys I'd owned previously, which were both 2 years younger than the Toyota when I purchased them) it didn't rattle or collect dust inside when driving over dirt roads, that most of the bolts that held the car together had been treated with something that fought corrosion and they could be easily removed, unlike bolts on Chevys and Fords back in those days and that it had a few very subtle but appreciated features, like a lighted ignition switch that made it easier to insert the key in the switch in the dark. Each of those two old Chevys cost $200 when I purchased them (at 10 years and 90+k old), and they lasted a year. I paid $600 for the Toyota back in 1985 and I kept it for something like six years, and then I sold it to someone else for $200 who drove it for another year. He destroyed it by backing up with the driver's door open, and the door collided with a tree and totaled it. The Toyota was by far the better investment, at least, back in those days.
Since those days, I've encouraged a lot of family and friends to get Toyotas and I've had at least two additional Toyotas of my own. I don't think any of the people who followed my advice regretted it, and most have thanked me for it. Similarly, I haven't had any regrets about the Toyotas that I've owned subsequently.
As an aside, I have also had a fair amount of experience with Hondas, and I consider them to be of comparable exemplary high quality with Toyotas and I don't think any other manufacturer today can outdo either Toyota or Honda on all around quality across all their models.
But lately I've soured on Toyota, for three reasons:
- 35 years ago, my first Toyota was cheap. Since that time, the world has come to recognize Toyota quality, and now you have to pay for it. In this respect, I kind of think that Kia is today where Toyota was maybe 20 years ago: you can get a discount on Kia because they haven't yet earned the Toyota standard for quality, but they're close in quality, lagging in recognition.
- Toyota had that problem several years ago with sudden acceleration and a lot of people suing them claiming that it was the car's fault, not the driver's. Um, I have first hand experience with someone who had a sudden acceleration problem in a BMW where it was pretty clearly her problem, not the car's, so I know this issue can swing both ways. But there was a lot of stuff that came to light about Toyota's software back when that was a hot topic that suggested that at least in some cases, it might be a Toyota software problem. I recently read that Toyota is still settling some number of those allegations to this day, even with much more recent model cars, albeit much more quietly.
- I live in a part of the USA where air quality is horrible, and I was really PO'd with Toyota for opting to side against California on Federal Air Quality regulations. In all fairness, I have to recognize that Kia did the same, but I wasn't holding Kia to the same standard, and I note that Honda took an opposite approach, siding with California on the issue. So from an environmental perspective, I'm PO'd at Toyota, neutral for now on Kia, and applauding Honda.
So far, my 2018 Kia Niro PHEV strikes me as a very good quality car. I'd be happy to put my mother or wife or step daughter behind the wheel.
I should also point out that Toyota's history with the Prius has not been trouble free: I recall reading something about several Prius model years having a problem with burning oil, I think it was due to crud building up on the valve guides, but maybe I'm mistaken.
Where I've noticed problems with the Niro from following this forum is primarily in these areas:
- Several people have had a problem with "hybrid system failure" that was eventually attributed to a blown fuse in the high voltage circuit. My impression is that 2017 HEVs were primarily affected by this and later models not so much.
- There are a handful of people now (all in Canada I think?) who are having problems with 2019's that seem like transmission problems, or maybe they are software problems. There are enough people complaining about it to take it seriously, especially if you are a potential 2019 buyer in Canada.
- Almost everyone who has had a problem that required dealer intervention has been astonished by how long it took the dealer to fix the problem. It would take the dealer's technicians days or weeks to diagnose the problem and then it would take days or weeks for the part (sometimes it was just a fuse) to be delivered from Korea. This points out that Kia has taken an approach with their dealer's support staff that seems to be along the lines of "we'll provide you with computer diagnostic systems that will diagnose every fault, so we don't need to train your technician in any respect aside from being aware of the high voltage hazards when servicing the car". Maybe Toyota is taking same approach today, not sure. But one of my best friends used to be a Toyota mechanic and 20 years ago, they were sending him to Toyota school for a couple of weeks almost every year.
One thing you should check out when doing your research is the
NHTSA web site.If you click on "Vehicle" tab, you can see that 2019 Toyota Prius has 33 "Manufacturer Communications" and 4 "Complaints". The 2019 Kia Niro has 25 "Manufacturer Communications" and 7 "Complaints". You'll need to review them all to reach a conclusion about whether any of them have sufficient veracity to affect your decision. Incidentally, the 2018 Kia Niro HEV has 48/16 but the 2018 PHEV has 15/1. Maybe that just reflects a smaller population of owners, or maybe the 2018 PHEV was the sweetspot for the Kia Niro. In my experience, my 2018 PHEV has been pretty sweet.
Hope this info helps you to make a decision.
