Toyota Prius Steering Shaft Recall

I received a letter dated "April 2013" from Toyota (GB) plc notifying me of the need to have my Toyota Prius (second generation model - 2006) inspected for a potential steering shaft problem.  Part of the letter is quoted below:

We contacted you recently to notify you of our intention to recall your Toyota to address a potential issue with the Steering Shaft.
We have now made the necessary arrangements with our Network and would like to invite you to contact your preferred Toyota Centre or Official Toyota Service Outlet to arrange to have your vehicle modified.
Through our continuous assessment and quality monitoring process, we have found there might be the possibility that a component within the steering shaft may prompt a knocking or rattling and possibly a reduction in steering response.
We wish to inspect your vehicle and perform a preventative modification. This modification will be done at our cost and with the minimum of inconvenience to you.  All you need to do is contact your local Toyota Centre / Official Toyota Service Outlet in order to arrange a suitable date and time for the work to be carried out.

Well, whilst there is no denying that it is an inconvenience to me, I am re-assured that Toyota are always monitoring for possible issues on their vehicles. I have to say, I have not noticed anything untoward with the steering. It will be intersting to see how the car feels and responds once the modification has been done. I have booked my car in to Struans Toyota in Dundee for the 3rd May 2013. I will post an update once done.

Just on an end noet, I have to say that I have had 100% reliability from my Prius. It has never let me down in any small way in over a year's ownership. In fact, I could say it is one of the most boring cars I have ever had; it never gives me 'surprises' or 'exciting episodes'. It just works and does its thing, day in, day out. Predictable. Just how I like it.

Prius Fuel Economy Update

Click on through to the Prius MPG review page to see the latest update. Little improvement with the weather being less cold in the last week. It certainly has been atypical to date. Spring might be here though. Currently averaging just over 53 mpg with the current tank but we have had a couple of longish extra urban runs.

Plural of Prius

A couple of days ago, I was asked by a buddy of mine (a bit of a car buff), what the plural of Prius was.  Hmm, said I, I didn't officially know. I would have said "Priuses", in its anglicised form. Why not Prii?, he asked. Well, I countered, take a common example, found all over the web - the online forum. We don't talk about two or more "fora" as it should be, given the Latin root word. Instead, we talk about "forums" - we've just anglicised the root word. So I thought Priuses would be the commonly accepted, official plural.  Apparently not.

I have since found out that Toyota held a 'plebiscite', if you like. Toyota asked what the public thought the plural of Prius should be and counted the votes. "Prii" came out tops and on the 20th February 2011 the mighty Toyota corporation announced that "Prii" was the official plural of Prius. Think I'll be sticking with Priuses. Sounds better and less pretentious.

MPG Review - New Data Added Today

Long overdue, I know, but I am adding new fuel economy data today to the Prius MPG page. I think that the combination of colder weather (remember cold air is denser and increases the pull of aerodynamic drag on the car) and mostly short (less 10 minute) urban trips is driving down the mpg figure.  See for yourself by clicking through to the page.

Car Manufacturers May Be Publishing False MPG Figures

I heard an interesting article on today's editipon of You And Yours on BBC Radio 4 - listen to the programme on this link http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r5s1r. The programme asked:

... does your car give the fuel economy it was advertised with? No? Well it may not be your driving. New research is blaming the manufacturers.

This may account for why many Toyota Prius owners are disappointed with the actual fuel economy they experience. According to the researcher interviewed on the programme, many manufacturers, especially in Europe, can 'tune' the car that is being tested for the official mpg figure.  I was amazed to hear that they can blank off grills, remove wing mirrors, fit slick tyres, inflate tyres to high pressure as well as other 'tricks' like 'remove' the brakes by lifting off the calipers so that there is no friction contact between disc pads and brake discs. Apparently, the divergence between official mpg figures and actual mpg figurs has been increasing over the years - from about 7% in 2001 to 23% of late. Time to apply some consumer pressure, is it not?

Posts on priusforum.com

It has come to my attention that someone with the avatar name of "G_W" has been copying and pasting entries from this blog onto this forum - www.priusforum.com. Whilst I have no objection to my material and content being used on the web, I would appreciate being asked. The manner in which this has been done makes it look like I have spammed this site with content from my blog entries. I do not condone such behaviour. I just want to make it clear that these entries are nothing to do with me or this blog. Thank you.

New update to come soon

Been very busy over the winter period but have a batch of latest fuel figures that I will stick up on the blog soon.  Thanks.