I was poking around CR online today, and noticed that the table that shows reliability by problem area now has a little triangle in the corner of some squares where reliability is average or below. Clicking it gives futher information. The 2004 Prius is average in electric, audio, and the cooling system. Drilling down discloses battery, video screen, and water pump as the offenders. Too bad CR does not differentiate 12V from the traction battery, but that is a nit to pick regarding hybrids. Very nice improvement, CR.
Odd. I've had no other problem with my 2004 Prius than a broken cruise-control stalk, which was fixed under warranty. I did replace the 12-v. battery at the 4 or 5-year mark, which in my experience is normal with 12-v. car batteries. I've never had one last longer than that in any car.
Not odd. Average failure rate is just that, and expected from the 12v. Second, if a component fails say in 10% of cars, but the average is a 5% failure rate, a black mark is going to show up even though 90% of owners will be trouble free in that regard. I know +/- 67% from average results in 'much better' or 'much worse' marks, unless the rate is below a CR set threshold of I think 2% prevalence, but do not quote me on that number.
