I've had the car for 2 years and 47,000 miles. Now nearly 95,000 miles in total. No problems what so ever, two recalls, one for the water pump and one for the steering. But no failures of any component.

Fuel economy averages 55-57 mpg per tank in winter to 60-65 mpg per tank in the Summer, I can only put the drop in winter mainly to the F rated winter tyres which do hurt economy. You must use B rated tyres such as Dunlop SP Sport Bluresponse which I have just ordered.

One of the reasons for using low rolling resistance tyres on the prius is because you can use tips such as pulse and glide and other tricks such as backing off the throttle and pushing it gently so that energy flows only from the battery, it can't drive the car but it keeps the momentum going and it works a treat going down a hill or even a slight descent at the right speed, it takes practice but it makes a big difference to economy, The pulse and glide works up to 40 mph where you back off the throttle and gently push until no energy flows at all and the engine is off, you are coasting and this can be done over surprising distances in the right condition along with using only energy from the battery, this is where you really need low rolling resistance tyres.

Pressing the EV button for town driving hurts economy and the battery power should be used at the right time on the open road such as described above, or for stopped at lights where sometimes the engine won't switch off.

Maybe the most frugal diesels might beat the Prius MK II by a few mpg, but they are a lot smaller and so not a fair comparison.

Having the heat on higher than you need will hurt economy in town as the engine will have to be on more often, also when pressing the A/C button on the steering wheel will turn on the AC compressor without it needing to be on and will hurt economy in town as it uses power directly from the battery, so you got to go into the climate settings and turn it off. I would rather have a button that turns on the heat only without the AC compressor.

I would say the Prius is comfortable enough, slightly bumpy at town speeds over bad roads, cars suspensions are usually tuned firmer for European roads, but I prefer a softer setup but it corners well. I wish cars had an option for a softer suspension for bad roads.

Only thing that annoys me in the MK II Prius is the lack of heated mirrors and the reverse beep beep that must have been a design fault and should have been outside maybe ?

It is noisy under hard acceleration but once up to speed it's quiet even on the motorway, the CVT is so smooth, and I love it. Power wise it could do with more but it climbs very steep hills amazingly well at slower speeds because the torque of the motor comes in at slower speeds and pulls like a train, where it tapers off at higher speeds.

Now when I get into a normal car especially a diesel the noise and vibration seem unbearable, I will not ever go back to a diesel again, especially with all the problems modern diesels are having such as dmf and dpf, both expensive repairs. My next car will without doubt be fully electric.

I've heard people talk about the dangers of silent e.v's but I have never had a single incident where I nearly hit a pedestrian and if there was a danger I can give a tiny blip of the horn, it seems crazy to me all the talk about making E.V's noisier when so many people walk around with headphones on and music blaring.

Anyway I highly recommend the Prius as a ultra reliable, economical and practical car.

And for all those people who review a car's MPG, why don't you understand that it's the tank mpg or life time mpg that matters and not what you get on the Motorway or in town, or trip, it's the two combined that matters, yet I don't think a lot of people understands that !