Is Clarity a dangerous vehicle to own?

Apology accepted.

Cheers!

 

I have a Prius Prime Advanced that I've owned for 2 1/2 years and a Clarity Touring that I've owned for about 6 months. My brother is buying my Prime, and I've been driving it here and there getting it ready for him. There are many advantages to the Prime. The Prime Advanced has great features the Clarity lacks (like truly great all-around parking sensors including rear cross-traffic sensors, amazingly bright headlights and even a heated steering wheel, among others). The Prime also gets fantastic gas mileage in hybrid mode (around 57, I believe).

That said, there are many things I like better about the Clarity. For instance, the electric range of the Clarity means I almost never buy gas. But the best thing about the Clarity is that it has a VASTLY better ride. After driving the Clarity for a few months, the Prime feels somewhat like strapping a chair to an electric skateboard. You feel the road so much more. This is largely due to the fact that the Prius Prime tires are much smaller, the wheelbase is shorter and narrower and it is much lighter than the Clarity. I would not want to drive the Prime on a long trip. In fact, I don't want to drive it at all now (which is why I'm selling it to my brother).

If I was going to be in a wreck, I'm pretty sure I'd rather be in a bigger, heavier car like the Clarity (rather than the Prius Prime).

 

We test drove the Clarity, Prime, and Volt. Clarity drives like a class and a half above those cars. The other issue with prime was the boot space, you think a hatchback should make it more practical but with rear seats up the trunk is ridiculously shallow. Clarity is a nice road trip car, as long as it is not a mountain range. In long sustained upgrades it becomes kinda noisy.

Many drivers report loss of power in various cars. It is not limited to Clarity. Most cases are isolated incidents. On top of my head the last two that I recall were in Mazda 2.5 with cylinder deactivation and Hyundai/Kia DCT transmissions. If the numbers are out of norm NHTSA will investigate and manufacturer will recall the car.