If you want to know how reliable a car model is, go ask a taxi driver who uses it to cover greater distances in much harsher conditions than the average private passenger car.
And if you’re curious about how the Toyota Prius fares as a taxi, Vienna-based Manfred Dvorak is probably the best man to ask.
The cab driver claims to have covered 1 million kilometers (621,371 miles) with his second-generation Toyota Prius taxi (which apparently is now used as a roadside assistance vehicle now).
That’s an impressive milestone for any car, hybrid or not. Remarkably, the driver says his Prius taxi never broke down and still uses the original battery pack.
Dvorak’s story is featured in a series of videos uploaded on Toyota Austria’s YouTube channel. While there may be some exaggerations in the videos (namely when the cab driver talks about how fun to drive the Prius really is), they are definitely worth watching.
Story references: Toyota Austria via Green Car Reports