Maintenance issues with 1st generation Prius?

paulccullen · 11-06-2007, 11:19 AM

A friend is looking at purchasing a used 1st generation Prius, and is asking me what maintenance/repair issues to expect.

Does anyone have any ideas? I tried searching here without much luck.

All I could think of was potential battery replacement. I'm thinking that many 1st gen Prii must be approaching that. Do we have any idea of the average battery life before replacement, and the replacement cost? (maybe 150K miles?)

Thanks!

Frank Hudon · 11-06-2007, 01:10 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(paulccullen @ Nov 6 2007, 08:19 AM) [snapback]535520[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

A friend is looking at purchasing a used 1st generation Prius, and is asking me what maintenance/repair issues to expect.

Does anyone have any ideas? I tried searching here without much luck.

All I could think of was potential battery replacement. I'm thinking that many 1st gen Prii must be approaching that. Do we have any idea of the average battery life before replacement, and the replacement cost? (maybe 150K miles?)

Thanks!
[/b]

just get the dealer to run the serial number and make sure that all the TSB and service bulletins are up to date. Steering box issue, HC absorber Cat sticking valve, and the HV battery sealing are up to date. The throttle sensor has been an issue but there is a member servicing them. Rusty rotors have also been an issue. Other than that just normal wear and tear issues, struts, tie rod ends, that sort of thing.

jk450 · 11-06-2007, 02:23 PM

How many miles on the car, and what year is it?

JimboK · 11-06-2007, 05:16 PM

No quantifiable data, but it seems I've seen more reports of transaxle failures than battery failures in the NHW11 (i.e., 2001-2003) Prius. The Prius Technical Stuff group on Yahoo has had some discussions on transaxle problems. You might check that out.

bwilson4web · 11-06-2007, 05:26 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(paulccullen @ Nov 6 2007, 10:19 AM) [snapback]535520[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

. . .
All I could think of was potential battery replacement. I'm thinking that many 1st gen Prii must be approaching that. Do we have any idea of the average battery life before replacement, and the replacement cost? (maybe 150K miles?)
[/b]

The battery replacements have been too sparse to draw any conclusions. Regardless, everyone else has hit the biggies.

Perhaps your friend might come here and ask their questions directly?

Bob Wilson

paulccullen · 11-06-2007, 06:06 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bwilson4web @ Nov 6 2007, 02:26 PM) [snapback]535761[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

Perhaps your friend might come here and ask their questions directly?[/b]

Thanks Bob et al, I'm emailing him a link to this thread with everyone's feedback...

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11-06-2007, 11:19 AM	#1
paulccullen Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 246 My Car: 2005 Prius Package: #5 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	A friend is looking at purchasing a used 1st generation Prius, and is asking me what maintenance/repair issues to expect. Does anyone have any ideas? I tried searching here without much luck. All I could think of was potential battery replacement. I'm thinking that many 1st gen Prii must be approaching that. Do we have any idea of the average battery life before replacement, and the replacement cost? (maybe 150K miles?) Thanks!

11-06-2007, 02:23 PM	#3
jk450 Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 105 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	How many miles on the car, and what year is it?

11-06-2007, 05:16 PM	#4
JimboK One owner, low mileage Join Date: May 2006 Location: Chesterfield, VA Posts: 1,762 My Car: 2005 Prius Package: #2 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 2	No quantifiable data, but it seems I've seen more reports of transaxle failures than battery failures in the NHW11 (i.e., 2001-2003) Prius. The Prius Technical Stuff group on Yahoo has had some discussions on transaxle problems. You might check that out.