Is a Prius right for me?

welcome. people come here with problems. that's why you're here. that's just a fact of car sites, who ya gonna call? important thing is prius reliability. those numbers are available.
the only thing i can tell you is, my neighbor has my '04 with 130,000 miles. he doesn't drive it much, and the car has never had anything but tyres and a 12 volt battery. and it has been parked outside since 2008.

if you want someone to tell you the prius is carp, try a gm site.

 

Hi John and welcome to PriusChat.

Here are my answer to your questions, and I'll preface all my answers by saying ultimately it depends on you buying a good example with a known service history, i. e. you find no hidden surprises post sale. But having read your background info you sound capable and competent, so I'm reasonably confident you can spot a good vehicle from a lemon.

I do believe it is reasonable to expect to be able to get a further 10 years out of a 2007-2009 Prius as long as it was properly maintain and continues to be properly maintained.

I think you are pretty up to speed on potential problems. One thing also to check is the rear axle springs, they can crack, so check those out. Be cautious about buying a Prius with too low a milage for the age of the vehicle. Prii like to be driven, so look for no less than 8-10k mi per year.

Let me say, as an owner of a still young (72,000 mi) 2006 Prius, that I have not had to do anything other that routine maintenance. It is good to make the assumption the HV could die in the next 100k mi so budget for replacing. You have the skills to do this cheaply if you so wish, or also the option of easy if that is more attractive. I maybe up for bearings, as I can hear some noise, but I'm more that happy with my current lifetime tank average (50.2 MPG US), and also my last 10 tanks average (~52 MPG US), so do not see this as being needed anytime soon.

This one I cannot really comment on, I have never been in limp home mode, so only on what I have read. I''d say no to limping home from 600 mi out. My impression is that it is really limp to a safe spot on the side of the road. There are warnings, yes. Yes you can see thing that interpreted correctly shows imminent problems. No, you don't need to carry a spare battery. For many reasons. If you get caught out many miles from home, and you have budgeted for HV replacement, just go to the nearest Toyota service centre and have it done. If you are totally prepared, you could even work out which dealer, ahead of time, you could go to on your journey.

I am a closet Prius evangelist, I will not bore anyone by talking excessively about the Prius, but will answer any and all question and give my opinion to anyone that asks. LOL Having said that I'd never say forget it, so sorry for prolonging the agony. Again, just get a good example and not a lemon.

If you felt inclined, purchase Mini VCI (Amazon, eBay) and you can interrogate all the EMU's and monitor the battery for added peace of mind, but other than that, if you exercise all prudent car buying protocols (carfax, dealer maint. hist., visual inspection, test drive, etc) you shouldn't go wrong.

There is a thread going here where it discusses what to look for in Techstream as far as the HV battery is concerned. Search that out and have a read.

That is pretty much my $0.02, happy hunting and buying.

All the best.

 

That sounds a bit fishy to me...

 

I don't think time is a factor any more than any other vehicle on the road with exception of the traction battery perhaps, and even then to find a used hybrid battery is really not that big of a deal imo. I do know that battery failure around my area where temperatures are much more moderate than Georgia are very rare. I'm going to create a thread about this some time, but at our local dealership that services a population of over a hundred thousand people including many many pri taxis there have only been two battery failures. I'm assuming that is under one tenth of one per cent failure rate. I had a lot of concerns like yourself as to purchasing a Prius and all I can tell you is I've been extremely happy with my decision. I use my car for deliveries and rack up to fifty thousand km's a year. Since purchasing my car nearly two years ago used I've nearly paid it off already in gas savings. Mind you, our gas up here was over $1.40 a liter, probably around $6.00 a gallon, and I got the car pretty cheep at an auction. The prius has one of the, if not the highest customer satisfaction rating out there. You'd really have to take one for a test drive and see if you like it. The first time I sat in my car I knew right away that I was going to be happy with it. There's nothing like coasting along in electric 'mode' hearing nothing but a little tire noise and the wind! Anyways I took the jump and have had great success with it. Whatever your decision I hope you find a good car....

 

Since you have owned many older cars, you know that any mechanical device has a lifespan which will extend as long as the owner is willing to pump money and effort into the device, without regard to its market value. However once you consider the old vehicle's market value, then more extensive repairs may no longer make sense. With older English cars, structural rust and vehicle electrics (although the electrics content is quite simple) are additional issues which may limit ultimate useful life.

I owned a 1987 Jaguar VandenPlas in the distant past, that car needed the cylinder head rebuilt at 70K miles, rust around the rear window needed to be repaired and the car repainted after 5 years, and portions of the electric system were relatively unreliable - for example the power window switches needed frequent replacement.

With regard to the Prius which has an extremely high and complex electronics content, one limiting factor would be unreliable wiring harness connections - for example, suppose the car had been flooded. Barring that as an issue, and considering the cheap availability of used parts [due to ~900K 2G units sold in US and very low failure rates] as well as your DIY skills, you should easily be able to keep the Prius running for an additional 10 years without much effort or cost.

I currently have logged 187K miles on my 2004 and have not had any failures of significant components such as the traction battery, inverter, transaxle, engine, any ECUs etc. If you are prepared to replace the traction battery then the chances are you won't need to do so. Hub replacement is a minor issue and I have not needed to perform that service.

The front brake pads have been replaced once, the engine coolant pump was replaced, the inverter coolant pump was replaced twice (once as a preventive measure, the second time because the pump actually failed), and the 12V battery also was replaced twice. The front struts were replaced once while the rear shocks were replaced twice. I've posted on all of the repair work that I've done to the 2004, in the 2G Care/Maintenance/Troubleshooting forum. All factory recalls were performed.

No, if the traction battery actually has a failed module then you should not count on driving 600 miles. If you disconnect the 12V battery momentarily to clear the fault codes from the ECUs, you may be able to drive a short distance.

There will be no warning of impending failure. One day the Prius is just fine, the next the instrument panel will look like a Christmas tree.

You will want Mini VCI to provide you the same diagnostic power as available to Toyota dealer techs.

Holding a spare traction battery for use sometime in the indefinite future isn't a great concept due to its weight, bulkiness, and the need to periodically charge the battery.

You have asked excellent questions. You had earlier mentioned that you only expect to log 5K miles per year on the Prius. That is rather low and you should invest either in a battery tender or battery charger suitable for AGM batteries, to keep the 12V battery fully-charged. A replacement battery will cost ~$200 and with such low usage you will need to replace the battery every 3-4 years unless you take some proactive measures to keep the battery in charged condition.

Depending upon your driving patterns you may not see much benefit from the Prius ability to produce 50+ mpg. For example suppose you drive 2-3 miles on one trip. That is not enough time for the Prius catalytic converter to warm up. Hence the gasoline engine will be on most of the time to heat up the cc and obviously your fuel economy will suffer.

The Prius is best for use as a daily driver which logs lots of miles. It would be much better for your gasoline bill if you set aside the Jeep Cherokee which logs 17 mpg for occasional use, rather than having that vehicle continuing to accumulate miles as the daily driver.

If you have doubt about your ability to assess a used vehicle, check its service records on toyota.com and have your local Toyota dealer service dept inspect the car. Buy a used Prius that hasn't been abused by its prior owners from lack of maintenance, and you should enjoy a long and happy ownership experience.

 

not all gen II's have nav. it depends on the package, and the packages change from year to year. for example, my '08 pack2 had no navigation.

 

You're right, Bisco...my Gen II also has no Nav. But I think John means the MFD, not the Nav function specifically.

 

John,
I have owned 3 Prius and 4 Toyota Hybrids. I know of no more reliable vehicle for many reasons
1) mechanical brakes are hardly used
2) engine is babied and doesn't run all the time
3) transaxle is simple with one gear set
4) elex are extremely reliable
5) impossible to hot rod
and the list can go on. My 2001 battery outlasted the car, my 2005 is going strong after 160,000+ miles, my 06 ran like a top when I traded her in for the Camry. At 5K a year, the biggest danger you have is the 12V battery dying from lack of use. If you use it consistently, you won't have this problem. I'm betting that once you get the Prius, that Jeep will not see much use. Just sayin'!!!!

 

I was thinking the same thing.

 

It happens to all of us doesn't it.

 

Unless you get over a foot of snow on a reg basis, and should I add where they don't plow or are inconsistent with plowing, and / or you must off road, I must agree with above statements, jeep will be collecting dust sooner than later.

The prius is pretty darn good (great with snow tires) in the snow, really only limited by clearance... Gen 3 better than gen 2 due to less intrusion with traction control.

Prius has plenty of room for passengers, and cargo, I think it's comfortable and a great all around car.

Oh and 50+ mpg is pretty cool also...

 

My wife was skeptical too but 7 years later its her car. She loves it. Jump in and go. Hauls anything (have tow hitch no more pickups in my house) super super reliable (me & maintenance and impeccable 12 volt battery thats the key) and fun to drive around town.

She could care less about hypermiling so she drives it like any other car and gets a solid 42 mpg's over the last 5 years.

Its so easy to own.

 

John, This is just one person's experience but I think it is oft repeated.

Our 2008 Prius has 140K miles on it. We have not had a single failure with it outside of normal maintenance. Not so much as a loose screw. We replaced the 12V battery at 6 years. Other than that it's just oil, lube, and tires. We're still on the original brake pads.

We find the Prius comfortable, with good interior space and reasonable cargo space. I like the instrumentation except for Toyota's insistence on pushing the gauges toward the center of the dash instead of straight in front of the driver (I'll never understand this). Of course it gets stellar gas mileage. Our driving is mostly around town where we get from 43-47 mpg. Long trips on the highway achieve higher mileage, often over 50 mpg.

We like the Prius so much there is little chance we would buy anything else at this point. In fact I was ready to take advantage of the Black Friday weekend deals and purchase a 2014 model but I didn't due to the flying buttress center console. I truly hope that is designed out in the 2016 model due to be introduced at the end of 2015.

We've averaged about 20K miles per year. The Toyota 4Runner sits covered in the driveway for periods as long as three weeks at a time. We only put about 4K miles a year on the 4Runner. Our annual mileage is going up due to our son's school being a 52 mile daily commute so by the end of 2015 we expect to have about 170K miles on the 2008.

 

John, if you were looking for a new car there would alternatives, not better, but alternatives all the same. Since you are looking for a 5+ year old vehicle with high mpg and reliability it has to be a Prius.

Also your married. Don't know if you've got kids, but the Prius with its four doors and big hatch is a great hauler. I can fit things in my Prius easier than my wife's SUV.

 

I don't know, but I'm gonna speculate that the design reason has something to do with standardizing the build for right- and left-hand drive models.

 

It's possible but based on this photo of a 2008 left-hand drive version I don't think so. They would have to have a completely different dashboard. The instruments might be re-usable though, but that would be true in any case.

 

Sounds like you really want the Prius, but you're trying to turn it into a rational decision. If you like the car you should get it. Even if you're just intrigued (like I was), you should get it. You'll have more good conversations about owning a Prius than you ever will about an Accord or Camry.

I also don't agree that the Accord or Camry are "safe" options. Have you heard about the Accord transmission problems? How about engine sludge in Camrys? They're both crap and the junkyards won't take them after 10 years