To buy or Not (2001,180,000 miles)

PRE-SALES

Pay to have the car taken to a Toyota dealer and have them:

• vehicle inspection - tires, plugs, lubricants, shocks, e.t.c.
• traction battery health - there are 19 module pairs, ask for the voltage read out of all 19 modules. If the maximum difference is 0.3 or higher between the lowest and highest, 'caution'.
• 12 V battery - many are reaching their end of life.

EXPECTATIONS

• drive 65 mph or slower and you'll get excellent life and mileage
• climb hills at 55 mph if possible and use "B" on the downgrades to moderate speed and avoid heat-pumping battery
• 'heat is the enemy' so park in shade at every opportunity

MAJOR RISKS

• traction battery - replacement costs run $1,700 (Re-InVolt and your labor) to $3,000 (Toyota parts and their labor.) Daily use and avoiding heat and the original traction battery life varies. The longest known is 355,000 miles before an accident killed the car. I helped replace a traction battery in Alabama at 250,000 miles. My impression is there were a rash of early battery replacements, mostly under warranty. Since then, it is more rare but we have better options.
• transaxle - there have been a dozen or so transaxle failures which can be handled by replacement from salvage. Changing the transaxle oil is recommended with a pan wipe-down.
• inverter - there have been a number of inverter failures and some data suggests changing the coolant every 3-4 years protects the inverter as well as the inverter coolant motor.

EARLY MAINTENANCE

• transaxle oil - often neglected, have the pan dropped and wiped clean. Plan to replace every 3 years.
• inverter coolant - also neglected, plan to replace every 3 years.
• tires - look forward to replacement so you can put low-rolling resistance tires on. Four-wheel alignment can improve handling and improve tire life of the replacement tires.

OPINION

A used car replaces warranty and car payments with a risk of major repairs. It looks like major repairs run about $3,000 so that should be a reserve kept to handle them. If you can 'turn a wrench,' it can be a little less. However, no used car, gas or hybrid, will be risk free and it is important to have alternate transportation for when the car is down for repair. You don't want your paycheck dependent upon a single, used car.

I would recommend also looking at any 2004-09 used car, NHW20 model. They have an improved traction battery (what Re-InVolt sells) and better performance at higher speeds and all electric air conditioner. The 2004-05 model has a weak solder joint in the display but it seems to be rare and can be repaired if you know someone skilled with a soldering iron.

GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson

 

Kelley Bluebook says a 2001 in good condition is worth $4290 in the BayArea. (fair condition $3465) So price is not a problem. If the car looks beat-up then pass on it. If they put 20,000 miles of freeway driving on it each year then it might be a good buy. If that was all city miles or they didn't change the oil for the last 50,000 miles then you have a problem. You need $2000 in the bank to cover repair costs or a credit card with that kind of limit.


Good Luck

 

MAJOR RISKS (continued)

• electric steering gear (when the steering wheel starts to twitch, that is a warning that the steering gear will need replacement soon)
• catalytic converter which has a unique design including a hydrocarbon absorption chamber upstream, hence it's not easy to obtain an aftermarket replacement
• front struts and rear shocks are fairly costly to replace
• multifunction display

 

Unless you can repair the car yourself, I would stay away from it. With that kind of mileage and age, you can easily spend so much on repairs, you could have bought a Gen II with much lower mileage and few problems. Prius repairs can be very expensive.

 

I'm not sure about the multifunction display, a problem more often reported in the early NHW20. However, we also forgot:

• accelerator encoder problem - sometimes called the "big hand problem," the accelerator wipers can get dirty and cause the car to go into 'limp home' mode. A new accelerator is ~$500 although Doug figured out how to refurbish them and I do it for ~$150.

Bob Wilson

 

Nb7975, can you obtain the service history on this example with its VIN, from a Toyota shop? There may be something important to be learned from that.

You might consider getting the inspection done at Luscious in SF or Art's in Oakland. Both are fine indie shops, although I don't know whether they can do the VIN service history search.