Has ANYONE at all had a positive experience with their gen 1 prius?

Totally off topic but I had lunch in Pristina yesterday.


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It is the capital of the Republic of Kosovo. I thought maybee you were from Kosovo/Pristina?


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Oh I am not here for pleasure, I have one hell of a travel agent, it is Uncle Sam. I am stationed here in Kosovo as a member of KFOR, NATO's Kosovo Force. I live in Hawaii but am from Vero Beach, FL before that. If you get on SR 60 in Tampa you will end up in VB if you keep driving across the state.


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I have a 2002 prius, It has proven to be a great car.

In the last 10 years i replaced the brake shoes only (not rotors)at 140,000 miles and have replaced all four wheel bearings since I bought the car new . NO OTHER REPAIRS NEEDED.

The car now has 273,000 miles AND GOING STRONG.

TOM

 

A friend of mine has a 2002 Prius with about 150,000 miles on it. Recently it came up with the dreaded red triangle of death. He assumed the worst (bad battery). The dealer plugged in a scantool and the diagnosis was... a bad gas cap. Cost of the diagnosis + gas cap was $150.

My recommendation when a Gen1 gets a triangle of death with no other problems is to replace the gas cap first. If that doesn't solve it, then get a diagnosis. A new gas cap every 150,000 miles doesn't seem too expensive...

 

Why is it nobody can make a decent gas cap any more?

-Chap

 

Yeah practically. Sorry for getting your thread so off topic. I am glad the last couple of posters brought it back on point.


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I'll check with him. I doubt that he'd ask for that data, but maybe the work order has it.

 

I had forgotten we rented a Prius in 2001 but chose to buy with an Echo:

• MPG was in the mid and low 40s - my wife at one point was driving in "B" instead of "D" due to the shifter being so new to her.
• "Green" - I spent four years in the Marine Corps and even today do not like that color.
• Navigation unit - I did not like or want it but this was the only Prius they had.
• No cruise control - I drive on cruise control, a must have option.
• $22,000 - too much and no negotiation.

So our first, rented NHW11 was not a good experience and we went with a silver, $14,250, 2001 Echo. We sold that Echo in 2009 for $3,000 to help buy my wife's 2010 Prius . . . and never looked back.

In contrast, our first Prius was bought used, a 2003 model:

• MPG - started at 39 MPG for first highway segment, Fort Worth to Shreveport, but exceeded 52 MPG on two segments on that 800 mile to pickup the Prius. I repeated the 39 MPG segment test and verified the 'knee in the curve.'
• "Black" - works as it hides dirt and minor damage very nicely.
• No navigation unit.
• Cruise control.
• $17,300 with 49,000 miles - still had the remaining 6/60 and 8/100 mile warranties.

I commuted to work in the 2003 Prius but used my wife's 2010 Prius yesterday when I knew there were special trips that its larger cargo and better cold weather performance helps. I'm not bragging but having both a 1.5L and 1.8L Prius gives us a lot of flexibility to choose the one that matches our trip requirements.

Bob Wilson

 

I choose to upgrade at 133,000 miles if I remember correctly. That was nearly three years ago and there were no symptoms. It was my choice to upgrade because I thought the price, $1,700, was right for a significantly better battery pack. Some folks like to buy expensive tires and wheels for the cars, I prefer:

• four-wheel alignment
• better lubricants, tested after use
• better traction and aux battery (Odyssey PC930)

I had often recommended ReInVolt but felt a bit of a hypocrite. Now I have one including operational experience and a head-to-head comparison. There was nothing wrong with my original traction battery but I live in a hot climate, North Alabama, and wanted to minimize the risks in the future.

Bob Wilson

 

Late thought but a previous owner decided on another NHW11 that a moon roof would be a good addition. So that owner spent extra money to have one installed accepting there would be future maintenance challenges with the seals.

In contrast, I fitted Ford 'rain guards' that are passive, downward facing covers so I can crack my windows. I enhanced them with a bead of silicon sealant. My goal was to minimize the 'heat bubble' yet avoid rain infusion on our sunny Alabama days.

My other roof speculation is to add an array of solar cells but this is part of a larger experiment that provides 'topping charge' for my parked car. The idea being to start each trip at 75-80% to minimize engine warm-up overhead. But this is typical of my engineering approach: get the mostest with the leastest.

Bob Wilson

 

nah.