Concede Defeat - 2002 Prius

The reason I said it is that I sold a car years ago that seemed to be at the end of it's life. Found out later on it was a minor fix. The guy drove the car for a long time after that, and I basically gave it away. If you don't check it out, you won't know what is wrong. At least take it by AutoZone or some place like that and ask them to pull the code's for you. If they don't find a code, then ask Toyota to pull the codes for you and tell you what is wrong. Then you can make the decision.

Good luck to you once again. And don't give up, keep looking up. The best is yet to come. And yes, there are many Pri's out there with more than 200K on them. Some taxi's are at 400K, but that is another story...

Ron

 

Synthetic oil is much better than regular oil. costs a little more, but far better protection. great deal is the 10w-30 full synthetic from walmart called supertech.

 

get someone to put some anti sieze lubricant on that valve before the catylitic converter. that thing gets stuck after a while and that causes the cat to go bad sooner. watch what they do, its very easy to do yourself.

 

Thats what we are here for. its got plenty of life left in it.

 

Wow, my family must be really lucky with cars. My 06 Civic has had no unscheduled maintenance visits for its 167k mile life. My 98 Corolla had three, fixed for some $700 total, now at 220k. Sister's 05 Prius at 105k mile, clean record. 03 Civic, also clean record. 03 WRX had a single incident for a blown gasket cracked engine block at 144k, sold instead of repairing for $3k. Only bad apple we have is the 06 Corolla we spent $2500 twice to repair a leaking AC condenser.

Point is, none of our vehicles, have required more than $6k for routine and unexpected maintenance. I'd call your Prius a lemon even if it doesn't fit the legal definition of a lemon. Most importantly, none of the cars have left us stranded besides the WRX. Perhaps my family has been lucky. I would've gotten rid of your car when the HV battery went bad. We would've gotten rid of he Corolla but engine is still strong.

I know I'm being smug here. If we're talking money, it costs less to continue driving the old girl. But if you're fortunate to be able to afford a newer vehicle, my opinion is that it is worth it for less hassle because I think your car has more problems than the average car. Although at 36 mpg on a Gen I Prius, the problems may be driver abuse.

 

Two things. Why is a sunroof bad for a hybrid system? And I assume the milage for 10/17/12 is a typo?

 

I am consistently getting 43- 46 mpg on mine.

 

Yeah, I know some of those costs are maintenance costs. That's why I tried to sum it all together in comparison to my anecdotal experience. Sorry if I made you feel like a bad driver. Low fuel economy could also be indicative of an engine problem. What stood out to me were the CEL occurances. I think CEL's are like women to the bathroom. They go in packs. And you've had too many I those already.

 

Get your codes read and we can go from there, and have your buddy check the battery voltage of your 12 volt battery

 

+1 Definitely get the codes pulled and check the 12 volt battery. Once you have the codes and the voltage readings, please post the information here. Without the codes, it is a guess. The CEL covers many different systems. FWIW, the last time the CEL lit on our car, it was a valve for the cooling system. It was fixed under warranty. That is why I say get it checked out BEFORE you throw in the towel.

Also, I note you mention something about a "engine" rebuild, then start talking about the battery. I don't see anything in your list of work done concerning the engine, just the mention of it.

Ron

 

No problems, I suspected a typo or something similar. One question, how long has it been since the "12 Volt Battery" has been changed? I see no reference whatsoever of the 12 volt being changed in your list of items. I know the Gen2 is finicky about the 12 volt, not so sure about the Gen 1 you have. Also if Bob Wilson aka bwilson4web chimes in on this post, pay heed to his post's. He seems to know a LOT about the Gen 1's, and has done a lot of experimentation and documented a lot of material here on PC. Any tips he gives you I would treat as "gospel". Patrick Wong would also fall under that category or characteristic.

Good luck to you once again, I am looking forward to seeing the codes pulled and the 12 volt measurements, along with the answer to my question.

I do believe there is a lot of life left in your car, if I did not I would have already said to "concede". There are quite a few Pri out there with more than 200K on the clock and still going strong. Yes, they have had repairs, but they are still going. A car is like anything else manmade. Sooner or later it will break down. Some owner's are just luckier than others when it comes to how long the car lasts before it needs repair.

Ron

 

dorunrun: I was wondering myself about the engine rebuild he mentioned. mine does not leak a drop nor does it even show a sign of leaking at 153k miles, im impressed. When I read about his engine rebuild I had to triple read that. ha ha, i was thinking of asking him the same thing as these engines fall very very short of demand. and are cheap to get sub $500 for one shipped as they dont wear out, unless like anything else, you neglect it. Im glad it was a typo.

 

No leaks on ours either, but I do note that it does "use" oil from change to change. I run Mobil 1 in it, and fill to just below the full mark on the dipstick. I check the oil and fluid levels at every refuel. With 63K on the clock, I note that it looks like it is using about a 1/4 or less of a quart every five thousand miles. I did not seem to notice the usage when I ran dino oil in it. But it is too soon to tell as this last cycle (oil change) was when the Mobil 1 was put into use. That is another story and is off the topic of the string.

Sorry for getting off topic folks!

Ron

 

thats good. mine does that when i first star it up but never comes back on. its ok for it to be that high.