I miss my hybrid :( - would you buy a car with 100,000+ miles on it?

I can totally understand why some owners of Prii might be quite paranoid about the HV battery failing. For well over a decade, Prius haters have gleefully perpetuated the myth about Prii HV battery failures, making out like you'd barely get 2 years out of it, and a replacement would cost more than the vehicle itself - a right load of demented drivel.

Like all mechanical devices, something will fail eventually. You'll more than likely get your money's worth, out of a properly serviced and non-abused Prius long before the HV battery might 'give up the ghost'.

I came to Prius Chat and read up everything I could about Prii. I was satisfied at the honest and impartial information available here from actual users of this vehicle.

So, I took the plunge and bought one.

Even if my HV battery suddenly died tomorrow, there will be no regrets. I'd just get another one, and carry on cruisin'.

 

I'm a UK based Prius Gen II owner (well I am until my Gen IV gets off the boat anyway!).

Having checked autotrader, that is a fair price for the milage/age. What trim level is it, If I was buying a Gen II I'd be looking for at least the T4 spec, and ideally T-Spirit. You get quite a lot of kit with a T-Spirt even by 2016 standards, and the trim level doesn't seem to impact the purchase price greatly.

With a full service history it may still have the additional hybrid warranty active. If serviced by Toyota they do the Hybrid Health Check and renew the warranty for 12 months up to a maximum of 11 years. Hopefully something you can investigate, at the very least the hybrid health check will give you some indication of the condition of the battery.

Where I live (Brighton) virtually all the taxis are Gen II and Gen III Prius. This is because they are efficient and reliable. With a car approaching 150k miles you can always get stung, that is the nature of second hand motoring, but the Prius is a very safe bet. I certainly wouldn't be anymore worried about a hybrid failure than I'd be about a gearbox (or equivalent) failing in a standard-diesel.

My anecdotal experience of ownership has been that the car feels substantially the same as it did the day I bought it (I've done 100k in mine), the choice of interior materials may leave a little to be desired but the build quality seems top notch.

Might be worth considering if spending a little more on the purchase would get you a longer term investment. I see from searching auto trader that an extra £1,000 would get you into the bracket of Gens IIs with less than 100k (sometimes a lot less).

 

It may be splitting hairs but the warranty is extended up to the end of the 10th year. Also the HHC extends the warranty only to the HV battery, so does not cover the transaxle, inverter or any other hybrid components, IIRC.

 

Great clarifications from both PurpleGecko and dolj right there! Thanks you! I'll just add, do indeed go for the Tspirit model, preferably with factory leather seats - the transformation of the interior is simply stunning with that alone!

Tspirit adds the built in SATNAV, Voice Control for AC, SATNAV, and Audio....(think rudimentary KITT from Knight rider) - the latter comes with more voice commands than you could shake a stick at. You'll never be bored again.

You get the JBL 6CD 9 speaker Stereo system with a small woofer up front, and the system will read MP3s burned to a CD-R - even if they're in folders (not too deep though). So, you can turn every MP3 CD into a jukebox of its own. Sweet!

You also get the reverse parking camera, and IPA.....yes, the Tspirit will park itself too - but you'll need to learn how to do it. Nice for stunning your friends when your car parks itself - freaky watching the steering turn all by itself!

Let's not forget Cruise Control (a.k.a. Auto throttle or as I dubbed it, autopilot....). With the proliferation of average speed cams these days, it makes sense to set your speed with cruise control on relevantly afflicted highways and take the stress out of getting a fine in the post. Particularly useful on motorways too. Or the A406!

With those extra toys, the Tspirit is worth that bit extra, and, do seek out leather seats, and a low mileage model, preferably privately used, if you can.

Mine now has 82,600 miles on the clock. I bought it with 55,454 miles on board, back in June 2013.
The Gen II was clearly over engineered, and it shows! That's why I call mine "The Spaceship"!

Good luck with your search


iPhone 6s +

 

That makes a lot of sense. As you say, you save a grand that you can use for any potential repairs. Mine is a 2008 T-spirt (a 57 plate) with leather seats, and yes, even an '08 has automatic parking. I have only ever used it to show off to friends, but I'm sure it works fine. I have to parallel park every day in ridiculous spaces, so find it much easier to do it manually. The reversing camera, which I thought was a novelty when I bought the car, I now think of as something that should be standard on every car. The satnav on the T-spirt works well, but you can't put a full UK postcode in (only the XX00 part) which is a pain.

I like the look of the leather seats, and they still look like new even after 100k. The cloth seats tend to age a bit more, but lets face it, leather seats are nice but they're hardly a 'must have' on a used car. Mileage and condition is far more important.

 

It believe it would do E1 4, although to be honest as soon as I realised it didn't do the full postcode I gave up on using it and just typed in the full address. I think this is a fairly common problem across quite a few manufactures because the UK is rare in having 7 digit postcodes. Still annoying, especially when the road you're looking for is 'High Street', 'Church Lane', 'Station Road' etc!

 

And you should use exactly what you're comfortable with. No question about that.

Of course, TomTom make brilliant GPS devices

I have the complete Western Europe TomTom installed on my iPhone 6s Plus, and Western Europe Copilot on my Samsung S5, but perversely, I still insist on using the somewhat quirky, archaic and relatively difficult to use GPS built into my Tspirit. Yes, I'm Prius crazy!!!

Y'see, I actually like the Prius SATNAV for what it is. Setting it up and programming it for a journey is a bit like entering the NAV coordinates into Space Shuttle Atlantis. Seriously!
Yes, it doesn't give me 3D images, and the screen isn't HD.....but it's a classic piece of kit, and nowhere near as bad as it might look at first glance.

I even bought the latest Prius SATNAV DVD box set - and I wasn't disappointed, despite the £140 price tag.

Yes, I do have google maps as backup, just in case, but usually, that's just to get the full address to type into the Prius NAV system.

It's an integral part of the vehicle, and I enjoy giving it voice commands, and getting a reply, just as I like it telling me there's traffic congestion 2 miles down the road.

Oh yes, I know Google Maps does an even better job of that.....but, I'm a stickler for punishment!

Nothing beats turning on the NAV and saying "Home!".....and having it comply, while telling you what to do to confirm your request. You're actually interacting with your vehicle, almost like Michael Knight and KITT

Yes, I'm being rather sentimental and enthusiastic here, but......I really DO appreciate my Prius Gen II

 

The factory SATNAV in the Prius II comes in the form of a unit with a DVD slot (actually situated under the pilots seat) - for the SATNAV maps, which are on several DVDs.....hence my expression "box set".

There really are several of them. I'm obviously using the one for the UK, but there's a different one for Norway, for example. I believe my set of SATNAV DVDs covers Western Europe.

There's no real DVD player in the Prius II. The GPS unit runs on DVDs.

Paradoxically, the top of the range Gen II Prius in the land of the rising sun, was fitted with a TV tuner, that outputs to the MFD. Yup! It's true! I believe automatic heated and folding side mirrors were also available.
TV on the MFD...!!! I drool at the very thought. I wonder why they didn't introduce that here?

Rumours that they also fitted an experimental "NX-01" version with Warp Drive capability might probably be just an exaggeration



iPhone 6s +

 

IMHO, the Prius Sat/Nav is nowhere as bad as people make out. We used it all aver the UK, Ireland and Europe and it always got us to where we wanted to go. After an update, it got rid go the motion lock, so it was able to be updated on the move, by my passenger -- which was my only main bugbear. For fun once I programmed the same journey on the Prius and google maps, and I actually found the Prius gave me the more sensible route. But then the Prius shortest route option also gave some questionable routes too, but the shortest route is not necessarily the fastest route. In general, I never used the shortest route. So there you go.

IIRC, there is a way to enter in the full UK postcode, but as I remember it, it was a bit counter intuitive in how you did that. I can't remember whether that was discussed here, or on the UK TOC, but I'm sure a search on either should turn up how you do it. I don't have a Prius with Sat/Nav now, so I can't go out and play with it, sorry.

In any case using the XX99 is not so bad, as it then provides only the streets in that postcode set to choose from. It is more getting used to it from what you are already used to.

Like all tech, there are shortcomings in everything, even people's beloved TomTom or Garmin.

 

The T3 has VSC, side+curtain airbags. The T4 adds to this with cruise control, JBL audio and front foglights. The T Spirit adds the nav system. A lot of the kit is standard across all three, they're all well equipped cars. The difference isn't huge, but there really isn't much difference between the trim levels in 2016 prices so worth aiming up.

The Auris hybrid is a decent car, first introduced in 2010. Definitely worth a look if you want a hybrid. It uses the same 1.8 litre hybrid powertrain that you'll find in the gen 3 prius. It is obviously quite a bit smaller than the Prius, but it is still a Golf sized car. Given the appeal (and therefore the cost) of a second hand Prius an Auris might be a good bet, as they can be a bit of a bargin second hand. It isn't quite as efficient as the Prius (mostly due to its less aerodynamic shape) but it isn't bad. However, if you're doing lots of motorway driving a diesel would be more economical. The Auris is also made in Blighty.

 

The Prius isn't exactly the best car for short journeys - you won't get the full advantage of the HSD's Eco capabilities that way. Your MPG for shortened journeys will be reduced. The HSD works best when the Prius' ICE (Atkinson Cycle Engine, actually) has reached optimal operational temperature. However it does eliminate your DPF problem once and for all.

On your longer 460 mile journeys, you'll get amazing fuel economy - especially during the warmer months.

For those much shorter journeys, you might want to utilise the pulse and glide mode of driving, to increase your MPG. It is however, worth noting that even on shorter journeys, you'll still be using less fuel than a standard eurobox vehicle of similar size or engine capacity.

Be aware that there are two Auris Hybrid models available, both capable of over 70mpg in real terms. The first model released about 2010, looks exactly like the standard Toyota Auris from which it is derived. They can only be told apart by the blue tinged badge, and the Hybrid / HSD badges....and that's it.

Despite looking exceptionally bland, it handles very well, and is highly prized by its owners. Proof of the latter? Try looking for a first generation Auris Hybrid to buy! I see lots of them on the road, but not very many for sale out there - well, at 74mpg, I think I can see why!
This car was designed by Toyota NOT to look as unusual as a Prius, indeed, nobody will notice you're even there, when you're behind the wheel. And yes, I did consider buying one too!

The 1st gen Auris Hybrid can't park itself but has a rear parking camera, looks a lot more conventional on the inside as well as outside, and will scoot along in electric mode only, for about 1.2 miles (not recommended really - unless there's a shallow downhill incline ahead, where you can recuperate the lost energy via regenerative braking, or 99.9mpg cruising downhill with the engine on).

 

Some personal philosophy I think I've gained over the years.

I would have no problem investing into an older Prius, at a fair or good market price, or hopefully at a great market price.
As a Toyota product, I think The Prius is built well, and can be expected to be above average in reliability and quality.

Having bought numerous used cars over the years, what I think I've learned is that it is better to buy an older used car that was a good quality product to start with...such as The Prius.
The worst case scenario then becomes that even if you find problems and need to make further investment, at least you are investing into a product that has a baseline of being a good product. In other words, while a used Prius, Corolla or Camry, with high miles, may cost more to initially purchase than a similar mileage Ford, Chevy or other alternative product....if you find or discover problems with the cheaper older used vehicle? You then are in a situation where you are investing into a product that really may not have the reputation or reality of being a very reliable long term vehicle. Toyota has earned that reputation.

That being said, as a Hybrid, with an entire Hybrid system, The Prius is a little different.
There are more components aging...more potential cost.

So my advice to anyone buying a high mileage Prius, would be to get it checked out as thoroughly as possible, so you have a good baseline knowledge of what shape it is in as a machine.
And on a past warranty, high miles Prius, I always say, purchase with the knowledge that you may have to make a significant further investment into a Hybrid Battery. Have enough money set aside to handle that potential scenario.

Then if it checks out? Go ahead and purchase with the same confidence you would ANY high mileage vehicle with a good reputation for quality.