Need advice: 2005 Prius w 62,000 miles for college student...

If you go with the Prius give the kid a running chance and have a new 12 volt battery installed no matter how many salesman say that it's great!!

Or you'll be right back here saying what happened.Dead 12 is the most posted issue here and how perplexing it is that they have a dead battery. Especially when just bought.

Sitting on a car lot kills the 12 volt and the dealer probably has jumped it a few times.

 

Pretty good or pretty bad? 3% ends up being 1 in 33 odds, and 15% is roughly 1 in 6 odds of needing a replacement.

 

Okay, cool. I agree. My 2009 Prius has 105,500 miles on it and I hope to double that before any major repairs (over $1000) come up.

 

You didn't say where in California your son is going to college. But if it's in the SF or LA areas, there are competent mechanics available. Wisecrack from Art's Automotive in Berkeley: "Use the alarm button on your keyfob to identify which Prius is yours". Luscious Garage in SF runs a night shift just to service Prius taxis.

 

2nd water pump replacement in 13 months would be a concern for me. If the first one was the recall, it may mean the shop missed something or didn't do something correctly with the recall replacement.

If I remember correctly, HID lights have some kind of aiming device, which could have affected how other cars perceive the headlights. It sounds like the shop adjusted the aim.

Pretty sure HID lights are not an option on gen 3 (2010-2015) models, although somebody may have a mod for it.

Not sure what the recommended maintenance schedule is, but it's either in the owner's manual, online, or you can ask the dealer and they'd tell you. Seems the biggest recommendations I've seen here are to replace the 12v (standard) car battery every 4-5 years and drain & fill transmission fluid every 30,000 miles.

 

I would strongly suggest looking into a grid charger/discharger for the HV pack. It's used to condition older batteries to keep them running better and longer. I would also suggest getting an additional harness for your 2010 so you can use it on it too.

 

It's almost certain that it will need a new or remanufactured HV battery pack well before the 200K mile mark.

The pack charger/discharger that fotomoto mentions could prolong the life of the existing pack but I doubt that your 12 year old pack will last for another 5 years or more with this periodic conditioning treatment.

 

The internet is a wonderful thing. cars.com lists 164 2005 Prius for sale in the USA.

I seem to remember a number of threads when the pump recall was current dealing with the replacement pump failing. It is the main reason I don't want to swap out parts before they fail.

Search for and download the 2005 sales brochure so you can see what was and wasn't available.

Swapping out the headlights will probably be more trouble and expense than they are worth.

It sounds like you found a good car. Buy it. There is also no guarantee that any other 12 year old car won't need a significant repair in the next two years.

Your son is getting a much nicer car than many of us had at that stage in our lives.

 

From what I read, Toyota keeps the hybrid traction batteries between 40-80% for longevity. This makes sense for modern batteries. If I understand correctly, grid chargers & dischargers attempt to discharge the battery lower than 40% and then charge it up to 80% again in order to perform a similar function as calibrating a computer battery: it reveals how much charge the battery actually has, as opposed to how much it was using. That process theoretically gives a more accurate reading of the charge points and enables the battery to last longer. One of the companies that makes these chargers posts here fairly often, but I don't know how many there are total or how reliable or reputable they are.

 

Sorry, it won't. Once the battery reaches 80% (8 bars-Full) it switches out regeneration and replaces it with engine braking. When this happens, it's quite noticeable as the engine RPM goes up significantly almost scarily so.

It charges it up 100% and then continues to gently charge for a period to allow all cells in a module the chance to reach full. This a process known as (top) balancing. While the 40%-80% regime is good for the longevity of the battery, over a period of time the cells can become unbalanced. Similarly discharging down past the 40% mark allows the balancing to take place at the bottom end, hence this is called bottom balancing.

 

I would modify this statement to say that over a period of time the cells WILL become unbalanced - it's the nature of the beast.

NimH batteries have been an essential part of making hybrids competitive with pure ICEs. Unfortunately, the packs do not and cannot last for 20 years whereas there have been many pure ICE vehicles that do last more than 20 years with minimal repairs required (pickups, Camry, Corolla, and Civic are good examples). Nevertheless, hybrids have been beneficial to their owners and to everyone else by reducing the amount of fuel burned (and the amount of carbon dioxide emitted).

I would have kept my Gen 2 if replacement packs had been more reasonably priced. It's unfortunate that they weren't because I'm certain that many Gen 2s have been seeing and will see early graves because of this. Perhaps there should have been government subsidies available for replacement packs to keep Prius' on the road instead of going to scrap yards. As little as $500 might have been enough.

 

I do find it odd that people think this way. With new technology requires a new way of thinking about repairs/maintenance.

I find it peculiar that people do not think it odd to drop 2-3 grand to repair/replace an auto transmission, but think it odd to drop 2-3 grand to replace the battery in a Prius.

But, we digress off topic.

 

I don't know. Would you drop 3 large to repair a transmission on a 12 year old car with 250K miles? I doubt many would be willing to. And the "new technology" should have gotten cheaper. Never did with the Gen 2 pack.

My point was that many pure ICE vehicles last 20 years and 250K miles without needing expensive repairs - I owned one.

Hybrids are appealing to those who are friends of the environment or are cheapskates or both. I am a cheapskate so that was the deciding factor in my case. Those leaning to the eco-friendly side probably would do it.

 

The car that is the subject of this thread is only 62,000 miles. All things being equal, I'd just add the 3 grand to the purchase price and replace it when the time came. So, yes. Yes. I would.

 

Sure it only has 62,000 miles but it is 12 years old so there are other expensive systems that might fail before the OP ever reached 200K miles with or without a new pack. Is a 12 year old Prius with 62K miles and a new pack worth $8K?