2010 Prius with Misfiring/Head Gasket/Coolant Issue

Hi all,

Unfortunately, our 2010 Toyota Prius is experiencing the misfiring/head gasket issue at 190,000 miles. We weren't aware of this seemingly well-known issue until after we started getting symptoms and took it to the dealer. Surprisingly, the dealer didn't seem to be aware that this was somewhat common. They didn't give us a lot of details of what was going on other than our EGR was clogged and they recommended that it be replaced. They quoted us $2,000 for that repair, so I opted to bring the car home and do it myself. Later that weekend, of course the codes start showing up for misfiring on cylinder 2 and 4. So I dig right in and clean the EGR out. After getting everything put back together, cylinder 4 looks good, but cylinder 2 is still getting some misfires. At this point, I call the dealer back to see if they had any ideas. They said they forgot to tell me that they also recommend replacing the intake manifold with a newer model that helps prevent these issues, and I'm also tired of looking at the car at this point so I take it back down to have them do that repair. They quoted me roughly $750 for this one. After a couple days down at the shop, they call me up and tell me that I am losing coolant as well. I assume that this is the head gasket issue that's covered pretty prevalent around here, so I was anticipating a head gasket replacement. They call back later with updated information, and say that the cylinder head itself is cracked on cylinder 2 and it's not the head gasket. Obviously, they recommend I replace the engine at this point. They are quoting $4,500 for this, which is a challenge since the car itself only has a trade-in value of about $4,000.

First talking point - Is it possible for this major issue to actually happen? I haven't noticed any other threads here with cracked cylinder heads, just blown head gaskets... I was really surprised to hear this result. I would have expected a gasket to go first. We never saw the overheating warning, no white smoke, and I did not notice any froth in the oil last time I checked.

Second talking point - We were actually getting ready to do a trade in on this car in less than a month; We had already started research for our next vehicle... with this repair costing more than the trade-in value of the vehicle, we're between a rock and a hard place. What would you all recommend we do about this? Is it worth trying to find another shop that could do an engine swap cheaper? Should we try to trade in as-is? Should we give up on the new car, do the repairs and drive this thing further? My concern with this last option is that we will likely have to replace the traction battery somewhat soon, and who knows what else at this mileage.

Thanks,
cd216513

 

Thank you everyone for the feedback! My wife is leasing a RAV4, since it was critical to get her back into a car while we figure things out here. The dealer only offered us $500 for the Prius, so naturally I declined and I'm going to look into options for getting this fixed up and sold.

The dealer said they saw the cracked cylinder head by sending a camera down. Would they have been able to see a cracked cylinder head via endoscope?