Advice on Prius needing frequent repairs?

All those are relatively common issues with a gen 2 Prius that are not related to bad maintenance. Normally they just wouldn't have happened at this low of a mileage and not all together like this. Changing brake fluid might have helped with the brake actuator. I think you have now fixed almost all common non maintenance related problems. Maybe just a coolant diverter valve is left if it's not changed already.

So to this point you have just had a bad luck. So after fixing this you might just be able to drive it for long time without needing any repairs. Or you might have problems related to bad maintenance. Or just some unlikely problems.

That price for repair seems high. Maybe someone here would know a good place near you to do the repair.

 

It takes a while for word-of-mouth to get around about reliability matters.

A young Prius is incredibly reliable, and people have been telling the truth talking about that for 20 years.

But think about it- it's only recently that there was any real volume of 15-year-old Priuseses to provide a counterexample.

Good luck!

 

I've heard of that actuator failing, but a failure mode that destroys pads and rotors in a day (or at all) is new to me.

 

That raises a warning flag of the car having been abused by the previous owners, something that would not show up on any records.

The generation of Prius you have uses a bladder in the gas tank to reduce evaporative emissions. That made the non-linear gauge inaccurate when at the low end. Owners who liked to squeeze out maximum distance would tend to run out of gas as a result... which means they ended up driving short distances using nothing but electricity. That type of power demand grossly exceeded what the was designed to handle. As a result, the car will experience accelerated aging on the battery and related components.

Do you know why the previous owners sold the car? Frustration from running out of gas would be a good reason.

 

I'm a little suspicious about a $3,600 quote for a brake job.
I'd strongly encourage you to take your car to a brake specialist, and then find an independent mechanic in your area to "maintain" your car.

Failing that, I'd think about starting to see other car manufacturers.
Are you REALLY saving enough in gas to warrant these kind of repairs?

Remember....you live in Indiana...not California.

Good Luck!

 

Didn't really meant it like that. Just that almost all commonly failing non maintenance related parts have been replaced. So it's a bad luck that they all have failed already.

 

Welcome to the organized crime racket known as auto repair... Fortunately Prius Chat will walk you throgh any repair you need done. If you or a friend or a family member likes to work on cars than all the normal repairs cost very little. Specifically, there's no reason to spend ten times the money for an expensive brand new part for a 15 years old car when used ones are plentiful at 10% of the cost. And when brand new is affordable, yes definitely. For example if you do your own labor here's how much you pay:

--After marker invert pump $30 + $15 for coolant

--Water pump $70 +$15 for coolant

--Brake actuator $100-$200 used + Brake fluid

--Wheel Bearing $60 + Alignment job

--Front pads & Rotors = #1 rip-off from mechanics who don't realize how little physical brakes are used in vehicle with regenerative brakes

In other words to the extent you or friend or family member are willing to use the available resources to do your own repairs is the extent you won't get robbed by stealerships or unethical local mechanics.

 

Yes I thought about the same thing about the price of the brake actuator repair.

But why look for a different car manufacturer? Why would repair costs be lower with different manufacturer?

 

They have been with mine, but then again I "might" be making a lot of my own luck.

YMMV