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How long do you guys plan to keep your Gen 2?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Rph74, Jan 24, 2021.

  1. Rph74

    Rph74 Active Member

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    I’m curious as to how long people on here plan to keep their Prius. I’ve had my 2006 for more than 7 years, and it has been the best car I’ve ever owned by far. I’ve put on 146,000 of the 239,000 miles on the car. The reliability, practicality, and cost of ownership has been the lowest of any of the 32 cars I’ve owned in my life. I replaced my HV battery back in May of 2016, so I know I’ve got 5-8 years before I need to worry about that expense again.

    Anyway, I often sit and wonder to myself if I would actually spend the money again to replace that HV again if I still have the car at that time. By then it would be a 20+ Year old car and almost certainly wouldn’t be worth spending much $$$$ on at that time. But man, I love driving it, and I feel I’ll always want a gas sipping car like this (until I finally buy an EV). This car is perfect for driving to my workplace in a downtown area as it is small and easy to park (compared to my Tundra) and nobody even gives the old Prius a second look.

    I guess I kind of feel like I’m at a crossroad with my Prius. Should the brake actuator or any other major part go bad I’m not sure my wife would be onboard with spending the money for that repair. So I’d be forced to sell it for almost nothing. I could sell it now while everything runs perfectly and it would fetch decent money with that new HV battery. But still love the thing, even though everyone else in my family (especially my teenage boys) doesn’t.
     
    #1 Rph74, Jan 24, 2021
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2021
  2. oldtechaa

    oldtechaa Active Member

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    I'm planning to keep mine until the TCO is lower on a different car, so possibly when the battery dies, although I still might just upgrade to a Gen 3. But I have no one to answer to on my financial decisions, so it could be longer or (very unlikely) shorter than that.
     
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  3. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Till 2048
     
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  4. egg_salad

    egg_salad Active Member

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    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    Been trying to sell mine for over a month. No luck.
     
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  5. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    What kind of mileage / condition at what price?
     
  6. Classic_pri

    Classic_pri Former 2001 Prius 0wner

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    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
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    Touring
    We'll keep ours till my wife gets tired of it, which could be never. We're at 135K miles now, bought it in 2012 with 35K on the clock. The only significant work it has needed is front wheel bearings. We added heated seats, nice to have here in Wisconsin.
     
  7. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    I bought mine new in 07 taken very good care of the internals meanwhile my wife has smashed bent scratched road rashed and bent all 4 wheels and done just about every horrible thing you can do to the outside of a car body.
    She is not a good driver. I have given up on that.

    She loves the car. It’s back to being zippy with its new battery.
    I love the car because it’s a great pick up truck. When i need a bigger pick up truck I rent a 8 foot uhaul for $20 this car easily hauls around town.

    it’s nice owning a car you don’t care what it looks like, if it wasn’t so unsightly I would hang 2 tug boat bumpers on the front and back bumper lol....

    I would like to say I’m keeping it till the wheels falloff but that may actually be a real possibility with her behind the wheel.

    poor car.
     
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  8. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    Sold it last year while it was still a great running car (new OEM HV batt in 2017) and upgraded to gen 4.
     
  9. egg_salad

    egg_salad Active Member

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    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    118k, nice shape, I need around $4500.
     
  10. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    More info and photos on this if you could!!!
    Brand? model? easy swap?
    There's a lot of people on the forum that have contemplated installing different seats into the Gen 2. Any info you could provide would be incredibly helpful!!
     
    Rph74 likes this.
  11. Classic_pri

    Classic_pri Former 2001 Prius 0wner

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    2007 Prius
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    We didn't change out the seats, we just added heating elements under the seat covers. Any decent trim shop can do the job in a few hours. I forget how much it cost but I think it was less than $300.

    We've got a Touring model with all the options. I'll try to get pics up after my wife gets back home.
     
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  12. Aegean

    Aegean Active Member

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    ----USA----
    I have my gen 2 Prius for 15 years now. Bought it new in 2006. I plan to keep it at least until my son is done with college in 2 years. Maybe I will keep later it as an extra car and put antique plates when is 25 years old.
     
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  13. Classic_pri

    Classic_pri Former 2001 Prius 0wner

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  14. qmanqman

    qmanqman Active Member

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    LOL that soon eh?

    Nuff said bro . . . you had us at "wife"
     
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  15. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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  16. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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  17. Classic_pri

    Classic_pri Former 2001 Prius 0wner

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    The snow is putting the Prius' new Nokian WRG4 tires to the test. We had to run an errand in a 4-inch storm with some unplowed roads, and the traction light was flickering pretty steadily. The General Altimax Arctic tires we used last winter did a better job IMO.
     
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  18. Rph74

    Rph74 Active Member

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    I’m not sure about you, but I’ve found my Gen2 to be an excellent snow car. The ultra conservative traction control system is great for the icy roads we get here in SW Missouri. Granted, I probably wouldn't want to drive it in deep snow ( which we almost never get here). I take it very easy when it snows/ices and have just found the Prius to be very stable.
     
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  19. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Not a lot of snow to deal with here. But as to how long to keep the Gen 2, we traded ours in just recently (mid-August actually). Got more for it than expected. My wife loved her 2007 green Prius and said more than once that she hoped to drive the wheels off it. Every time I drove it, I was impressed at how well it performed and how put together it felt. It had 138k miles on it and a full set of cells from a 2015 traction battery. It was going to be needing a new water pump thanks to a small leak, but it ran great. However, the paint (thanks to the Florida sun) was getting so bad that I was embarrassed as a provider to see my wife driving something that looked so ratty.

    So I got her to test drive a 2017 Trim Two with the safety package and she was immediately in love with that car. We had talked about also test driving a hybrid Camry. So after driving the "new" Prius I asked if she was ready to go try the HyCam. She said, "Nope! I want this one." She takes way longer than that to decide what to order at restaurants!!!! Now she likes this car even better than the old one. LOL!

    The old Gen 2 is now owned by a woman who helps refugees get settled, so it's still making people happy.
     
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  20. Classic_pri

    Classic_pri Former 2001 Prius 0wner

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    2007 Prius
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    It's fair. Wife's old 2001 Prius was better. Summer tires on this car were General RT43, and I think I saw a recent thread here where another Prius owner with Generals couldn't make it up a snowy grade. I wouldn't want to drive this car or have Wife drive it without winter tires of some kind.