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I bought my first Prius this year. How many miles can you typically expect to get before it dies?

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by Ingapone, Nov 14, 2021.

  1. Ingapone

    Ingapone New Member

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    I know this is a fairly vague question but I’ve read posts of people buying used Priuses with well over 100K miles on them and thought that was a deal.
    That made me wonder how many miles you can put on a Prius before its expected life’s end. I know it depends on how you drive it, where you drive it, etc. but can someone give me some benchmark data?
    Background: I bought a 2021 Prius Prime in February, 2021. I drive mostly on battery around town. The car has 4500 miles on it.
     
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  2. dig4dirt

    dig4dirt MoonGlow

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    Yes, highly vague question...will get highly vague answers!

    "dies" is a very subjective term.
    Someone normally will repair much more than another person.

    As for battery warranty, you are good for 10 years or 150k miles, whichever comes first.
    After that, who knows

    Not sure where the highest mileage Prime is at, but lots of "Prius" are above 500k miles.

    Treat it well, it should treat you well back.
    May want to "upgrade" before it "dies" anyway.
     
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  3. Ingapone

    Ingapone New Member

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    Dig,
    You helped answer my question. It’s amazing that you can find Priuses with 500K miles on them. I had no idea. Thank you for your reply and the valuable information in spite of my vague question.
     
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  4. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    No.
    Because there is NO such data available.
    Especially not on a model that new.
    Experience with previous models likely doesn't apply directly.
    Your wild guess likely is as good as anybody else's.

    AND......that applies to any mechanical or electrical device.
     
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  5. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    All the ones you can drive in the next ~15 years. It's more about time than distance.

    Almost every Prius lasts 10 years. Almost none make it to 20. Split the difference and call it a 15 year buffet, all-you-can-drive. Bon appétit!
     
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  6. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    You are very likely to get low operating costs for at least 150k miles. Maintenance costs will also be low during that time. Your biggest exposure after the hybrid warranty is the large battery which will eventually fail. The engine is then the major maintenance cost at some point. You really can't look at average "Prii" that are over 200k miles as benchmarks because they are earlier generations with significantly different engineering. Yours is better. The gen3's from 2010-15 have become problems as they age.

    The "500k" unicorns are older generations run by taxi services and delivery drivers. They think nothing of installing a replacement battery or engine because it is just a business expense and its cheaper than buying a new car. So super high mileage examples are "well maintained" in the sense the owners change parts as needed. They usually have fleets and a few days out of service once a year is no big deal.

    For a personal daily driver, owners want reliability for their family and not necessarily the lowest overall ownership costs achieved by repairing aging components for 250k-500k miles. Plus you don't get to write off 30% of its cost as an expense on your tax return.
     
    #6 rjparker, Nov 14, 2021
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2021
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  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    2-250k, without too many major expenses, if any.
     
  8. Ingapone

    Ingapone New Member

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    How much is a new battery now and how much is it likely to be in 10 years? I assume it’ll cost less in 10 years than it does now as EV technology gets better. Thanks for answering my newbie questions. The Prius Prime is my first electric/hybrid vehicle.
     
  9. Ingapone

    Ingapone New Member

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    Wow!
     
  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    a lot, i know that. if insurance had to pay, they'd probably total it.
     
  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    the problem is, gen 2 had/has a great track record. gen 3 has been less so. so far, gen 4 seems to be a shining star, but they are only 5 or 6 years old.
     
  12. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    About $10,000 retail on a Prime. Ten years from now they will sell a higher capacity battery for about the same cost but a specific Toyota battery assembly to fit your car may be close to the same cost. Unless you buy used where it could be half the price.

    https://parts.venicetoyota.com/p/Toyota_2021_Prius-Prime-LE-Hatchback/BATTERY-ASSEMBLY--HV-SUP-Drive-Motor-Battery-Pack-Assembly/78855958/G951047180.html
     
    #12 rjparker, Nov 14, 2021
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2021
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  13. Wonder

    Wonder Junior Member

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    I read in another forum that one guy that has a Gen 2 put 1,000,000 miles on his. The Toyota dealership in Florida wanted to put it on display and tried to buy it back from him but he refused. I think about it sometimes what milage really means in a car with 2 engines and climate control that I love to use sitting in one place. Then I heard cab company's that use prius don't turn them off at all for months at a time. So fascinating. On a side note, I think my 1st Gen plug in 3rd Gen prius is ticklish. It beeps at my when I'm scrubbing it at the car wash. Esp when I get down low on the doors. It beeps at me at other times too. All a while not armed or locked... If I'm at a red light and I put too much pressure on the break pedal the swerve icon will pop on. I think it's abs light but it'll come on when it doesn't like the way you're driving. You're going to love this vehicle like no other. Rotate the tires stay consistent with maintenance and another on this sight recommended to read your manual to get the most out of your experience. Wow. A 2021. I wonder how much more advanced it is then mine. 1st Gen plug in. 2013 3rd Gen. OH my mileage is 239,974 and I've had mine a few months. First owner. 2nd owner of my car.
     

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  14. Moving Right Along

    Moving Right Along Senior Member

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    According to Longest-Lasting Cars to Reach 200,000 Miles and Beyond - iSeeCars.com, 2.6% of Prii are still on the road after 200,000 miles. So 97.4% won’t make it that far. But with that said, it’s still in the top 20 longest lasting vehicles in the study. And for passenger cars, only the Toyota Avalon does better at 3.9%. The rest are trucks or SUVs (many also made by Toyota). The Prius also ranks at the top in Cars Owners Keep The Longest - iSeeCars.com.

    So statistically, your Prius is unlikely to last over 200,000 miles. But if you regularly maintain it, it can last much longer.
     
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  15. Colorado Boo

    Colorado Boo Active Member

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    Glad you're liking the Prius...we love my wife's 2017 Prius LE so much I replaced my old Scion with one in July! (I wanted a Prime but impossible to find so I lucked out with finding an AWD.)
    We got the first Hybrid by accident/dumb luck. In 2017, our daughter got ran into in her old Suzuki car but they only gave her $6,000 when they totaled it. (No injuries, thank goodness) My wife had a 2008 Corolla and asked me if she could sell it to her so she didn't have to mess with a car payment or finding another car so I said sure. (I still maintain the Corolla for her, no issues at all with it.) Anyway, my french wife is barely over 5 foot so I wanted to get her a new Avalon or Camry but she said they are too big. We were at the dealership and looking at Corolla's and saw this light-green car so went to look at it...it was a Prius 2 LE. Took it for a test drive and very impressed with it. They were asking $26,000 but I got them to go down to $21,000 and we took it home and I had a pretty big learning curve with maintenance on them but glad it's not as bad as I thought. The 2017 has just under 30,000 miles and still getting around 54 mpg. My 2021 gets just over 60 mpg but it has the newer and lighter Li-Lon (lithium-ion) batteries and the 2017 has the old-school NiMH (nickel-metal hydride) battery...not sure if one is better than the other or effects MPG's...maybe the electric battery experts here would know for sure?? I do think the 0W-16 oil in the 2021 helps with MPGs, the 2017 uses 0W-20.
     
    #15 Colorado Boo, Nov 15, 2021
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2021
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  16. Ingapone

    Ingapone New Member

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    Thanks for the link!
     
  17. ebee

    ebee New Member

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    Any educated guesses on what takes out the other 97.4%? I'm sitting right under 150k, and wondering what my short/medium-term plans should be, especially with my house getting awfully close to needing a new roof...
     
  18. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    The gen3 head gaskets, high voltage batteries, brake boosters, excessive oil consumption and wrecks. The bodies, transaxle, most accessories and electronics are solid. Everything except for wrecks can be fixed but each is well over $2k. Sometimes the head gaskets and oil consumption escalate to warped surfaces, bend rods and holes in the block. Then its replacement engine time. Pre 2020 most of these problems resulted in the salvage yard. These days people may spend $5k to keep them running assuming only a couple of issues appear at any one time. Fixing all the common issues over a period of time may run $10k.
     
  19. Moving Right Along

    Moving Right Along Senior Member

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    In addition to everything rjparker said, there are a lot of people that get rid of cars simply due to age or miles driven or fears that keeping a car past some point would mean it’s going to develop major problems.
     
  20. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    Primes traction pack has 5 banks of cells that are sold currently for $3300 per bank. Each bank has 19 cells, for a total of 95 cells.
    What the costs will be in 10 years tor replace one bank or five banks is any ones guess today. Five years from now it might be easier to guess what it might cost in 5 more years, still, it'll only be a guess. Today there are used Prime traction packs available for between 1000 to $2000 and weigh about 300 lbs. so not a one man job anymore like in the earlier Prii., unless - - - - one person gets creative.