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Retire prius?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by stevieiscool, Oct 10, 2023.

  1. stevieiscool

    stevieiscool New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2023
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    Location:
    Bay Area
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Hi ! I'm back again after a recent post about my 2005 prius with 240,000 miles. The mechanic I brought it to told me that my car wasn't worth putting money into and totaled it. Car suddenly went into limp mode while driving in the mountains, kinda of scary to drive and transmission making a loud and strange whirring sound with codes P0A92 - hybrid generator performance and B1271 - combination meter ECU communication stop. He recommended a new hybrid battery, inverter, transmission and replacing instrument cluster and combination switch. total of 15,000 dollars of repairs. YIKES.

    I called another mechanic who quoted me around 5,000-6,000 for the same job. I am second owner -first owner was impeccable with servicing at the dealership. has run well and has been properly maintained and the body/interior in good condition. leather heated seats! I do need to add a quart of oil in between oil changes every 5,000 miles.

    The question Im having right now is ---- should I put ~5-6,000 dollars in this car, potentially even more to get it in condition to run another 100,000 miles? Or should I put that money into another used car. The problem is, my budget is 10,000 dollars and all the used cars in my area in this price range seem to have 150,000 miles plus with an unknown history. Thanks for any insight!
     
    #1 stevieiscool, Oct 10, 2023
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2020
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    Location:
    Durham NC
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    Generator performance is inside the transmission I don't know that much about the Bay area but where I live here I buy another transmission for $150 $200 and have it put in for about the same money possibly in the same day The hybrid battery maybe somewhat okay It's just not getting charged very good because of the charging performance issue The combination meter when you get that code it really needs replacing I just recently pulled one for one of my other cars out of another '08 in the junkyard that was sounding kind of like your car leather good condition not sure why the car was parked there actually. How that'll get to five or $6,000 I guess I can see in California but not here in Central North Carolina where I am generally speaking. Replace the transmission see of that fixes your charging problem. If so driving around about a week or so while you round up your combination meter assembly then pop that in and you're good If at some point you have to get it rebuilt battery or a new battery seems like prices are coming down so there's always that with the rest of the car being in very decent to very good condition I mean it seems like a keeper what are you going to spend for a replacement car I guess is the next question that should help you figure in what you're going to do look to private mechanics maybe Why would you need an inverter because you're generator's acting up unless it shorted out and burn up something usually when you look under these inverters they are whistle clean and beautiful inside that doesn't mean they're necessarily good but they certainly wouldn't be burnt up.
     
    #2 Tombukt2, Oct 11, 2023
  3. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2017
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    Location:
    Northern California
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Welcome to PriusChat!!
    Not sure which job that was, or do you mean a "new hybrid battery, inverter, transmission and replacing instrument cluster and combination switch".

    Which part of the BA are you near, as I know of a certified toyota mechanic that may be able to help.

    FYI : you're moderated until you've posted 5 times.
     
    #3 SFO, Oct 14, 2023
  4. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2016
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    Location:
    Columbia, SC
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    I would say you need to have the car evaluated by a competent hybrid repair shop first. It would be money well spent.
    You could also just disconnect the 12v battery for a few minutes and then reconnect it. That will reset all the codes and ecus. Drive it and see if the codes come back.
     
    #3 TMR-JWAP, Oct 15, 2023
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