Is it time to move on ? :(

There will be at least 3 expensive failures on this car. All of them will average $2000 or more. So if you’re not prepared to throw $6000 or more into this car, it’s best you don’t invest in this repair. If you have the means to get a newer car, that would be best

 

Some enjoy painting a horrible picture because they had issues so they want others to
suffer like them so they can feel better... EVERY car has issue and parts and labor are expensive.

If you are able to do the labor part the cost is about 75% less.

The head gasket, hybrid battery, and possibly brake master cylinder and pump actuator can be
expensive.

I replaced my hybrid battery about 2 years ago with the lithium then sodium ion pack. Fairly easy job
to do. I replace the head gasket at 301,000 miles. I had planed on replacing it before it went. Not knowing
just how long it would before it did fail so I already had 95% of the parts I needed and was just choosing a
date, so it wasn't a disaster for me. It wasn't too difficult of a job.

The brakes are still going. Though the pump cycling is down to about 17 seconds. So I know it's a matter
of time before it needs to be done.

I had been making plans to replace of replacing the brake parts AND the engine with a remanufactured one
at the same time so that I would have more room with the engine out to replace the brake parts.
But my driving went down from around 700 miles a week to less than 100. And I've been driving my van
the one day I week I travel about 200 miles. So replacing the engine is really not worth it just because it's
burning oil, and I'm driving it 98% of the time in the city so less oil burning.
I had also though about just doing the short block, but I still need to remove the whole engine. It would be
a lot quicker and a lot less work to replace the whole thing.

If you have to pay someone else to do the work, then yes, it is expensive. But what does a new car cost???
And even a used car cost a lot. And sooner or later you'll have failures on that car also.

So you'll have to do that math and see figure out financially and time wise what is best for YOU. No what is
best for someone else.

 

Some people who have the tools. parts and experience love to keep old cars. Some value reliability more than short term savings.

Head gasket $2500-$5000 (higher costs represent engine replacement highly recommended with current oil burning), the Brake Booster you have now, Hybrid Battery that everyone knows will happen and Inverter stranding (still covered but very problematic when it occurs).

You can get into sunk cost syndrome where each repair seems less costly than replacing the car but you end up giving up reliability and costs accumulate. The reality is the car has to be replaced sometime and it will never be worth more than now after the brake booster is replaced.

If your finances are so tight that a used car payment is impossible, you do what you have to do and hope the interval between repairs is decent. In that case it is wise to find an independent hybrid shop that offers value solutions and build that relationship.

 

Depends on what you replace it with, and where you live.

If you replace a car with $0 monthly purchase payments and the possibility of an eye-watering repair every year with a much newer car you may be out significantly more money.
According to Robbie the Robot, the average monthly payment for a used car in the U.S. is $537 which is a number that begs to be rounded up to $6500 a year.
WITH no repairs - remember, we're talking about a USED car, that somebody who is NOT YOU got rid of.

If you live on free soil - that's nearly as bad as it gets, but if you live in 'some parts of the nation' other 'expenses' like inspections, excise (tag) and sales taxes, and added insurance might add to that additional cost.
It's not just a red-state versus blue state thing.
Blue states come with higher regulation and tax burdens, while red ones come with more weather related insurance costs, and a higher number of people who flout mandatory insurance laws and sometimes a lower number of state mandated driver's ed laureates.

You're about a 15k per year driver according to your post.
Maybe it's time to 'get better' at maintenance and repair - or maybe it's time to roll the dice with a newer car.

Car buying is not straight out math, so you're going to have to do the noodle dance on this one for yourself.

Good Luck!

 

Others have chimed in on the 3 repairs. But this car has other issues beyond those. Since you live in NY, the rust is probably a problem as well. 11 year old car in NY with rust and probably bad paint. You'll have to decide if it's time to move on. Sunk cost is never a reason in making your decisions in life, once the money is spent, it's gone. So if you throw money at the brake actuator now, it's just buying time before the next repair comes (and it won't take long on a 11 year old 3rd Gen Prius). End of the day, no matter how much you throw at this car, the next repair won't be far behind.