Have a 2012 Prius with 210k miles and what looks like the original traction battery I have a trip planned from NJ to FL in August. A little worried about a failure that might strand me along the way. I have zero issues so far. MPG is generally good. No coolant leakage or excessive oil consumption. I drive gently but I have only driven the car for its last 20k miles any suggestions for increasing my chances of no issues. I just cleaned the battery fan. It wasn’t too dirty. I also cleaned the eGR cooler and replaced the water pump last summer any recommendations for a dr Prius test?
I would not worry about the hybrid battery stranding you. They usually don't suddenly fail especially at highway speeds. Hopefully no codes. If you have had a rough start I would think twice about the trip. Primarily due to the potential of an early head gasket leak that is not yet showing coolant loss. Too many clean their egr thinking it will eliminate an occasional start up rattle. I would keep the speed down to posted limits and I would want an engine temperature monitor which could be a bluetooth app like Car Scanner or whatever you have assuming you can easily see it with a phone mount.
No issues or codes. Never dealt with battery failure besides a gen 2 that was driven hard by a young driver. I drove it 3 hours home but had battery issues pop up within a week. Also only stranded with a gen 2 when the inverter coolant pump went. Was lucky to find a dealer to pull into nearby when the triangle appeared. I do my own work so that stop at the dealer was a stressful and costly episode that was really on me for not replacing that pump proactively Love these cars but I am scared by their lack of redundancy and difficulty for some roadside repairs. It would be great if a failed battery would let you continue to drive underpowered with horrible mileage just until you finished your trip
Sometimes the best test is no test. You said YOU did the EGR cleaning which means you're already doing 5K oil changes and checking all of your fluids as often as you should. I would relax and enjoy the trip! If you start getting the Prius Death Rattle your worst case is that you have to rent a car and a dolly to get the G3 back home. If you're not deep enough to do that anyway, then you shouldn't be taking a 16 year old car that you're just now getting to know on a longish road trip. Priuses are pretty reliable - even the 16 year old ones and most of the serious problems with these cars will come with warning signs so it is unlikely that you will be stranded. Best of luck!
Thanks to both of you. I do have plans for a head gasket repair before it goes. Had the parts since the last Toyota Black Friday sale. Will do when the weather cools down
