Cost of Maintenance

Hello Jim:

There are many Priuses that have well over 200,000 miles on them, some in taxi fleets that have over 300,000. Those that use them as taxis say that the cost of maintenance is much lower than coventional cars.

However, it is true that the cost of major repairs can get quite high. Thankfully, that doesn't happen often.

There are many threads already here on the PC forums that address this issue. You can use the Search function to discover them. You can also use "Advanced Search" to only search for keywords in thread titles rather than the entire contents of posts. Often this will provide more meaningful results.

Best wishes, and welcome! :welcome:

 

Crock of beans. Low maintenance cost and high resale are hallmarks of the Prius. Prius doesn't have a transmission in the traditional sense, but a planetary gear set, more akin to the rear end of a truck (granted, more complex). I've not heard of anyone replacing a Prius HSD, so that "cost" is not relevant.

 

Jim,
Tell your broker to show you a picture of Prius transmission, the one that costs $12,000.
He won't because it does not exist.
While there are some parts on Prius that are not commonly found on other vehicles (battery, invertor, etc.), which makes them more expensive than others, Prius has very good reliability record than most if not all vehicles. Check ConsumerReport for a more objective data.

Yes, it is amazing on Toyota's engineering. Prius is sophisticated, and yet, Toyota made them very reliable. Mine has 0 problem after four years of ownership. The way you expect it from Honda/Toyota.

 

I agree, sounds like the broker is parroting 'information' gathered from who knows where. Ask him how long the traction battery will last and see if he says 'they have to be replaced every 5 years and cost $8K'. If he does, discount EVERYTHING he 'knows' about the Prius.

My '04 had 2 recalls. 1 was related to a part used in 3 or 4 Toyota models that COULD fail though none had ever failed 'in the field'. The other I *think* did nothing more than recalibrate the 'guess gauge' to tell me I need gas when I have used just over 9 gallons (i.e. almost 3 left) instead of after 10+ gallons. The 'presumption' was that the cause of some people's problems were due to running out of gas (which I guess pops up all sorts of warning lights and signs) because they drove too far after the 'add fuel' light came on.
91+K miles, 4.6 years, same brake pads, only oil, filter and wiper refill changes. Did have them check and clean the brakes once just to make sure everything was fine. Don't use the brakes much in a Prius unless you do a lot of stop and go driving. The pads don't touch the rotors/drums until you get down to 8 MPH or hit them hard rather than slowing to a stop.

A note for newbies - the cabin air filter is EASY TO CHANGE yourself, can be washed gently in Woolite, air dried and reused (at least a few times) and my dealer charges 15 minutes labor to change it (plus the part). Do it your self, it takes 3 minutes and requires NO tools! And you'll do it a lot more often if it costs you NOTHING instead of paying $20 for the part and another $20 for installation.

 

This excites me greatly! I have a '98 Saab (aka "Saab Story") and on average I spend $400/yr on stuff needing fixed. I can't really count things like the battery, tires and normal wear 'n tear items, but that adds up too!

 

I went to a Toyota dealer a couple Saturdays ago to get a 2010 Prius brochure and talk to the dealer. I told them I drive 130 highway miles a day to and from work and will drive 350,000 miles in the next 10 years before I retire. I asked whether a 2010 Prius or Corolla would serve me better (value wise).

The response was that the Corolla would have much less maintenance cost than the more complicated Prius. They wanted to steer me towards the Corolla. They said you have to drive a lot of miles to pay for the difference between the 2 cars. They also provide a free lifetime warranty thru an outside company for the powertrain. You need to bring it back to the selling sealer for covered warranty repairs. This does not cover the electronics of either vehicle, just mechanical on the powertrain (and not rings or valves.)

 

Here's some feedback that I received when I was trying to verify "expected" maintenance costs from Edmunds.com.

http://priuschat.com/forums/care-maintenance-troubleshooting/61261-annual-mtc-repair-costs.html

I hope this helps.

 

I have 115,000 miles on my 2005. I keep track of every dime spent for everything, replacement bulbs, wipers, etc.

Here is the summary ( details upon request )

Oil and Filters......................... $ZERO (??) Everybody who buys a vehicle at our store gets O&F Free for Life. I eat them alive on this with 8 free changes per year.
Air Filters every 30K.................. $60 ( 3 x $20 )
Inverter Coolant @ 105,000 mi.... $81
That's it except for 'rubber' ( tires and wipers ) and misc repairs from road hazards

Rubber.....
Tire Rotation/Balance.............. $242
2 sets of replacement tires....... $883
Wheel Alignment..................... $119
Wipers 3 sets.......................... $21
2 patched tires........................ $61

Misc....
1 rear taillight replacement bulb.. $0.05
Front fascia from pail in the road $73

 

Yes they wanted to sell you a Corolla. But both are good choices however with the miles you drive ( same as mine ) you will come out way ahead with the Prius if you're planning to drive 300,000+ miles in it. They both have very low maintenance costs but the Prius is just a little lower ( brakes every 200,000 miles or so ).

Since you're going to keep it for a good long time ask yourself this question. What do you think the price of fuel will be in the year 2019?? Do you really think it will be $2.00 per gallon? If it's $7.00 per gallon then which vehicle do you want to be driving?

 

Sometime Wednesday morning, CNN had a piece on how hybrid cars are more reliable and easier to maintain than gas this week.

 

I have ~52,500 miles on my 07. I have spent ~1800 in maintenance and repairs and new tires.

that comes down to ~4 cents/mile

 

I would send a complaint to Toyota informing them of what that dealer did. The guy needs a call from Toyota HQ... what a jerk!

We once had some dealers here pushing potential Prius buyers to buy the Avensis instead. It was as simple as letting their bosses know what they were doing. It ended fast as hell.

Believe me, the Prius is a far better choice than a Corolla, by any measurement.