2008 upgrade to 2013?

I have not, I had my dealer do it. (Being 'jumbo' I do not fit under my car) Here are some 'how tos' for gen 2.

Reconditioning a Toyota Prius - Changing the CVT Transmission Fluid | NotPetroleum Blog


Spring maintenance

 

Scott - in response to your original post - as you can see from the avatar we kept our 08 and purchased a 2012 five. Our 08 has about 64K on it and hasn't had any problems so far. Our daughter inherited the 08 full-time and will likely take it off to college this fall. I'm not worried about the traction battery for two reasons - 1)still under warranty, and 2) I know a lot of folks with Prii that have never had to replace it. I know several folks (on the forum and not) that have over 200K with no problems.

Our 08 was a package 2 (minimal bells and whistles), but has served us well. We "fell into" the purchase of the 2012/5 because we were looking to replace our beetle convertible (cool car, but not practical - and don't get me started on repair costs). We took our daughter for her ACTs about 50 miles away from home and decided to kill some time at the local Toyota dealer. They were offering invoice, low financing, and just happened to have the car on the lot that my wife loved. No regrets.

The differences for us are - faux leather, built-in nav, 17 inch wheels, heated seats, and a car that handles better in the snow. Things that are nice - LCD headlights (took some getting used to, but now we like them), sound system, bluetooth, wheels. Things that are worthless - the fog lights.

It ended up making sense for us - and we got to keep our "old faithful" 2008. They never want to give you what they are worth on trade-in anyway.

 

I think that "window" is different for each car, but experience tells me that somewhere between 65 and 100K is probably where it starts. Our beetle was 8 years old with only 43K on it, but every time it went to the shop it seemed to be something else. Granted the car have every bell and whistle available - I think that is the key. The more it has on it, the more opportunity to fix something. Prius seem to be a bit different though. Good luck.

 

Had my 2005 fo seven years zero repairs out of pocket other than reg. mant. was a great car! I just had to get the plug in, only reason I sold my 2005.

 

I sold my '08 with 50K miles to buy a '13 PHV. If you're going for a PHV, just do it. If you're going for a regular Prius it's a tougher call.

 

I had a 2008 and just traded up for a 2012. I loved my 2008 and it was in great shape but was worried about repairs, battery etc. I really wasn't planning to change but got such a good deal on both my car and the 2012 that I felt I couldn't pass up. I feel the 2012 is a more solid ride and I'm glad to finally get rid of the fuel bladder. Also, my mileage is better.

 

That is a very helpful picture, but I notice that the linked instructions for the change claim two 10mm Allen sockets for the drain and fill. The fill port on the side requires a 10mm Allen wrench, but the drain port on the bottom requires a 24mm socket and breaker bar. Always open the fill port first before opening the drain, to make sure you can. It's not easy and there is limited space to work. I ended up putting the wrench in position and then kicking it to get it to move.
Proper torque is 29 foot pounds for both, and don't forget to order new washers.

I changed both of my Prii's transmission fluids at 60k miles.
Changing Transaxle oil | PriusChat

 

I should update my avatar. It looks like we're in a similar situation. Two red Prii... We have a 2010 five (V back then ), and a 2009 that we bought earlier this month after deciding to get rid of our aging VW Golf.

 

Stopped by the dealer the other day to see about recall work and asked about the drain and fill for transaxle. Local dealership is recommending it at 80K and charging $85 (P & L). I also asked about the battery cost - yikes - $320 dollars. I guess I'll be ordering the yellow top and doing it myself.

 

Scott - I would certainly love to do the work myself, but physical limitations related to back issues keeps me from doing a lot of things I used to do myself. I find myself hiring more and more things out as I get older and less flexible. Last time I tried to do an oil change I ended up spending the next couple of days in bed - hardly worth the savings.

Thanks for the info on the yellow top. Still seems to be a popular choice on this site. Battery is not too bad and with summer coming I have a little more time to research. I think I can do that work since I don't have to get down on a creeper - getting back up is the hard part.