2nd Oil Change

That's very good. I like that the Prius is a low maintenance car.

 

same here. i have never reached the great 120,000 mile maintenancegeddon.

 

I've never come close to even 100,000 miles. I kept my last two cars 10 years, and 11 years, respectively. But I'm such a low mileage driver that I would only have about 60,000 miles on those cars.

And I admit, I probably over maintained them, unnecessarily. The oil changes were OK, but I don't think I needed all those "fluid flushes" that I had done. Toyotas are nice low maintenance vehicles.
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When your ready to retire the white gen IV near your avatar, let us high mileage drivers know. I would gladly put many more miles on it.

140 k on the 2010 prius II and 255 k on the wife's 98 4Runner. Both have been very low maintenance and will be logging miles for years to come. Somehow the Prius made it by the 120 k "maintenancegeddon" and is still clicking along.

 

Our 2010's at 63,000 kms (40,000 miles), coming up on 6 years of ownership. Might be our exit car, lol.

 

That's great! I think cars that are driven a lot, and accumulate a lot of miles, (especially on the freeway) may actually end up performing better over the years? Not sure if that makes sense, but cars are meant to be driven.

 

That's true for me, too. I'm sure my Prius will outlive me.

 

Yep. I sure miss the days when I could do all the routine Maint myself. I can't be crawling under cars anymore... But I do like washing & waxing it myself. (My 1978 Honda Accord, you just open the hood and could reach right down there and unscrew the oil filter. They made it so easy.)

I'm VERY thankful I was able to afford a new Prius, and have the free time to get out and enjoy it. Believe it or not, life flies by.

 

I generally think that cars that accumulate a lot of miles generally don't live long enough (in terms of years) to run into age-related problems. While lack of use can cause problems (stale gas, flat spots on the tires, rodents move in, etc.), excessive use won't prevent the headlights from turning frosty white with age, or stop rubber parts from drying out and becoming brittle, etc.

Probably the best way to make a car last is to give it a run on the freeway once a week on a sunny, dry day and leave it in a climate controlled garage the rest of the time away from road salt and sunshine.

 

I'll have to dig up that thread, "the 200,000 mile club", and see what their secret is.

Some of those guys claim that they've only changed the oil, filters, and bought tires.

 

Excepting the freeway part, that's a good description of the life of my mother's Camry, which she sold cheap to her daughter-in-law about a year ago when the car was almost 16 years old, looked and smelled new (except one dent), and had only 50K.

 

Man, if you guys have "climate controlled garages",

 

....I am definitely living in the WRONG kind of neighborhood!

 

Interesting thread about oil leaks. In a Prius only 3 years old:

Timing Chain Cover Oil Leak 2013 Prius Plugin | PriusChat

 

An enclosed garage definitely controls the car's environment: No rain or snow, no UV, no tree sap drippings, no bird droppings, less dirt, probably no freezing temps, no rain freezing in all the tiny nooks... Keeping a car garaged makes a huge difference.l, even here in sunny California.

 

We have a garage, not insulated, which would be a big plus. But even as-is, makes a big difference. Just little things: I leave the car unlocked in the garage, a lot less wear-and-tear on the door locks. And a garage makes maintenance, detailing, all sorts of things, a lot easier, which means you're more inclined to keep up with it.

 

I decidedly don't What I do have is a detached garage which is a big help most of the time. However, being detached it doesn't get any parasitic heat from the house and can get really cold in the winter. When the weather suddenly gets warmer and more humid, such as a rainy spring day, the garage is actually colder than the outside dew point which means it turns into a cloud chamber when you open the door and the car inside simply doesn't dry off. If the car is caked in road salt, it can become a corrosion chamber.

Thus my comment about "climate controlled". I can dream...

 

My mom has a 99 Subaru that's got about 30k miles on it. Her previous car (an '81 Buick) ran up 50k miles in 18 years and leaked oil like a sieve because the seals dried out. Other than the oil leaks, I'd say the Buick still ran like new (which it did), but of course '81 was the first year for GM computer controlled engines and they ran like crap they day you drove them off the lot.

More proof that the "little old lady car" outlasts high-mileage cars in terms of calendar time.