Maintenance vs Replacing Prius

Keep in mind a $4-5000 replacement Gen 2 will likely have many of the same pending issues in the next year or two.

I think it makes some sense to try to sell the car. An aging Prius could take a couple of major cash inflows to keep running.

I would try to get an acceptable aftermarket cat installed first. What will MD allow? Some states you can get away with a $250 part, maybe $150 to install (there's your $400). That might be worthwhile to pass emissions first before selling with the other problems disclosed.

Or when the emissions test pressure is off, you might decide to shop around for lower cost salvaged battery (a risk) and wait until summer to deal with the A/C, maybe get lucky with salvaged parts there (less of a risk).

There are other battery options, like trying a reconditioning program, DIY module replacement perhaps with Gen 3 modules, DIY replacement with a new Toyota part maybe as low as $2100.

 

welcome! less than 8k miles?

 

if you went from 75 to 250, i would give another one a chance. all the best!

 

The chemical battery will age depending on ambient heat and number of charge cycles, not necessarily related to odometer miles like a mechanical rotating device. A low-mileage battery from the desert mountains would be a poor choice.

Yes, there are many aftermarket battery tales of woe. Even a good warranty replacement service becomes tedious and expensive after a couple of failures.

Battery salvage efforts might work best for a DIYer with a hobby car.

An engine with 250K miles is probably the cause of the cat failure (unburned hydrocarbons), so yes, a new cat may fail again on that engine. Do you burn much oil? How's your fuel efficiency?

 

Too many risks IMHO in getting a newer used car with an unknown history to replace an older used car with a known history.....in your case.

I'd keep the car and start making payments......to myself, for a repair fund.
Also.....if you cannot afford a major car repair, then you need to be checking your oil at least every month or 1,000 miles.

The P0420 might not be the cat.....in fact it SHOULD not be the cat unless you're burning lots of crude, in which case my advice would change radically.
You might be looking at an O2 sensor just needing to be cleaned...or replaced.
See if there's an independent hybrid mechanic that can investigate this issue for $400.
There might be a cheaper fix than putting a NEW OEM cat on the car - such as replacing it with a used or aftermarket item.
Yeah...I know......Mass is a a CARB state.
BUT.....all of those itty-bitty blue states up there are the size of a county, and they're not all the same and besides.....there's a difference between 50 state legal, 49 state legal, and CARB compliant.
Find out how this applies to your problem from somebody that does not stand to make a boat payment from your decision who will be tempted to tell you that you have to pay $1500 for a $250 part.

Start saving for the traction battery.
Since you have a G2 (IIRC - 2004-2009, right?) even if the car fails on you you can transplant the battery pack into a replacement G2, if that becomes necessary.
Keeping your 04 and trying to leg things out for another year saving up for the battery smells better from here, and since the car is worth basically nothing, you haven't got much to lose.

Don't worry about the A/C for now.
You can't afford to yet.

Good Luck!

 

CARB is California Air Resources Board or something like that (I'm too lazy to Google it, too). In some states that have adopted CARB standards, the catalytic converter must have a certification that makes it much more expensive. It should be easy enough to check with your local emissions authority.

 

I think the cold hard truth of the matter is:
A person who has a tight "cash flow" really shouldn't be getting a hybrid in the first place.
There are other models which get excellent mileage, have good reliability and the initial and maintenance costs should be much less.

I think you should DEFINITELY not try to fix up your current car and keep it.

 

After market cat $100 on Amazon. Prolong battery reconditioning system $500. Refrigerant $30 can.

I would keep the car. Another used prius would need the same repairs soon, just will have fewer miles. Just drive yours until it dies

 

new custom fit exhaust front end $291 and shipping 2004-2009 Toyota Prius Catalytic Converter - Eastern Catalytic 40712 - - PartsGeek.com

 

I always get cat at muffler shops. They keep them in many sizes in & cut & weld them in place. Much much cheaper.

Maybe $200 total.

I have a 2008, 2010, and 2011 prius. I like the 2008 best. ( gen II).

good luck!

 

Some of you folks aren't listening.
In most places where there is mandatory inspection, they will also physically inspect the exhaust and if it has un-approved parts.......YOU FAIL.
Also there it a timer flag in the computer and if the codes have been reset too recently......YOU FAIL.
It is pretty hard to beat the system........unless maybe you pay off the inspector.

 

If he doesn't live in CA, then he's good with an aftermarket CAT

 

The Cat I listed is legal except in CA, and NY. It will clean the air in those two states as well, it just is not on their approved list. (No Cat is)

 

To be clear, it's not exactly a timer. You have to perform a "drive cycle."

I don't have the drive cycle requirements for the Prius, but for another car I have you need to idle some time, get up to a certain engine temp, accelerate to a certain highway speed, decelerate and coast a while without braking, accelerate again, drive at a lower speed a while, then stop. If you do it all exactly right you can reset the OBD system to "ready" in 30 minutes after clearing codes. If you just drive to church once a week, never get on the highway, it might never reset and you'll have a problem at the test site.

 

The Eastern cat. only lasts about 50,000 miles. I live in NY and it was OK to install on my 2005 Prius. After it failed about 18 months after installation (riddled with holes throughout the system) I went back to the original unit which I saved when it was taken off the car. The Eastern is a good, cheap, short term solution if you are just trying to buy some time but do not expect much. You get what you pay for.

 

No way I'd put $3200 into a car when the same with fewer miles can be had for $4000. Your car might be worth less than $3200. It doesn't make sense financially. My friend said it's a gamble to buy someone else's car or problems. I said look, "1. Your car isn't exactly a gem, it needs $1000's worth of repairs. 2. Once it is repair, you're not a mechanic. Your assessment of your car as more reliable than an unknown used market is to put it kindly, faulty."

Learn to fix it cheaply or buy another car. If you don't have a lot of cash, I wouldn't recommend a $4000 - $5000 Prius. I'd recommend a $4000 Yaris and put the rest in a piggy bank for repairs. You can buy a much newer Yaris for the money and have fewer problems.