Considering buying a gen 2 Prius. Need advice.

So hopefully you cant get off your know it all high horse. Come down to reality and accept the fact that you do not have a clue what your talking about and whoever you are getting your information from is wrong. I recently joined this site to help teach others outside of toyota to diagnose and fix these cars with very detailed write ups. This entire drive line in this 09 prius is being replace video documented and will have a posted youtube video by the end of next week to show exactly what needs to be done to remove the drive line from a second gen which my personal opinion is probably one of the easiest engine/trans swaps ive done. The owner destroyed the engine after the planetry gears locked up and mg1 wasnt not able to start the engine because the input shaft from engine to mg1 to the sun gear became one solid fused part with mg2 and the final drive gear. Causing thw engine to crank at mg2 speeds while he drove 8 miles until the battery died causing heaving rod and main bearing damages to the engines crank shaft for inproper oil pressure to said parts. So i was lucky and the owner i found a power split unit for $90 here in Pennsylvania im finding used engines with 90-120k miles for around $300-700 and the power split units on avg $200 from salvage yards. I got lucky and got the power split unit for $90 with 130k miles on it so its almost dead on the 09s miles. And an functions and by toyota standards is deemed a healthy unit. Again im a certified hybrid tech for toyota and am here to share my experiences and help others diagnose fix and properly maintain a prius to last a long worth while life.

 

ROFLMAO!!!

I am misinformed????

Let's take your assumptions regarding a Gen2 Prius Transmission one at a time, shall we?

1) That is a "slipper clutch".... really?

Slipper clutches are used on High Performance Motorcycles, that is NOT a slipper clutch. If you had sense enough to use the Toyota Workshop Manual as a reference, you would know that is nothing more than a "dampened hub". It is NOT a clutch of any sort, even Toyota calls it a dampener.

2) Prii operate with HIGHER than normal ATF temperatures. For starters, let us establish we agree to what "normal is", as most OEMs consider 170*F -190*F to be "operating temperature" for ATF. Now that we know "normal" ATF temperatures range between 160*F and 190*F, we can address your silly assumption that:

You obviously have no data to support that claim, because unlike modern automatic transmissions, Toyota did not equip the Prius with a Transmission Fluid Temperature sensor. However, you are in luck, one of the PC member did modify his car to have one so the data to evaluate your claims is in the public domain.

Aw shucks, he never even achieved 145*F! So there goes your assumption that Prii have ATF that is hotter, much less TWICE as hot as normal.

Damn.

 

Meckkush--how many miles did that customer put on his car without changing engine and transmission fluid?

And that's disconcerting to hear that some Toyota dealerships are charging customers for a New battery pack, but really only installing a rebalanced one. Do you think that is widespread?

 

I've owned my 2006 Prius for one year. First of all, I highly recommend spending the $100 – $150 to have it checked over by a good Toyota dealership. They will undoubtably find at least one small issue but not to worry. It could be as minute as a very small leak in the water pump casing. It doesn't necessarily need to be repaired as you can keep checking the water and it may only need to add a few drops every couple of months but you'll be able to use that as ammunition to have the seller lower the price by $700-$1000. That's the main reason that I always get a car checked before purchase. I've been a mechanic and automotive wholesaler for 50 years but if you have a certified Toyota mechanic to do the checking, it carries much more weight and you have much more ammo. Believe me it works every time and if there is something wrong with that car they certainly will find it. Don't cut corners by saving money with a non-certified Toyota hybrid mechanic. They can also check the high-power battery for you and give an estimate as to how long it will last. Also, the starting battery in a Toyota Prius is not a common battery and is not cheap either. The Life of a HP Prius battery is not so much the miles on it but the weather condition is a more significant factor. i.e. if car's been left out in the sun for extended periods of time opposed to the miles. Taxicabs in Canada are getting 500,000 miles off of one hp battery. Heat is not good for them and from what I understand the Prius has basically the bulletproof Corolla engine but it's not under such wear because the Prius runs a lot on battery power as a helper and it shuts off at stoplights extending the life of the Corolla engine even farther than it being in a Corolla. You can greatly increase your gas mileage on a Prius, opposed to non-hybrid cars, by not using the air-conditioner unless absolutely needed. At 27 mph, non-use of the air-conditioner and starting out very easily, I've gotten over 83 miles per gallon, really! The way I normally drive I get between 34 and 42. I love my Prius. It's the best car I've ever owned. You can't beat the technology. My next car will probably be a newer Prius. I hope this helped you. I was being totally honest.


iPad ?

 

I just bought a 2007 Prius. $CAD 2500, which I think is a very good price for one in southern Ontario, Canada. 283k km. Before I bought, I browsed the forums for common failures and noted these:
... Water pumps
... Traction battery
... 12v battery
... Burning oil

This one had a bad 12v battery that would not hold a charge, that cost 97 cents in distilled water to revive!
I don't know the state of the traction battery, but test driving it with the seller I could at least see it was recharging while driving (I'm sure that means almost nothing) but before buying I heard of people swapping individual cells, and now I'm also encouraged by the details the other poster posted in this thread about doing that. So I'm actually not worried if the traction battery is bad or about to die.
This Prius has the transmission replaced, and now I see from this thread maybe he didn't change the tabs trans fluid. So at least I have a new transmission.

Anyway, I have 8 days to get a full vehicle safety and that will tell me other issues. I've driven it about 300 kms so far, no issues except noisy brakes, I think from the brakes sitting and rusting so long. Brakes are getting better all the time which supports the theory.

Maybe you can answer this: do you want to invest in a good mechanic, or invest in personal DIY knowledge and a bunch of tools to do driveway maintenance? I chose the latter. I want to know everything that could go wrong, and how to fix it (hopefully I don't have to open up the motor!).
This is my first hybrid, it was a familiar as a space ship with my first test drive! Lots of learn about it still.
I've gotten 4.9 L/100 km in mixed city/highway driving so I'm very happy with my purchase so far. Time will tell!
Peter


Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Regarding the "common failures" you wrote, the water pump is a known potential issue, and if it fails on you by the end of 2017, Toyota will replace it for free. Traction batteries are not a very common failure on the Prius - you have roughly a 1 in 33 chance of that happening. The 12v battery is the thing that seems to be the most common issue when it fails, as it tends to generate a lot of problem lights that don't really apply. Most people suggest changing the 12v battery every 4-5 years or so to ensure it won't cause any problems. And the oil burning has been theorized to be caused by wear on rubber gaskets designed to keep the system sealed. One idea that could potentially help prevent such gasket degradation is to consistently use high mileage or synthetic oil.

I've had my Prius since December and it's treated me well. The only complaint I have is the traction control is oversensitive, and can get triggered by bumps or potholes, which makes it difficult to brake quickly when on bumpy roads. Other than that, I've been very happy with mine, and I hope you'll enjoy yours just as much!

 

If you know you'll be replacing the traction battery, I would get a new one from Toyota to put in. You could still save money and install it yourself (if you don't mind giving up the warranty), and it will last much longer than any salvaged or rebuilt battery.

 

it's not a fixed price, but $3,500. installedseems to be a popular figure. if you go with a rebuilt to save money, it's hit or miss, and even with a hit, they're usually only good for a few years. dorman is a good one, $1,400. plus local install, maybe another $3-500., but still has a lot of failures. and even while it's still under warranty, you have to pay for labor every time it carps out.

 

You can buy a new OEM Toyota battery for $1950 or so from Toyota of Olathe Kansas. I would imagine other dealerships around the country can get close to that price. If you live near Dallas, Texas Hybrid batteries will install a new one for $2500--again OEM new.

If I were in your shoes, I think that's actually a good buy. $1600+ 2600 would make it a $4200 Prius with a NEW HV battery, good for 10 years or more!

The only bad thing about a 2005 is that I don't think stability control or side head airbags were available on those, but I could be wrong.

 

Less miles? Yes. Decent amount of battery life left? That's an assumption. We're getting new owners of used pri showing up here everyday who paid around $3-5K who are in the same boat.

 

couple things here; the only remanufactured batteries toyota sells are all new cells in an old case. that's almost as good as new.
second, you're right about proper battery rebuilding being time consuming. but even then, there are still a lot of old modules that can go out of voltage parameter. that's why no one here can tell you, 'buy this rebuilt battery, and you won't have any trouble for x years'. it can't be done, and is only as good as the warranty, and the company standing behind it.
as far as diy, that's your cheapest option, but you'll likely be taking it out, rebuilding it, and putting it back in fairly often.

 

I question the credentials of the lone wolf claims above by member Meckkush. A number of things claimed by him do not gel for someone who claims to be a "certified Toyota hybrid tech". We have a number of independents who buy and install Toyota OEM HV batteries and a number of certified hybrid techs as members here on PC. If it were true that the new HV battery, with part# 82164-47060, was in fact some kind of refurb, then we would have known about this for some time. This is the first time it has been claimed outright that the new battery is not intact a new battery. There is a refurb sold by Toyota in California that is refurbished by a 3rd party "on behalf of" and carries the part# 82164-47060-84. It is also labelled as remanufactured. I would take the claims above with a grain of salt unless actual proof is supplied.

Final note the $3500 price is the retail installed (by Toyota) price. The counter price is significantly cheaper than that.

 

150 miles is a significant distance for a car with a bad battery. I'd tow it if it needs to go that far. If you have AAA Plus, you can get them to tow the car up to 200 miles.