Gen 3 or Gen 4

Have prices changed in used Prius in past 6 months in Michigan area? Out here on the West Coast used Prius for sale have become rare and the prices for them are soaring higher than I ever thought possible.

 

beyond the head gasket is oil burning and the brake actuator. if i could afford it, i would definitely go with gen4.
almost everything about it is better except some models don't get a spare. no major problems that i recall reading.

 

Gen4 has fixed almost all issues. Worth the money.

The early gen3 models had design flaws in the pistons and piston rings (2015 hatchback and 2015-17 v wagon gen3s have revised rings), a very poor egr cooler design (completely redesigned in gen4s), a flawed brake by wire system (Toyota unlimited support until Dec 31), an inverter flaw (still has years of support), all resulting in an excessive number of vehicles that burn oil, blow head gaskets, clog egrs, lose normal braking or strand you with a failed inverter. Usually over 150k miles. Many get several failures before the expected "normal" high expense occurs, eg the hybrid battery replacement.

Best advice for a reliable low operating cost used car? A Corolla, Civic, Accord or Camry.

 

Besides fixing the Gen three issues already mentioned, the Gen 4 is more fuel efficient and way more comfortable. But it has fewer storage cubbies for small items.

 

I think gasoline is up recently, and Prius prices tend to track that.

I remember the year I bought my first Prius, around March of 2008. That was the year gas went over $4 by around June. If I had wanted to sell right then I could have cleared $3k over what I had paid for the car in March. I held on to it.

One of my favorite things about the car is the gas-price-insurance aspect. It lets me say that whatever does or doesn't happen with gas prices, I care about one third as much as I cared in the thing I was driving before.