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Why is the 07,08 much worse then the 09 when similar cars?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by ebikeman, Oct 9, 2023.

  1. ebikeman

    ebikeman Junior Member

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    I was told by a Prius expert, the differences between an 07-09 are, "not much." They look real similar, many of the parts are the same.

    When looking at problems, (besides the disaster 2010), the 07 and 08 are by far the worst (series 2.)

    Number of Complaints;

    07, 2,394
    08, 1,825
    09 596

    Are these car years similar? What causes so much of a difference in complaints in similar years?

    Thank you,
    ebm
     
  2. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    Where's this complaint data coming from? And what relevance would it have for (roughly) 15 year old cars?

    Toyota produced almost 1.2 million Gen2 Prius my 2004 to 2009(ish). A few thousand complaints sounds like a tiny - tiny sample of that total.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Yeah again I would like to know where all these numbers are coming from The generation 2 Prius is one of the lowest maintenance vehicles ever made on the planet even next to the Corolla so I'm not sure I'm understanding the hub bub here. The two Z engine introduction started a whole nother era for Toyota that I would not want to really be a part of personally this is one of the first times in Toyota History that I remember since 1968 the Toyota kind of really flubbed up. But looking at the numbers for the car you would really never know that till you own one and it breaks and it cost you thousands of dollars but then again all cars cost you thousands of dollars when they break now hence one of the reasons I don't really get into that realm of much of anything after 2009 I just don't do it personally because then you'll be spending money to keep up with the Joneses or spending money to get out of that whole realm of your life either way it's costing you and if you can't do anything at all then it's really costing you.
     
  4. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    An excellent and often-ignored point. The past 15 years of use and storage will have had more influence on the remaining utility and value of each of these individual cars than anything Toyota did to them during production.
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    Those differences are statistically irrelevant
     
  6. txexplorer

    txexplorer Junior Member

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    2008 has the most complaints but the complain is for a headlight assembly.

    It's only a few hundred complaints, and you look at other years of prius the complaints are for much more serious issues. I have a 2008 and I love it.
     
  7. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    Wow, hardly any complaints. Loved my "Eight," Had no real problems except for the rear hatch "sticky" rubber problem and the leaking hatch -- which Toyota should have done a recall on.

    Of course, as production of the same model continues year after year, you would hope the maker would be making some fine-tuning each production year based on problems observed in previous years (does that make sense?).
    kris
     
  8. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    That's kind of funny shows you how these things are subjective because the headlights on the Prius I'm not sure I haven't read any of this I don't know what they were complaining about poor light output so on and so forth or installing new bulbs maybe? The trunk gasket seal and problem is just the way the car is assembled The metal is folded that gunk they put in between the body panels as they're putting the car together to stop leaking the stuff that cracks. All cars have that for the most part so. Usually when I have leaks which is very rare in any of the generation twos here in North Carolina I usually open the trunk make sure that the trunk well the lip area where the gasket goes is whistle clean and the same color as the car I clean the gasket while doing this then I pull the gasket off and I clean it separately on both sides let it dry in the sun and put it back exactly as it was on with the seam where the two strips were joined together goes down where the trunk latch is You can even add a little glue to the edge that lays in the well or urethane or whatever makes you happy put that down Make sure the trunk seal is square and straight close the trunk for an hour let the polyurethane set It's the same stuff they put on windshields black. Usually that's ended the trunk leaks for the rest of the time I own the car.
     
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    I loved my 08. Some said the headlights were dim, I didn’t notice,
    I only had package two, I wonder if the loaded packages had HID or something
     
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  10. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    When I mention the leaky hatch, I am referring to the hairline cracks that appeared -- oh, gosh, I am having a "kris" moment -- at the top of the car, around where the weather stripping stopped.

    Water leak in hatch area | PriusChat

    The headlights were a PIA to replace, but other than that I did not have any issues with them.

    The hatch sticky thing was:
    Fixing your Trunk Release - Sticky Time? | PriusChat

    I guess I hated the circus involved in turning off the nag light after an oil change. The "nappy" fabric on the center console -- I "fixed that" by buying a leather "cap" for it that fitted it perfectly and looked great and was "only" $30 USD.

    Of course, the rear 12v threw me for a loop. I only had to replace it once in 12 years, but it took me nearly two hours -- of course I was a big chicken and took it very slowly,
    kris
     
  11. ski.dive

    ski.dive Active Member

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    Who comes up with these BS statements ;)=The GEN. 2 PRIUS IS THE BEST PRIUS
     
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  12. ebikeman

    ebikeman Junior Member

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    The statistics are from many different sources which are all consistent. Because you don't like it, doesn't change it. If your looking for a used car, the amount of reported problems are VERY RELEVANT.

    With all respects to the reply's, and I thank you for all the reply's, this sounds like the 2010 guy. I keep on seeing real nice, low mile 2010 for cheap. Statistically, the 2010 has a lot more head gasket problems. That's not an opinion, that's not "BS statistics", that's a statistical fact. We have data on it. I kept running 2010 models with "new head gasket".

    The 2010 guy got mad and said those statistics are not true, Any car can break down or blow a head gasket. It's not just a 2010. That may be true, but it is a statistical fact, 2010 had a lot more head gasket problems. It's very relevant if yo don't want to have a head gasket problem, so I'm avoiding the abundance of cheap 2010 models that keep showing up.

    It doesn't matter what we think, or want to believe, there was a huge jump in the 07,08 problems and then dropped significantly in 2009. Then a huge amount of reported complaints in the 2010. Statistically, the 2010 is the most reported problems of any Prius year. Again, that's not a BS statistic or irrelevant, it's a fact.

    I've seen this before, people who don't know the answer will post all kinds of things, then a person who knows the answer will post and come up with a accurate answer.

    Just an example; Someone posts, why does a 2010 have more head gasket problem than a 204 - 2009? You get answers like, that's statically irrelevant. I don't know where the BS comes from, it doesn't' matter. I have a 2010 with no head gasket problems.

    Then, a person posts, The 2010 model used a different engine. It was redesigned so it's not the same motor. It uses a electric water pump, no belt. Because it's electric, it slows down with more miles which makes it run hot and blows head gaskets.
    So in this example, their may be an answer, we just haven't found it yet.

    So with all the people so far, do we know that all the 06-09 cars are all the same, they didn't change parts manufactures or suppliers? How close in design/parts are 06-09s?

    I really mean it, thank you for the reply's. I appreciate it very much.

    ebm
     
  13. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    If you want some meaningful answers, it would help if those numbers were broken down enough to know what specific issues (or groups of issues) were the basis of the complaint/report. The numbers on their own don't mean a whole lot to most except to state the obvious.
     
    bisco likes this.