Need new rear bearings; is it time for a new Prius?

In the chassis department not necessarily 2K for rear bearings I didn't look to see where you are If you're in the rust belt well they could need some serious slugging with a big hammer I mean wheel bearings are just wear items and these planned obsolescence vehicles they can go out a little faster than what some of us are used to seeing but in the grand scheme of things I shouldn't be anywhere near 2K and TRQ bearings I use are about $49 a pop or something for each side of the rear so let's say a hundred bucks $120 to my door for the two and the rest of the 1700 and some odd dollars is labor seriously well if that's where we are that's where we are everybody better be getting the floor jack and what have you You think this is not going to happen on your electric vehicle or whatever you buy next can't see that being realistic wheel bearings on 5,000 lb or so pieces of machinery are going to wear out whether it's a tractor an automobile you're zero turn mower It's just a thing and now that things are being built so that they'll only last a certain amount of time well there you go then making these things so they can all fail closely given the engine problems a lot of these things have between the mileage you're at now and say maybe 190ish personally with a three I might be looking to get out soon so keep the repairs maybe to a minimum because I don't know these don't seem to be keepers like can't be

 

I would say there are opportunities for even more costly repairs coming up based on what people report here, so my opinion is yes, it's time to let it go and get something else. Especially since you can afford it, unlike many others who hang on and end up with even more expensive repairs later.
If you decide to keep it a while longer, no way wheel bearings should be that much. I recently replace on (front) myself for under $100 in the back yard. (Turned out to be the tire making the noise though, the bearing was fine). Take it to an independent shop for an estimate.

 

If you did the front right the rears should be not any harder. I shopped around for daughters Camry. It seems even Moog is made in PRC but probably at their own factory there. The rest seem remarkably the same. The cost is low for the factory assembled loaded bearing, if you are willing to do the labor. No need to try and press the bearing in.

 

I've done one front and one rear... the front was a lot harder for me - used an air hammer.

For the front, I used a $60 Mevotech, but for the rear I used a $90 NSK - excellent quality.

 

Have a look at the rear suspension. It's quite exposed, even without the rear being raised. If you can raise it all the better. Get some good light in there (or use flash on your phone/camera). Maybe post the pics here too.

 

The point is, he wants advice on whether to let it go and get something else, not how to replace a bearing or whether there is rust underneath.

 

It kind of comes down to the individual person's own $ threshold for "give up and get another car".

For something simple like a bearing, it probably wouldn't be close to my threshold if I planned to just buy it and swap it myself, but it could be a closer call if I were looking at a $2k quote from a dealer.

 

$40,000 for a new car, plus insurance, or $2000 for bearings????
Seems simple to me since you said can't afford it.
Independent place would be the least expensive. Unless you do it yourself.

You NEVER need a torch to remove them!! NEVER! Just a big hammer and punch
to rotate he hub and rust penatrant to free it up. It just takes patience.

Bottom line is, what do YOU want to spend the money on?

I've got 350,000 miles on my 2010 Prius. Just cleaned the egr system. Nice to have that
spare cooler already cleaned! I'm waiting for the intake manifold to dry so I can reinstall it.
I also replaced the transfluid and coolant.

 

I would start shopping around for a new car and compare that to the future possibilities of battery, brake actuator, inverter, head gasket and etc., which may prove very costly at a dealer if bearings are two grand.
Fwiw, I traded my 2012 with 87k when the engine started misfiring.