(New Prius Owner) Any Suggestions on fixing Beat-up 2005.

fluctuation like that means you have a module out of voltage range in the hybrid battery. the whole battery needs to be rebuilt or replaced.
the battery in the hatch is the one that is usually under the hood.
had you ever checked the oil level since buying the car?
imo, if you can get it running without codes, i would sell it and get a non hybrid like corolla or civic.
if your job doesn't pay enough to afford a decent car, it may be time to look around.

 

From what you described in post #1, it sounds like you have a problem with the hybrid battery. Also, if the engine oil was full after the oil change was done, you are burning a lot of oil. You should check the oil level at every gas fill-up. I hope you did not pay much for the car.

 

Agreed really sounds like it needs a new battery, and that can be the tip of the iceberg with these.

Beware: An old Prius is an expensive choice- you wind up paying dollars for repairs so you can save pennies at the pump.

You're in Southern California, so you should learn about Hybrid Pitstop in Buena Park. They are a great resource for hybrid owners out there.

 

The sudden (maybe) oil use is because you changed the type of oil it normally ran on and it is cleaning out a lot junk .... the problem is, that junk might have been keeping the oil eating in check ...... that will either settle down over a few oil changes ..... or not ..... meaning the engine isn't going to come good any time soon.

My recommendation, get a reco hybrid battery and see how it runs after that and if the oil use issues settles or not as to whether you keep it and put a genuine battery in when that one starts to give trouble, or you pass it on to someone else. The high milage is nothing if it was maintained with regular oil changes and filters, if it was driven and neglected ..... that's another story ......
My ex taxi '08 Prius has the equivalent of 450,000 miles on the clock, I retired it for parts to keep my '06 iTech Prius running. I could put it back on the road without a lot of work or $$ but we have 14 cars and only 2 of us to drive them, we no longer have our workshop (burnt to the ground) so we don't need a work vehicle that gets more abused than treated with respect carting heavy loads and stuff that doesn't treat the interior well at all ...... we have a '92 model 6 cyl Ford for that .... can't kill that thing with a stick, just the fuel costs are eye watering ..... our primary vehicle now is an MG 4 EV, fuel costs at the moment average $0.00.34cents a mile gotta love an EV and good solar

T1 Terry

 

These cars are not immortal. At 200K miles stuff goes. Engines, if not properly cared for. Batteries, both 12V and traction. ABS pumps, inverter pumps, wheel bearings are the most common stuff. From the description I would plan on a thousand bucks to make it reliable for your use. That is a wild a$$ guess though. Find a good independent hybrid shop, not a dealer. They should be able to give you a list of must and should items.

 

If it's had full synthetic oil in it since new, I would worry much about engine wear. I've been using synthetics for over 30 years and never had an engine wear out, even after 400,000 kms.

 

One thing that hasn't happened in this thread yet is posting the actual codes, not what somebody or something said the codes meant. When you post the codes, we can look up what they mean, but it's harder to go backwards from something somebody told you they meant to guessing what your actual codes were. (Sometimes that can be a bit of a puzzle ... there isn't a code that says to clean the battery, for example.)

I agree with others that the symptoms suggest an issue with the traction battery. I still wouldn't mind seeing the codes.

 

Burning two quarts of oil in less than 3,000 miles is bad. 95% needs a rebuilt engine for reliability. Continued operation will eventually a) run the engine out of oil and or b) clog up your very expensive catalytic converter (if it's not bad already).

The hybrid battery is also 95% bad. A repaired, rebuilt or reconditioned hybrid battery might be less money than new but will be unreliable.

Auto supply code readers do not tell the story on a hybrid battery and even the best scanners can not diagnose oil burning. Rapid oil use without a pool of oil underneath is conclusive.

Have a hybrid experienced shop check these items.

A realistic cost to fix the above is $7,500.

This what I would do

 

The next time the Red triangle appears, you need to read the trouble codes and post them in this thread. You probably have a P0A80 code.

 

op's update, post #9 for anyone following along:06-prius-95k-mi-while-driving-it-seems-to-go-into-neutral.204608