Prius Prime 2023 - Harsh Weather - Buy or not?

Discussion in 'Gen 5 Prius Main Forum' started by Integraiuse, Jul 27, 2025 at 7:57 AM.

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  1. Integraiuse

    Integraiuse New Member

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    Iraq, Basra
    Vehicle:
    2023 Prius Prime
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Greetings everyone.


    I live in a place where hybrids are the new thing so repair shops are non-existent and spare parts are scarce to find but can be imported from a neighboring country of ours.

    Our weather is very extreme as of writing time of this post, today the temp has been reported to be 52C (125.6F) and water here has high salinity levels (TDS = 1200-1800). Just to give you an idea about how hot it can be under the sun, I work in an oilfield so we design outdoor equipment to handle a minimum of 80C (167F).


    Priuses here are imported salvage titles, I found one with non-compromising side damage, fully functional and fully repaired for (16,000$) with odometer reading 16k km (~9940 miles)


    I'm planning on keeping it for at least 8 years.

    My daily average commute is around 16km (9.94 miles) round trip.

    I have free home charging facilities so I can charge for free (Solar panels with battery storage so I can charge it at night).


    My concerns are the following:


    1- Given that hybrids are new so currently, repair shops are playing monopoly and would charge 10 folds for repairs (assuming they know how to solve your problem). With that being said, will I be able to repair the electrical faults based on available materials online?

    2- Will Prius survive this harsh weather (in terms on battery health, paint integrity...).



    Points worth mentioning:

    1- This may answer the first question but recently (from 2023) there have been an influx of Chinese-made Toyota Corolla Hybrids and they have been doing fine for now (no battery problems, no paint problems.).

    2- I’m planning to do ceramic coating and apply PPF to the front of the vehicle since labor here is cheap (less than 300$ labor costs for full body PPF and 50$ for Ceramic coating labor).
    3- If I buy the car, I would also import its expected consumables so that I minimize my downtime.

    So with all these points given, what would be your suggestion to me?
     
    #1 Integraiuse, Jul 27, 2025 at 7:57 AM
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  2. Winston Smith

    Winston Smith Active Member

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    2024 Prius
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    LE AWD-e
    Is gasoline expensive in Basra?
    How catastrophic would it be for you if the car has a major computer or battery problem you can't get a local to service?

    How often do you get nudged or nudge other vehicles in city traffic? The Prius bumpers are lousy with sensors.

    What is there a lot of that local garages work on? Is $16,000 a good price in that market for a 10,000 mile car?


    In the US not all that long ago, some parts had iffy availability even from dealers. If your environment is freezing cold in the morning and sun adjacent in the afternoon, you might wonder how great your economy would be and how durable the battery system would be. It seems like a worse bet than some other ubiquitous Toyota. If there are still a lot of GM products around, one of those with a monster AC unit might be better.
     
    #2 Winston Smith, Jul 27, 2025 at 10:23 AM
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  3. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2021 Prius Prime
    Model:
    LE
    Welcome.....
    1. You may also want to consider the low ground clearance of that car too. You'll be bottoming out in pot holes and speed bumps. The car is fine on good paved roads, not so much on gravel or uneven dirt. I believe the ground clearance is only 4-5 inches. Something to think about, since you stated that you do some work in the oil fields.
    2. Those salvage cars depend on the workmanship of the salvagers' ability to putting it back together. It was deemed a "total loss" because it was more expensive to repair the car than to replace it! There's NO SUCH thing as a gently wreaked newer car. You may be able to find a gem in an older car (10+ years old), but NOT a newer one. Damage must've been north of 25K+ for an insurance company to total it out. How safe is it to drive and how will it withstand another impact? Will it be loaded up with family members, if that should happen again? Then there's the cost of shipping it over there, plus parts cost. The parts probably get taken off of another wreck, with probably a lot more miles on it.

    Just some food for thought......
     
    #3 BiomedO1, Jul 27, 2025 at 10:51 AM
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  4. Julio_E

    Julio_E Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
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    XSE Premium
    Here's another possible source you can possibly ask. The famous youtuber/Toyota-guru, The Car Care Nut (aka AMD) is originally from Iraq. In this video of his, he mentions this at about 1 minute into the video. If you haven't heard of him, he was a master mechanic at a Toyota dealership before he opened his own repair shop in Chicago, Illinois. He has a boatload of videos re: repairing Toyotas and the like. I remember one video where he worked on an older Land Cruiser from some harsh environment like you mentioned and he may have other relevant videos too.

    Perhaps you can also go to his youtube site and find his other links (including his shop in Chicago, tccnautomotive dot com) and send him a message and/or leave a message at his shop. I recently left a message at his shop inquiring when I can make an appointment and got a response within a week.

     
    #4 Julio_E, Jul 27, 2025 at 1:37 PM
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i would never buy a hybrid to drive 10 miles a day.

    and i would never buy one where repair facilities are scarce if i couldn't seriously diy.
     
    #5 bisco, Jul 27, 2025 at 1:40 PM
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