Lowest mile Gen 2 Prius. 5,156 miles. Back on the road after sitting 12 years.

In October 2025 I acquired a very unique Barcelona Red 2006 Prius.

It is the lowest mile Gen 2 Prius on the road: as of today it has 5,156 miles on the odometer.

The previous owner only put 5,128 miles on it during its first 7 years of life.

And during those years it was treated to 13 oil changes, going 200 to 700 miles between visits. The last one was in October 2013 at 4,889 miles.

After this oil change, the owner purchased a 2013 Plug-In Prius. The 2006 was parked in the back of the driveway and never driven again.

Over the next 12 years it sat outside on a concrete pad with lichen growing on the exterior, generations of mice coming and going, and generally getting covered with debris.

I acquired it from the original owner when they wanted it out of the driveway. It was not running when I bought it and I have been slowly bringing it back to life.

There is much more to this story like the fact that it also had a $10,000+ Hymotion L5 PHEV pack installed by the Toyota dealership in July of 2009 at 1,522 miles.

For now I have been focusing on the interior, removing mouse nests, cleaning, sanitizing, and generally restoring it.

The engine compartment and exterior are next in the queue.

I have hundreds of photos of my progress.

I wanted to post a bit about it and am happy to answer questions as I add more documentation.

 

I have worked on hybrids and EVs for over 20 years. Definitely have worked on Hymotion systems during that time. Most of the time it was taking them out after they've died for one reason or another.

I hadn't seen any for quite a while. I was really surprised when I opened the back of this car and saw the Hymotion system.

As expected, it wasn't operable. After a lot of troubleshooting and searching through the car and wire harness I found the main problem. Mice had taken up residence *inside* the system itself and chewed off a temperature sensor wire.

Fortunately I have extra Hymotion modules in storage, and I was able to plug in a different temperature sensor to get the system running.
Edited to add a pics, including a pic of one of creators of the Hymotion System, Ricardo Bazzarella (left) and me (right) when he came to Green Drive Expo 2009.

 

When I arrived to pick it up, as expected, the hybrid battery had low voltage, so I used my grid charger to charge and balance the battery pack.

Unbelievably, it tested out just fine. In fact it showed 91% Health using the Dr Prius app's Life Expectancy test.

Pretty amazing for a battery that sat for 12 years.