2005 (January) Prius with 140,000 miles. Getting 39 mpg (e10 petrol) over 4 miles in town driving at 45f temps. 59 mpg on a long run. What worries me is traction battery failure or abs pump as I'll just scrap the car but buy what next. Would another gen 2 with under 50,000 miles be wise? The age versus mileage debate! So far one new shocker, brake pads and a water pump plus bulbs, wipers and oil changes. A few leaks, steering wheel and window controls not perfect but I can live with it. Original rotors look tired.
Hi all! My name is Kevin and I'm a 19 year old college student and I proudly just bought my first car! It is fact a 2008 Prius! I named her Su, but I get told that I should nickname it Blueberry, due to it's Seaside Blue color looking like a blueberry. Prior to me now owning it, it only had one owner that I met through my job. Not only did she replace the hybrid battery, but she has all of the service records and all of which have been proven. She had told me throughout the test drive how much she loved it and how reliable it has been throughout all 17 years she had it. She's glad she can sell it to someone who will take care of it for as long as I have it. I only bought it for $1,400 and will tell on the features it has! It (the Prius) has 175,122 miles since my last drive today. Features: Beige Leather Navigation Package w/ 6 CD Changer Bluetooth for Calls. H.I.D headlights and halogen foglights Smart-Key Access JBL Audio Auto-Dimming mirror w/ Garage Link Here are some pros and cons about it! Pros: Hybrid Battery replaced Great fuel economy (Average 47-54) Bluetooth for calls work amazingly JBL Audio sounds great If I really try and hypermile, (especially in the city) I can go 35MPH before the engine kicks on. Cons: Due to the "bladder style" fuel tank, when it shows one bar until empty, I can only put 5 gallons in and can only get about 230 miles on a full tank. I wonder if that will improve in the summer. Very rough ride, I do enjoy stiff suspension, but this is too stiff. Climate control in the touch screen, can make it a bit tedious. But I typically just pre-heat the car when warming up and then turn off the heat. Hope you enjoy what I said! I look forward to getting all sorts of replies!
Congrats to the car and welcome. Looks like you have a original package 5 or 6 which are not a common. That's basically what I have too in a 2007. Its a great car and that bladder will change on summer. So that's just normal. Just make sure you have a 4,500 mile oil change and you coolant inverter valve change and a few things and you should be fine!
The bladder (unfairly, in my opinion) gets blamed a lot for problems fuelling, but interestingly, these problems can happen in non-bladder cars too. The NA market is the only one where they implemented the bladder fuel system. One of the ways to damage the fuel system is to top off the fuel tank when refuelling. You should stop fuelling when the pump kicks off. If your car is damaged in this way, it will never work right until it is fixed. I never really use the climate screen in day-to-day use. Everything I need to do, I do using the steering wheel controls. Even fan speed. I just use the temp up/down button to control the fan speed.
Thank you so much! I'm so excited to be here! With you talking about my package, how do you figure that it's not common? Then again, I can't remember the last time I actually saw a fully loaded Prius around, especially the second generation. Good to know about the bladder going away in the summer. I figured as much, but I just wanted to ask here just to be sure. It sure is quite a pain though only getting roughly 230 on a full tank, even if I'm doing city driving. Other than that, I love the car. Been amazing and I can't thank the prior owner enough for selling it to me for remarkably cheap so I can have a good car for college. Coolant inverter valve change? Do you mind explaining what that is? And also, should I do it once I hit 200K, or as soon as I can? Already got the 4,500-5,000 mile oil service intervals set up so we're all good there.
I don't have any issues with it, it just can be quite tedious at times. But that is very interesting how my market (North America) was the only one to do that. I heard it was because of emissions? Nonetheless, it is a very interesting fuel system, and I want to do some further research on it to find out more details, and see what the main cause was of them implementing that. I actually have topped it off once or twice, but thankfully, did no harm. That is good to know for future reference though, so thank you for sharing that! I do use it, but I only use it when I'm warming up the car to "pre-condition" the cabin. Then after 5 minutes, I turn the climate off and engine cuts off as follows. I forget that I have the buttons for up and down on my wheel, so I always press the screen! Lol.
Well I got my car when it was 98,000 miles from the original owner. And from the Toyota dealer trade in department, they were having difficulty identifying the car besides its not a touring but it has pretty much most to all updated accessories that were all done by toyota and they call it the Northwest Package 6 since the car was in Oregon. So I have all of those leather seats, JBL system, navigation, bluetooth, phone connection and address book system, key entry and alarm, camera, TPS on tires so and so forth.... Comparing to the cars today, it is nothing special but it is not a common model because I hardly even saw one, Uts either a touring or standard. ------------------------------ Anyways if your car is getting 45 mpg or up, that means your engine is in very good shape and miraculously getting that kind of MPG in your present mileage which I remember you said 175k. What I would recommend you to pay attention in your car is making it running smooth and safe. The usual thing just use 10/30 synthetic oil and filter in your 175 mileage case and change every 4,500 instead of 5,000. Make sure you have a good transmission oil not over 35,000 miles. Another important thing is making sure nobody steals your catalytic converter. So if you can put a $45 anti theft plate, that will drive away the thieves. You dont wanna lose that original catalytic converter because a replacement will not make your car run the same. Your gas mileage will go down and will be getting an on and off alarm just like what happen to me. The other immediate attention you need to put to your car is making sure your cooling system is running perfect. You don't want it to overheat especially you don't have a factory temperature gauge. Alot of people overheated their Prius without even knowing it till it was too late end up replacing motor and all that. Id put attention in those 3 in the picture which is the coolant inverter valve, coolant exchange valve, thermostat and gasket, flush the whole system and put new coolant. Before you do all of these, get a small telescopic mirror and point it underneath the water pump. if that pump house or shaft is daped or wet, id replace it too including a water pump belt and the idler pulley or the idler pulley bearing. Double check all the lights and brakes if everything is working fine and if the brake fluids are topped and clean. You dont wanna leave that fluid contaminated. Keep your ABS system running smooth. Make sure your tires and tire pressure are all good. You do all of these these things, you'll have a peace of mind in the long run. =--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When I bought my car 8 years ago 98,000 miles, I paid $6,000. The very next day I replaced everything that I know that will possibly give me a bad sign in 100,000 miles. I spent $1,300 for all parts including a brand new set of tires. I put a 195 instead of a 185 x 15. Fast forward today which is 174,000 miles, I never had 1 single problem with my car besides I just recently replaced the tires I put in 8 years ago. Isn't that amazing it ran over 70,000 miles, never been late for work or meeting. I brought in so much revenue in my life because of being consistent and on time and a big part of it was that Prius. ______________________________________________________ You may wanna chime in on some people I know here that helped me out along the way. When I first started on this Prius, I was nervous because I dont have any experience with Hybrid. I just followed the book and what the people I know here I know that are extremely knowledgeable like @Patrick Wong
