2008 Prius, 105k Miles: Clearcoat Advice and Hybrid Battery Questions

IMHO; as long as you keep driving it around a few times a week, you should be fine. The worst thing you can do to it is to leave it parked and unused for long periods (>40 days).

 

one of the best prius years, and just broken in at 105k, i would hang on. that doesn't mean you won't have any large expenses down the road, but they will still be smaller than buying a new car.
keep 5k aside for potential emegencies like battery, brake actuator and etc.
if money is an issue, don't spend it on cosmetics.
keep up with all scheduled maintenance by time, not miles.
does she burn any oil between 5k changes?

 

Keep the 2008 Prius if the engine uses minimal or no oil between OCI. Keep your OCI to around 5K and if you average around 7600 miles annually that's about an oil change every 9 months. That LA sunshine is probably pretty harsh on the clearcoat over the years. Look to doing basic maintenance items at 105K if these things have not been done yet: struts and shocks, spark plugs, engine and inverter coolant replacement, brake fluid replacement, transmission fluid replacement, engine air filter, cabin air filter, and getting the hybrid battery cooling fan cleaned.The most important piece of advice for your Prius being in California: protect that catalytic converter (probably still original) as best as you can.

 

Sounds too good to be true. One doesn't normally just "redo the clear coat". Typically the car is prepped (a ton of sanding, taping, wiping off dust, and so forth), repainted, and new clear coat put on at the end of that. Much labor, so many $. The cost of the paint is a small fraction of the total price. That will cost about $5k (plus or minus a couple of thousand). It is possible to save some money by prepping the car yourself, but that is lot of work.

If the clear coat is just starting to go, and hasn't flaked off anywhere, then I guess one could spray over the old clear coat. Still going to take a lot of prep to get it ready for that.

So...

I would find out exactly how (step by step) that shop plans on redoing the clear coat. Then ask other shops what they would charge, or if they would do it that way at all.

Putting on my geezer hat...

When I was a lad, before cars had clear coat, maintaining a car's paint was labor intensive but repairing a car's paint was much less so. The paint would oxidize, so to prevent that one had to keep the car waxed. If despite the wax the paint oxidized one would strip the wax, polish off the oxidization, and wax again. Eventually one would get down to the primer or even the metal, and the car would need to be repainted. Which was much less work since after a little sanding one could paint over everything. With clear coat maintaining the car is less work, as the paint won't oxidize, but once the clear coat goes, fixing that is really expensive. Also painting the car wasn't as dangerous. There are some really toxic chemicals in clear coat, so that serious safety gear is required, and those toxins were not present in those older paints.

 

Cheaper to keep her.

 

In two years it will be 20 which is old especially for a high technology car. I would be saving for an upgrade; perhaps a 22 Rav4 hybrid or a 23 Corolla Cross hybrid.

Expect the brake booster/actuator to go, a $2k or more essential braking system with no aftermarket options.

If it is burning oil between 5k oil changes, maybe a 1/2 qt or more, you risk clogging the very expensive catalytic converter. Obviously a thief taking the cat is just as bad, especially in California where you have to buy oem for several thousand.

Obviously the hybrid battery will go at anytime.

Other than those concerns, there are other smaller things that can go wrong.

I agree verifying the paint quote is important. If the only loss of clear coat is on the plastic spoiler (common) then a quality repaint/clear coat can fix that for maybe $500.

So having a cash reserve is a good idea. Some like to knock current cars as expensive but everyone of them now have highly functional safety systems included standard; something worth upgrading to because accidents are often devastating and avoiding the worst outcomes can be priceless. You know reliability is essential in an area like Socal.

It would be smart to aim for a replacement in the next two years.

 

Hybrid battery replacement costs tend to be in the $3000-$4000 range, but I wouldn't worry about it unless yours is showing signs of failure (drastically lower fuel efficiency, charge meter bouncing rapidly from empty to full and back, decreased power, etc)

Your car is a bit older than the average Prius age at end of life according to Life Expectancy of the 75 Most Popular Vehicle Models in USA (16 years), which means it will develop problems. But since you're in southern California, you don't have to worry about rust. And that's a big factor in your advantage. So I'd recommend a hybrid (ha!) of ETC(SS)'s and rjparker's responses: save up for expenses and eventually a replacement, but keep the car and enjoy it until something major breaks.