1/3 million miles, 2 clutches slipping

If the clutch is oil soaked and already slipping it would not be reliable. On long hills it's going to over heat and then you're stuck.

I'd sell the battery and inverter out of the car and call it a day if it were mine or look for a lower miles classic and use it for parts.

 

We are neighbors and have chatted briefly about this:

Driving 1,100 miles in a 13 year old car with 333,000 miles is an adventure. I have done similar trips in the past but with tools and expectations that the trip may involve an on-the-road repair. Pay me now or pay me later, older cars replace payments with payments of another kind, repairs. So in 1972, I drove from Coffeyville KS to Fond Du Lac WI to San Francisco CA to Las Angles CA in 1963 VW MicroBus. But I also carried spare parts, tool box, and manual. So in Salt Lake City, I parked in an RV ground, removed a failing alternator, took a City bus to an alternator shop, and the next day, picked it up and put it back in. But a Prius is a little more difficult to repair on the road, especially if it requires removing the engine to replace the torque limiter.

If you can locate a clueful shop at the destination or near the route, see if you can negotiate a repair visit. But as a fall-back, rent something (aka., Enterprise) to do the trip and leave the car at a local shop to repair. This widens the range of repair shops.

The advantage of a local repair is sometimes you can find a way to 'work-share' the repair. There are 'rent-a-bay' shops that allow owner engine swaps with the heavy tools needed to do the job. In this case, schedule one day to remove, half-a-day to repair, and; one day to reinstall. So when I returned from overseas, I found the engine was burned out and rebuilt it in a week. Other than using a bad case sealant, it worked and I drove it until it could no longer steer or stop safely.

Find another 2 x $2k car that gets 2001 mileage or $4k for 2001 Prius equivalent mileage. But older cars are unreliable so our 2003 Prius has:

• replacement inverter water pump - with 160,000 miles, I occasionally hear to pump rubbing sound
• need to replace radiator coolant - never been replaced
• probably time to replace the spark plugs, again, and PVC valve

But our second car is a 2010 Prius that just passed 50,000 miles. That is the car we use for long distance, highway trips.

Bob Wilson

 

I got a call from the OP who just bought a 2008 Prius and is very happy. The only problem, just one key fob.

I notice there are several threads about getting a second key fob ranging from ~$400 for a dealer unit(???), an SKS versus ordinary, to requiring the same model year. Dealing with NHW20 key fobs is not something I have any expertise. Would you'll have a recommendation one which thread is factually accurate?

FYI, the OP bought the Chinese miniVCI but hasn't worked on getting the software up and running. Would that be part of the solution?

Thanks,
Bob Wilson

 

Bob,
The "sticky" thread in the Gen II Prius Main Forum is as accurate as accurate can be. If you could pls have the OP use that and report the results, that would be great. If any problems arise, PM me and I will help.
How to Program a New Key Fob for Full SKS Functionality | PriusChat

Thanks