2008 upgrade to 2013?

The main battery going bad scares me.

I love the car, my wife loves the car. However we have concerns about owning it past 60,000 miles.

 

I did the same thing pretty much- though I went from a 2008 package 5 to a 2012.
the only difference between our 2008's would be that you have leather in a #6 and I had cloth in a #5.
I only had 59k miles. I got 12k in trade in.

I did it for a few reasons:
Toyota of the south east wanted to clear their 2012 stock so were offering 0% apr for 36 months or 1.9% for 48 months. My 2008 was totally paid off and I opted for the 0%. I dont think they are offering that on the 2013s though.

Also I had to justify it all to myself. The dealership tried telling me how great the gas mileage was but I approached them with: I dont care about gas mileage because there is no improvement over my current car. So the other features had to be worth putting myself into debt again.

I didnt just buy a regular 2012, I specifically wanted a red (my 2008 was red) prius IV with deluxe solar.
My one regret with the 2008 was not paying the extra $1000 for leather. I regretted it since I bought it so that was a selling point. I also do long cruises (Florida to NY and back a few times a year) so the HSI and MPH projected on the windshield was another great benefit for me- the solar roof and moon roof were just addons but not my main objective.

So in my case I did what you are considering but my benefits were:
finally getting my leather (even tohugh it is no longer REAL leather)
getting a display in the windsheild
EV/ECO/PWR button
getting 0% apr
plus all the other addons like: moon roof, larger touch screen, solar option

Now keep in mind you will LOSE your HIDs and your fog lights. I was so upset at the poor quality of the 2012 headlights I installed after market HIDs and am in the process of putting in fogs now.

If you arent getting a deluxe solar package your touch screen will be smaller than what is in your 2008, you wont be getting any of the extras that I listed (except the standard ev\eco\power button and leather if you get a package that includes it which is different than the solar package)and you probably cannot get 0% apr. In other words, the added benefits for yu may be much smaller so would it be worth it? Only you can answer of course.... you will get a renewed warranty, a 1.8L engine instead of a 1.5L so more power but it was easier for me to pull higher MPG in my 2008 than it is now-

Anyway, thats all I can think to say on this

 

If you add a Zero, I agree. 600,000 seems a bit long. It would be pointless to worry before 100,000 miles in the US as the battery has a 100% warranty to 100,000 miles. (or 150,000 miles in some states)

 

It is possible you would get 5 MPG more in the 2013 than the 2008. It would take a LOT of miles (and you do not seem to have been putting on a lot of miles) to make up the purchase price of a car.

When repair costs per month exceed car payments, it makes sense to trade up.

 

Now of course... if you go for a prius III V (not a prius V, the top configuration of the liftback) you will get the LED headlights and fogs. I am not sure what is standard and what comes with the advanced technology package but between the two you can get dynamic cruise control, the windshield projection, the larger screen, the ability for the car to park itself, the lane warning thing where it reads the reflectors in the road ect ect. It also have larger wheels and a different turn radius. It is kind of in a class all by itself but then I think cost comes into pla. For me a fully loaded IV with the deluxe solar was like $100 more than the base V (again not prius V, the III V). So with everything the V would have been pushing 40k when it was all said and done. They also lose value the fastest.

 

Not only that, but a battery replacement out of pocket is like what 3k? 5k? IF it fails. taking on debt of another ~20k for a new III - the trade in to get similar to his 2008, if it was strictly being done out of the fear of the battery failing than it would have to fail a few times over to justify the added debt.

 

I can only advise you that Toyota no longer uses any roman numerals and that both c and v models are lower case. Did you mean to say:

Otherwise you have confused me more than usual.

 

Re-manufactured Battery packs are about $2000 including labor.
Remanufactured Hybrid Vehicle Battery Packs

 

ok now I am confused too. a few months ago when I went shopping they have:
Prius C (which had a I, II, III, IV configuration)
Prius "Lift back" (which had a I, II, III, IV, V configuration)
Prius V (never looked into the configurations)
Then there were packages that you could buy only only certain packages for certain models.

Ok I just checked Toyota. They still use the number classification but they just call I a one, II a two, III a three, IV a four and V a five for the liftback.

So in the post I made earlier I was saying I bought a Prius four with deluxe solar and you can get a lot more options for a lot more money buying a Prius five with technology package

 

i wanted a pip, so i gave my 08 to our daughter and sold her 04 to put toward the pip. the 04 had 100,000 miles plus several accidents, so, i felt it was time to go. would i have done it for a regular gen III? i don't think there is enough difference to make it worthwhile. and i'm not a fan of the flying bridge. i have gotten used to it, but i think they could have made much better use of the space.

 

The 2010 Prius were the last to use Roman numerals. Starting with 2011 it has been Hindu-Arabic, or written out.

It would have been easy if Toyota had not gone insane and named the station wagon the v in North America.

 

agreed.

 

Why? Have a look at the 100,000 mile, 200,000 mile club postings. Many have checked in with very few repairs and original battery. Consumer Reports tested a 2004 Prius with over 200k on it, and it got only 1 mpg less while still on original hybrid battery.

You ought to get your transaxle fluid changed by 60,000 miles which is not listed in owner's manual. Seriously.

 

If you are happy living with your 2008 Prius, you ought to just keep it.

I find the 3rd generation Prius just a little underpowered. It has enough power to get up and over a hill, but it's a bit of a chore for it.

Look at the all new Camry Hybrid - 200 total HP and the car gets about 40 mpg average. It seems to me the next gen Prius out to be over 150 total HP and not gain much weight in the process.

So, what I'm saying is hang out for 3 to 5 years and hope for a great upgrade in the 4th gen Prius. I still think 3rd gen Prius is a decent improvement over the 2nd gen, but I've got to say the car has a way to go until it can approach the driveability of the Camrys and Accords out there.

 

I'm pretty sure there is a concensus to have a Prius transaxle fluid changed by 60k miles to be 'on safe side'.

The job is not a big deal, except the fluid is a little expensive per quart, and I would only have Toyota dealership do it with the exact right fluid.

Research it out and I believe you will find it true.

 

The Transaxle fluid cools the Motor Generators, which also have about 550 volts of electricity flowing through them. As the fluid picks up suspended metals, there is an increased likelihood of a short circuit in the Motor Generators. New fluid has no suspended metals, and only Toyota's fluid is sure to be an electrical insulator. Having the dealer do this should be around $100, as a DIY you need 4 Quarts of Toyota's ATF WS and two washers, for about $40.