500,000 km 2008 Prius Taxi

I recently went over 500,000 km on one of my Prius taxi's. I have 3 2008 Prius and one 2010 Prius. With each car saving me 8 to $10,000 a year on fuel they have been a great investment.
The car has been very reliable and gives me peace of mind that I don't have to worry about it breaking down. About the only part I have had to replace on a regular basis is the wheel bearings and mostly the passenger side. I quickly figured out that the bearings I was getting from Toyota were a poor quality bearing which really surprised me when you think that the Toyota would be the best. My mechanic would show me the toyota bearing side by side with the after market bearing I am using and you could see how much better the after market one was.
The drivers side axel is a bit of a weak spot I have replaced it at least two times on the 500,000 km Prius and have replaced a few on the other 2008's. The cars do take a pounding in the city so I am certainly not complaining.
The battery still gets fully charged at times every day much to the dismay of the non believers in the taxi business who refuse to go hybrid.
I do the oil change every three weeks and use synthetic oil and the car does not burn oil. I found a store that was putting a new size jug of synthetic oil on for $15 (reg $35) so I was quick to grab about a 3 year supply. The look on the guys face when I said I would take the whole skid of oil was priceless.
I change the transaxel fluid twice a year and hope that keeps the transaxel healthy. There are 30 Prius on our fleet with a couple around 750,000 km and no one has ever done any work on the transaxel . Meanwhile the North American taxi's seem to eat transmissions.
I am about to replace the door hinges. After 500,000 km of customers opening and closing the doors so many times a day the doors no longer want to stay open and it sounds like a tin can when the doors are being closed.
When I tell my customers that the car has over 500,000 on it they are always impressed with the ride and the way the car handles. I fully expect to have the car at 1,000,000km the way it runs now. Not only will it save me $8,000 + each year on fuel the car will last 600,000km longer than most N.American taxi's. Then you factor in the extra income from the car working more days a year then most cars it is a no brainer to keep running the Prius taxi's.
Had to replace the fan that cools the hybrid battery about 50,000 km ago. The extreme over kill on the traction control is a real pain and my drivers have to be very careful where they go or else they get stuck where you would never think you would be stuck. My 2010 is much better in the snow.
looking forward to buying the Prius V when I do replace the current cars. 50% more cargo space will be exactly what the doctor ordered for those of us using them for taxi's.
It is great that I do not have much negative to report after 500,000km.
Overall it has been a great investment and am looking forward to the next 500,000 km.

 

I am not sure how often the other owners change the fluid but I can check. Keep in mind we put 120,000km or more a year on the cars so I am doing mine about every 60,000km. I will have to check and see what the make of the wheel bearing is. It cost me $50 more than the Toyota bearing (I get my parts at 10% over cost) but seems to last twice as long. I was wondering why Toyota price was $150 ($90 for me) and yet the aftermarket ones could be as high as $300. The toyota bearings dont have near as much meat to them. I was not aware that the battery cooling fan was a problem and now that I know I will be cleaning them regular.
I will get back to you with the info on the what wheelbearing I am using.

 

Grumpy----------- my 2010 has about 120,000 km. Love the car and the improved gas economy. Last summer I was pleasantly surprised when I checked the fuel consumption on a 75km trip on a secondary highway where i averaged around 90km/ht and I was burning 3.9l/100km. I was was used to my 2008's where the best fuel economy was always in the city. The 2010 is usually about 4.3 to 4.6 on the warm days. Of course this time of year running the heat and slogging through snowy icy roads I am usually 5.6 to 6.3.
My 500,000 km Prius is usually 5.1 in the summer and can be 6.5 or higher this time of year.
It used to be about 1/2 litre per 100 km better but I think the tough taxi km have hurt the economy as the car gets older. The 2010 is a much better car for getting around in the snow.

 

UART--- thanks for the tip the Toyota mechanic told me to clean them regularly but never explained how but I knew I could come on this forum and find out. Thanks for the link

 

AussieOwner----- I am heading to Australia next winter and will be starting the trip in Melbourne. I have a good friend who lives 20 min south of Melbourne. We will eventually make it to Sydney so I will have to request you when we are taking taxi's around Sydney. Not sure when we are going other than we don't want to be there when you are in the middle of summer. 25 degree temperature would be good traveling weather. Of course I do want to make it to an Aussie Rules game so will have to check the schedule. My Aussie friend is a Magpie fan.

 

UART----- Not sure if I can talk my friend into waiting as late as April to go but I want to get to an Aussie Rules game it looks like fun. That will give me a year and a few months to plan.
I replaced my struts and bushings at about 450,000 and the struts were not real bad but I figured I would change them at what I think is the half way point of the cars life.
I recently had the seats in all four taxi's covered. I was tired of the Tim Hortons coffee stains on my seats. Well worth the $200 that the shop charged. The seats in the 500,000 km Prius were holding up well considering all the people that sat on them in a day.

cnschult------- I thought they had snow in Michigan. After years of sliding all over the road in rear wheel drive and not making it up hills when the snow gets deep I was so happy when front wheel drive came along and I would pass the rear wheel drive cars that were struggling to get up the hill . Front wheel drive is the best thing that ever happened to someone who spends 10+ a day driving in the snow. ABS brakes save me several times a year by allowing me to steer away from the person who slides through the intersection during snow storms. Front wheel drive and ABS brakes have made life so much easier on my life when driving hack.

The rear hatch on all my Prius is holding up nicely. Pretty impressive when u think of the number of times the hatch is opened between luggage and groceries.
The real impressive thing with the Prius taxi's is there are over 30 on our 90 car fleet and no one has ever had to do any repairs on the transaxel and we have a couple over 750,000 km. A Impala taxi would go through three transmissions in 750,000 km. Ford Taurus would go through 4 transmissions in that time with the brutal tranny that they put in the Taurus. (everything else was good but the tranny was horrible)
I will try to get to the mechanic tomorrow and see what we are using for a wheel bearing that seems to have more than double the life of the Toyota bearing. I was a little worried when the Toyota bearing was only warrantied for 30,000km but I know why now. Quite disappointed that Toyota would put their good name on such a lousy bearing.