76,000 Miles, people tell me I will need a new engine soon

Don't believe everything you hear.

 

No vehicle line is 100% perfect, so there are going to be a few that fail early. This is why they have warranties. Assuming this unnamed radio host had changed his oil as required, the engine replacement would have been free.

And speaking of that host, that may be why you're having trouble with the tone of some of the responses. When you say "some people say" or "a well known radio host", you have to accept that you're going to be asked "who specifically?" If you can't name names, people are going to criticize your sources.

I did some Googling trying to find the radio host, but the only hit I got was your message.

 

I bought my first Prius in March of 05 after being on a waiting list for 6 months. At that time I was the subject of many jokes by my "friends," who felt I bought one of the ugliest cars and that I was chicken little about gas prices. Well, I really didn't buy it only for fuel economy, but also to reduce emissions. When gas prices went through the roof, one of my friends told me that I was smarter than all the rest of them because they couldn't even find a Prius at that time. Since then, there are so many on the road and it is wonderful to see! I now have going on 80K on my 05, and we have added a second Prius (08) to the family, trading in a Subaru Baja. This decision has caused some concern from my spouse, who worries about the performance of the Prius in the New England winter. Last winter, however, when I was driving the 05, we had a huge snowstorm during a weekday. I decided to work late to allow most of the traffic to get off the roads, but when I finally left the office I found my car was the only one in the lot and I had been plowed in! Despite having over a foot of snow packed all around my Prius (and by the way, without having snow tires) the little baby just rolled right through the piled up snow. I have both cars serviced routinely and expect them to go for many years.

 

Dont bother of others all dude just have a good drive when it is in good condition why do you worried about that.... and dont listen to any others you have a warranty just go for it when you think it id in problem...