ABS Pump blocked

Unless you're into figuring out and working on car problems an older Prius will forever present the possibility of a headache and a money pit.

If you want 2nd opinions on an ABS pump blockage you'd need to give complete info on what was done for diagnosis including whatever error codes were read from the system.

Also wondering why you think you need wheel bearings soon and why it would be $2K.

Ask around among friends for people who know things about cars. Go to craigslist or something similar and find an older Honda Civic (non-hybrid) or Toyota Corolla / Echo or some such. The friend who knows things about cars is to help you look at them. For $2-3K you can find something decent - it will be reasonably old with high ish miles, but you can get something decent that's far less weird when it has trouble than a Prius.

 

As a college student meself, I can relate. With a vehicle as old as yours, especially a hybrid due to battery lifespan, there WILL eventually be a major repair required. I personally wouldn't keep it (mostly because of its age). Being nearly 20 years old and requiring a potential 4K, that's more than its value. If it can fit in your budget, I'd reccomend finding a used Honda Fit, Civic, Toyota Corrolla or something similar, preferably 2005 or newer. But that's just me, when I was looking for my car, I didn't consider it if it were older than that. And I'm glad I chose to do that as all the older used vehicles my family has owned, they all needed major repairs within the first month or two after purchase. You could even go with newer Prius maybe between 2007 and 2015 (probably skipping 2010 and 2011.) I own a 2010 and the only major repair I've done in the last 30K miles (I bought at 100K, now have 130K in 3 years) was due to a mechanic damaging my vehicle while cleaning the EGR. While the 2010 does consume oil, thus far I've hardly paid a thing for non regular maintenance. Keep in mind, If you do go the route of buying a new used vehicle around the age of your current one, it will likely need repairs soon. Some users will not reccomend buying a used Prius unless you can DIY. I cannot say anything about that because I've hardly ever needed repairs. Mind you I've only had the vehicle a few years.

For now, think about this. Is any 17 year old used vehicle worth the 2 to 4K for repairs? You could use that money to buy a newer (say 2008ish, depending on car, condition, mileage, and location) car from Honda or Toyota and get many years out of it.