After 250,000 miles (Update: now 293,000), should I just drive it 'til it drops?

I find it odd that parts are so difficult to obtain.
I had read somewhere that wrecking yards are chock full of gen 2s! It really doesn't seem the case. I remember as a teen that wrecking yards were plentiful and there were areas that had block after block of nothing but junkyards. It was much easier to locate parts locally back then.
Fast forward to 2021: We have the internet but there are far fewer auto wreckers and locating parts = a road trip for sure!
Aaron, sounds like you also had to source parts from more than one place!

 

Plug and play saves a lot of time!

Take 2: On the way to work this morning in the dark... 6 days later but now driving my 2008 Prius. Car in front of me hits something on the road (roadkill) and it gets thrown under my car. No damage to the car but now I believe that the "impact" under the carriage separated what was a hole in my muffler pipe causing the muffler to remain attached by the 2 hangars. I will remove the entire muffler and just drive the car without it until I get a new one. No harm done. Back in 2011, I drove the '05 Prius around for almost a year without a tailpipe. Just sounds like a regular gas engine vehicle! Geez...when it rains it pours!

On the other hand, I picked up a new car on December 28th. Just glad I wasn't driving that!

 

Yikes! Hopefully the "bad luck" won't come in 3s. All the more reason to keep the older Prius on the road!

Just as I thought... The muffler was hanging in by the two hangars. Upon a closer look in the daylight, it appears to be a deer that was struck by the car ahead of me but unsure if it was a fresh kill or the driver hit the carcass. What I saw was something that was skinned pop out from under the vehicle. Couldn't veer into oncoming traffic, and couldn't pull right. It doesn't appear that there was any damage under the car. The cold weather, however, preserved the innards which snagged onto and froze to the undercarriage. So...there are blobs of guts and hair here and there.

Unbelievably, the driver ahead never stopped. I can't imagine the damage. Must have been talking or texting. Not even a tap on the brakes!

 

Plug and play. That's what I like! You'd never know that you met with a deer! You saved her! Thanks for the update!

 

Well, here we are at March 9th. Spring is in the air until next week when we will be hit with another round of snow... and the Prius is still going. The weather has been too cold to do anything but install a second hand HID headlight from ebay, straighten out the fender and hood, and zip tie the bumper. It has been in that state of repair since January as deer were plentiful this year and the near misses were like something I have never seen before. The car still runs and rides fine. No issues at all. Inspection time this year is at the end of March and the car needs an ebrake cable as well as one of the gas lines patched due to a slight evap leak. I threw it out there to see if anyone wanted or needed the car whole (with the batteries and cats intact and functioning perfectly). I may just wind up salvaging parts to use on my '08 and parting out the rest. I still have a few weeks to decide what to do.

 

Decided to part it out as we have 5 cars and 3 drivers in our household. I received a hit on the floormats that are in mint condition. If anyone wants interior parts, check out my post on the "for sale" section. I have photos of the all leather interior that I uploaded last October. The hybrid battery and engine are still going strong and the car drives 100 miles daily. Still has the original cat for those in NYS who must replace a failed cat with OEM. Glass is good, rear hatch is good, HID headlights all good. Passenger doors are good as well. All mechanical parts are working well. The inspection runs out at the end of the month and will be driving until then.

 

Today, March 29, 2021, we bid farewell to our little blue Prius. It was a great ride for 15 years and 4 months with many adventures along the way. The car has a new home and is traveling south to the Mid-Atlantic where the weather is a bit milder! A father and (grown) son drove up to buy the car and trailer it back home. The interior was what they were looking for. I sold the complete car minus a few small items. Overall, they will have an interior in excellent condition (considering its age).

In turn, I spent the weekend doing my best to get everything detailed and ready. As I was doing so, I noticed that the rust had significantly advanced since I last gave the car a good overhaul in October. The "deer Incident" at the beginning of the year in combination with the small evap leak, broken e-brake cable (due to rust), and of course, the need for new front brakes meant that there was no way that this car would be brought in for inspection. It was time to let go.

On a positive note, the hybrid battery held out for its entire lifetime. The engine, too, never failed to start and was never in need of work other than 2 ICE water pumps and regular maintenance. The electrical components never failed (except for the combination meter which was replaced under warranty in 2013). From 103 degrees (F) all the way down to -29 degrees (F) the car always started right up! I can't say the same for the suspension as driving over 100 miles a day in the rust belt takes its toll. My only regret is not taking preventive measures to stop the rust before it began (Krown, fluid film, wool wax, etc). I could have saved a ton of money over the years in suspension parts that were falling victim to the copious volume of salt used on the roads during the winter months.

While I will really miss this car, it's in a better place now. The donor parts will be used by a nice family who saw the car's "inner beauty" rather than focusing on the exterior appearance. The car had a great life and now it lives on!

 

I received a message from the guy who bought the car on Monday. He stripped whatever parts he could use and salvaged the rest. Another one gone but its parts will breathe new life into to others...