Looking for advice on 2012 Prius V ownership at high KM

You heard right. Best solution is a quality rebuilt engine.

 

watch the coolant and oil levels frequently. have you cleaned the egr circuit?

 

Your lucky.....

 

it's never too late unless you're replacing the engine

 

Congratulations. You've had good value for the money you paid. Never fall in love with a car. Cars break and cost money to fix. And they keep breaking. Unless you are an expert Prius mechanic, or have a very close friend who is one, paying to fix problems will eat you alive. Prices are indeed insane. If you can, lease a new car, Prius or not. And sell your Prius into the insane market. The sooner you do it the more likely you are to avoid having to sell it with a known big problem. Good luck.

 

History repeats itself with gen3 engines. You have several choices:

1. Spend $800 for a dealer intake and egr cleanup or dig into it yourself. Not a simple job. Will not fix your early stage head gasket leak.

2. Change plugs, coils and maybe injectors when it starts throwing misfire codes. It does not seem to lose coolant and passes a coolant hydrocarbon test. The parts cannon is the common neighborhood mechanic reaction at this point. Not cheap, another $1,000 thrown at it. You get a month or longer reprieve before you realize this was a waste.

3. Continue waiting until the shudders are every week or so. Soon it will rattle at stop signs. Shortly after it is obvious - the coolant is low. It has been months and maybe $1800 after the first warning. The writing is on the wall. Now the repair is most likely a used engine. Some will just do the head gasket. In many cases it will fail in the near future because too much time has past. The dealer will recommend a rebuilt engine to eliminate bad rings and they will clean everything like new but the cost scares you. At this point, a rebuilt engine is the right answer for three or more years of ownership.

Or you find a quality shop now and have the engine torn down. The cylinder head is carefully inspected, cleaned and rebuilt by a machine shop. The quality repair shop installs a new gasket set. While they are doing it the egr cooler and intake manifold are thoroughly cleaned. The shop should have enough confidence to give you a year warranty. You don't get new rings so a trade within the next couple of years should be scheduled.

Or you trade now and punt the issue. Don't sell privately, let a dealer auction get it.

 

any prius (gen3) for sale has the HG issue..... many people out there buying used ones thinking they are getting a toy with great reliability but sady they might be getting one with the gasket already going bad.... stop leak in the car.... they just don't know it's a time bomb with a possible short fuse... huge deception on most of these being sold now..... get a ICE.............