Need a crash course on PIP

basically, everything that applies to gen3 applies to pip. weak points are egr, pistons, rings head gasket, oil burning, intake manifold, inverter, brake actuator

on the phev side, no spare tire and small under deck storage. historically, the car has been quite robust, with very few battery failures or degradation.

doc prius might do a health check, idk.

make sure you get 2 working fobs and metal keys, check all functions.

make sure you get an evse, plug it in and make sure it is charging

ideally, ask the owner to charge it up before you arrive, because it takes 3 hours with supplied L1 evse, or 1 1/2 with optional L2 at 240v.

you need a warmish day to test range so that the engine won't come on.
hvac must be at 'low' and fan off, no front defrost.
most people get between 6 and 14 miles before the battery is empty and the engine fires, depending on speed, accel, hills, stop/start, climate, etc.

 

Oh yeah: that, plus the miles (225K), will mean if if he gives you a blank look if you mention "EGR", it very likely is into head gasket failure, alleviated by stop-leak products. Ask if he would mind if you check the EGR pipe, this procedure:

 

correct on the egr. oil burning is a tough one, because your usually watching the level as you put on miles to determone. idk if the plugs or tail pipe might provide evidence.

correct on the actuator, it's a ticking time bomb, but not everyone fails. same with inverter.

no worries on not plugging in, lithium prefers the low state of charge, so that's actually a good thing.

there may be a 1 or 2 mpg benefit to the larger lithium battery over the smaller nimh in the lift back

 

On the oil consumption, you "might" get lucky, if it's an oil burner and they're dumb enough to not top it up before you come for a look. So, doesn't hurt to check the dipstick, on level ground.

If there's lot of oil spilled around the filler cap too, might be a clue.

Or a case of oil bottles and a funnel, in the hatch, lol.

Come to think of it, 225k miles, and no plug-in, and the year (had the low-tension rings), it likely is a serious oil burner. Almost a miracle if it isn't.

Bottom line, high mileage 3rd gen's for sale are almost invariably junk.

 

Maybe not the cheapest, but I think the most expedient way to deal with knackered pistons/rings would be a new short block. Or maybe a quality refurbished short block, if that's possible.

Example of "new", hopefully for real:

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/302537132072

 

you got that right. maybe wait until the 2017 primes are affordable. other than a leaky exhaust coolant heater loop, so far, so good

 

The nice thing about PiP is you get oodles of cargo space like a Gen3, with sacrificing spare tire of course.
Prime you will get more EV miles, for sure, but less cargo space. Gen3 was the last "bulbous" shape Prius.
Due in part to Hurricane Sandy in NJ, I always thought I might go for 2013 maybe even 2015 PiP.
Believe 2015MY PiP had some attempt at side-overlap crash test fixes. But in the end we wanted the 2018+ Toyota SafetySense2 package, so went for RAV4HV in 2020, and we like it.

 

Can you charge a PIP at a commercial charging station?""

Yes, you can charge a PIP at a commercial charging station. I charge mine at the office every day. It should take about an hour and a half.

 

if they are the original owner, yes, they got a cable with the car.

yes, ir can be charged at a standard 240v charging station, not at some of the tesla, or dc stations.

 

Risks of a wrong PID file are pretty much limited to not being able to see all the PID information you wanted to.

If Torque also supported bidirectional control and active commands, there'd be more to think about, but I haven't heard that it does.

 

Are you wanting to replace items that are still working?