Potential Buyer....

This is my opinion. 150,000 - 200,000 miles is when some big repairs rear there ugly head. If you got the $ than you just deal with it. If you don't it can be a living nightmare

 

Main traction Battery is good for 10 years before they start to fail. New $3,300, rebuilt $1,800, salvage $500

Inverter is another big ticket item maybe $1,000 or more

Gas engine starts burning oil about a quart a Week. Rebuilt about $900

Struts and springs

Brakes cylinder

Transaxle about $3,000

If you buy and something big goes wrong be prepared to repair or sell it

IF the previous owner was easy on the car and had service done you may avoid some of the repairs.

If you have the vin number you an see what service was done

Service History Online - Toyota Owners

 

many pri go 2-300 without major problems, but i don't think anyone can give you a percentage. there is a definite risk you have to be willing to take.

 

I have 2 good friends with Prius that are over 150,000 miles going strong.

One she is a nurse and drives carefully.

Original traction battery.

All is good.

Another is a Bank CEO and his wife a part time dental hygienist.

They have 2 cars one year apart each over 150,000 miles

The car he drives no major problems. Tail light failed, routine maintenance.

The other the wife's car they gave to there teenage son 6 years ago who beat on the car in HS and College.

Had about half those repairs I mentioned completed

 

Nate,

Welcome to Prius Chat!

JMD summed it up very well. My .02 would include this to add to what JMD said, if you don't have the budget for the repairs JMD mentioned, stay away from the cars you are looking at. You might get another 50K out of one or it might crap out one week later. There will be NO warranty whatsoever with the cars you are looking at. With your budget, I would be looking for a Corolla that will fit your budget. Those things hold up very well.

Don't get me wrong, the Prius is a great car! However even Toyota says the life expectancy out of the Prius is 180K.

Will hybrid batteries last? - MSN Autos

There are quite a few Pri still running around with well over 200K on the clock, so you might get lucky. But if you are on a tight budget as it sounds, you might want to look at something more affordable at this stage of the game.

Best of luck to you.

Ron

 

I'm gonna say that's too dangerous, UNLESS the seller has replaced the traction battery recently, as in my case where I bought one with 81K miles.

My suggestion if you can't afford one with lesser mileage is to buy a Yaris. They look great, their gas mileage is unbelievable, and they will not give you any problems because of their simplicity. If I hadn't got such a good deal on my Prius I would've traded in my Civic for a Yaris instead.

 

Nate how any miles you put on a car a year?

 

The 140K mile car may be OK. Check the service record.

I read on Prius Chat about people who buy a used car with 120,000 miles on it for a bargain price or ones with 140,000 miles and a new traction battery.

You don't put a lot of miles on the car so you may get a few good solid years hopefully 5

Keep in mind that it is a gamble a accident waiting to happen.

 

Ok, its time for a dissenting opinion. First of all we need to know more about Nate. What is your mechanical aptitude? Do you have tools? Do you have a place to do maintenance?

If the answers are "Good/High", "yes" and "yes", then I wouldn't even hesitate to recommend a high mileage Prius to you. As with any car over 150,000, problems can be just around the corner but, if you find a high mileage car that has been well taken care of, from a moderate (not hot) climate there is a good chance you'll enjoy a few more years of virtually, trouble free operation out of the car. If you are a DIYer, you can easily minimize the cost of any repair.

What I don't understand is limiting your budget like that. $10k over 5 years is $200 a month (approx). Once again, I don't know your situation but really, a couple grand more will get you into a low mileage 06 (or relatively low).

Either way, I always say that any Prius is better than no Prius. The Yaris is probably a great car but, just can't do what a Prius can do and lacks the room. City mpg is well short of Prius Gen 1 city mpg.

I see that JMD carefully chose his words about the maintenance he mentioned (and did a great job of explaining it). Some key terms to observe are "start" (as in start to fail, my Gen 1 with lower quality batteries is still on the original traction battery (the Gen II batteries are improved)), "maybe" (as in the inverter, I've read of very few failures and its usually because people drive with a bad inverter coolant pump but...). From what I can tell, the transaxle failure is also rare (but it does happen just like any other car has xmission problems). All the other things he mentioned are common to any car with high mileage.

One other thing to consider is the engine in the Prius doesn't run all the time so 150,000 is more like 120,000 or less on the engine. If you can diy, a used, low mileage engine is very cheap for these cars (noone is buying them, because they are so reliable).

You know, I don't know if its just me with good luck or this car is really that great. I see a lot of owners that are quick to tell people not to buy a Prius (not you guys above, I know why you're saying what you said (because of high mileage)) and I don't understand that but, I'm sure they have good reasons for their opinions. My opinion is that once you get one, you won't want anything else.

That's my $0.02.

 

Today's cars often make it to 300K or more miles. Most Hondas and Toyotas reach it. Many full size pickups also easily reach 300K miles and more.

If Prii are not expected to survive past 200K miles without a major, expensive repair, then they're crap considering that they are more expensive than similar sized fuel efficient non-hybrids. The extra 10 mpg does not justify the cost.

Imho, most properly maintained Gen 2 and 3 Prii will last 300K, many with the original traction battery. And I hope to be one of lucky ones who make it to 299,999 miles with the original traction battery.