Question about Classic <2003 for second Prius

we have 2 of the classic prius's with combined mileage of 95,000 miles approximately.

honestly these are very great cars, as long as they change the hybrid transaxle fluid, and make sure inverter pump is working they can basically run forever, the HV battery shouldnt be a concern unless they did not perform the battery sealing work which was covered under a recall or something.

if you buy new prius, or old prius i honestly believe these cars will keep going forever.

 

I am still using my 2001 full tilt. The HV and 12V battery have both been replaced (HV under warranty) so there is the possibility of the HV battery needing replacement, but this is really not that common. The sealing issues of the first years of the NHW 11 may not be present on a 2003. Leaving it for months unattended may justify disconnecting the 12V battery, but this is not that big of a deal.

 

Agreeing with stat and FL. There are a few Essential Maintenance Items, but they are not terribly expensive, especially as DIY.

So far HV battery replacements have apparently been rare. If they become common through the service lives of NHW11 Prius, this will add 1 or 2 cents/mi to the total operating costs.

My reasons to look at 2002-2003 (not 2001) in the used market are the availability of side air bags, and a reduced chance that the power steering torque sensors will go bad.

The NHW11 Prius with a healthy electrical system will drain something like 38 milliamps when it's "off". The OEM battery is not large enough to provide that for more than a few weeks. Any PbA battery that becomes discharged even once will lose some capacity. Therefore, for long storage, your choices are disconnecting the 12 v, providing an external power supply, or installing a larger battery.

 

There would be visual indications of leaking, but this would require removing the cover. Since I have not done this and there are experts here who have, you should find and listen to those posts.

Yes. Disconnecting the 12V battery causes a lot of convience settings like the clock time to be lost, but nothing that adversely affects the car.

Waiting a couple of seconds to make sure that your clock time shows up and that everything looks good with the key in the Accessory position is recommended. Once this looks good, start up and you are ready to go. The 12V battery recharging is the same stopped or moving. Any waiting would be for the engine to warmup.

 

There are devices like this: Battery Disconnect Switch
that make it easy to connect and disconnect the 12-volt. On the classic you have good access and lots of room to put in a bigger 12-volt. You could also look into a solar panel trickle charger (for the 12-volt)

Regarding the traction battery, Toyota can look up the car by VIN number and tell you which recalls have and have not been done on it. The traction battery is [SIZE=-1]nickel-metal hydride[/SIZE] and any NiMH battery will self discharge slowly even with no load on it. If it self discharges to the point where it is not strong enough to turn the internal combustion engine then you would have a problem, because you could not start the car. It would be reasonable to charge up the battery as high as it goes before you store it.


I don't know how long the car can safely sit idle, but someone here should know. If it is longer than you wil be away you might look into hiring someone to come down twice a month to start and idle it. Or you could look for a neighbor or a charity or a local church or something that would have the use of your car while you're out of town.

 

If the '04+ models were not so overpriced on the used market I'd probably go for them rather than a '03. I had a decent deal on a used '02 at 116K miles so I thought it made sense for me to get it, provided I did not spend more than $2K in repairs on it in the next 3 years.

So far I had to replace the cat converter as the old one failed and was giving codes P0420 all the time. Got a used exhaust off a low-miler (the entire thing front to back, muffler included) for $350 + shipping ($100, ouch!) and replacement was easy. I have the same plan if the HV battery goes bad - get a relatively new unit off a recycler for about $500 or so. Or with luck, only replace the bad cells at even lower cost.

As for leaving the car off for more than a week I think you need to take care of the battery - my car barely survived a 2-1/2 week without me. Started fine but the 12 V battery was noticeably weak as my display dimmed and went completely off with the key in ACC position, which it never does normally.

As the others said, a trickle charger or a battery disconnect would help.

I'm getting a consistent about 45mpg now during the winter with 10-15 mile commutes each way mostly, in the Washington DC area and partially blocked front grilles. Not very impressive compared to what some are getting on the '04+ but at about 1/2 the initial cost for a similar used '04 I should not complain, I suppose...