1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Should I continue to invest in my 2006 Prius?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by benknick, Feb 19, 2019.

  1. benknick

    benknick Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2019
    4
    1
    0
    Location:
    Houston
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I’m a Gen 2, 2006 Prius original owner with 125K miles.

    My front dashboard/combination meter went blank last week but is working right now. Should I get this fixed right away? —or will it continue to work for a while before it completely fails?

    I’ve already replaced both water pumps, spark plugs and blower motor for the AC. All the regular maintenance has been done. The brakes are still original.

    What else should I expect to wear out going forward?

    The ride seems rough, do I need to replace shocks and struts?

    Any other investments I should make to improve the car?

    Any feedback is most appreciate!


    -Ben
     
  2. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2018
    2,912
    1,496
    0
    Location:
    Northern California
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Can you do any of the work yourself? If the answer is no then it might be time to buy a newer car. The Combo meter is not that much if you can do it yourself, or see Matt in Dallas.
    Prius Speedometer Replacement
    However you probably need struts and will need a new battery sooner or later. Plus the abs module is always a possible failure also.
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,952
    49,072
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    125 is low, but as ski says above, you could be in for five to ten thousand dollars of work in the next few years if you rely on a dealer
     
  4. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,470
    8,384
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Skibob aka Ski or Bob?
     
  5. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2004
    4,365
    3,210
    1
    Location:
    Madison, Wisconsin
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Don't forget that age-wise you are due for replacing the hybrid battery. ~$2,500-$3,500.

    Keep an eye on oil consumption in case it starts burning oil. You don't want it to get too low.

    The combo meter final failure is pretty random. It may completely fail this week. It may completely fail 5 months from now. Now matter when it does, it is always at the most inconvenient time. (On the way to a job interview, on the way to Grandma's in a snowstorm with the kid in the car, etc) .Take care of it now.
     
  6. exstudent

    exstudent Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2009
    2,212
    900
    0
    Location:
    Torrance, CA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    KEEP: able to DIY, car well maintained and NEVER let the oil run low causing warning lights to appear.
    SELL: you have to pay for labor

    Impossible to predict what will go out next and when. This would make keep/sell decision easy. As everyone has pointed out, future failures you can count on are: HV Battery, ABS modulator, and possibly AC issues down the road. Remember, you keep anything long enough that is used regularly, components will fail requiring repair or replacement.

    Should you decide to replace the front struts and rear shocks, I would avoid the quick strut/shock replacements; but that is just me.
    Read post#13 for pricing of strut and shock parts, to give you an idea; keep in mind pricing was from 2015. Additional Front/Rear Strut Replacement Parts Needed Too? | PriusChat

    The strut/shock manufactures (KYB, Monroe, etc) all recommend 5yr/50,000mile replacement intervals to maintain OPTIMAL vehicle handling and braking quality. I replaced my after 7years/127K miles. WAY OVERDUE! No visible signs of oil leakage from the struts and shocks. NO visible signs of odd tire wear (ie hopscotch marks). Ride seemed normal; but makes sense that you get used to the deterioration over time since it is slow and you have nothing to compare it to.

    Only when the old struts and shocks were removed and compressed by hand, and compared to NEW, was the degradation obvious.
    NEW front: 7 seconds each. OLD right: 57sec. OLD left 18sec.
    NEW rears: 7 seconds each. OLD rear: 3min 15sec for one. The other one, way longer, and stopped timing; eventually it did fully extend.
    As you can see the rear suspension was essentially only spring, and hopscotch marks on the tires would be expected. But was not the case.
     
    johnjohnchu likes this.
  7. Matt Y

    Matt Y New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2019
    7
    2
    0
    Location:
    Palm Harbor FL
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Mine is coming on close to 200K miles. My combination meter did slowly go out. The worse part was parking and either taking forever to turn the thing off (when the meter went out, I often had a hard time getting the car to turn off). Sometimes so getting upset with it I would wind up leaving the car on in a public parking lot - because i really had no choice. Don't go though that aggravation, get it fixed ASAP. The car was garaged kept all its life, and often in a parking garage when I went to work - so well taken care off. Never seen snow, always a florida car. I wound up fixing it using this thread -

    combination meter repair - DIY | PriusChat

    This requires soldering very tiny parts, and working at an electronic manufacture company I had access to people that could do this for me so it was a slam dunk. Worked great ever since - should have done it sooner. Or, change it out as recommended by Skibob.

    I have no idea how well taken care of your car is, but for me and my car I've had to do very little to it up to this point. The combination meter, and AC, accessory battery (that was another weird issue kept stalling on the road randomly), is about it. Hybrid battery, cooling pump, etc.. All original and car runs great. But like any used car, you never know what's around the corner... I'll pour a bottle of champagne over her when she hits 250K miles.
     
    bisco likes this.