Wanting to purchase a 2010

The important thing to note is, like in the other reply, the propensity to burn oil. The other thing is the head gasket. Most 2010’s on the market are at or over 100k miles. Service history, if available is a bonus. Are you the type that can DIY? If so, watch all of the videos about tune up, coolant change, EGR Cooler service, etc. Even check out the Weber Auto YouTube channel. John Kelly is one of the only people in the US that can tell you as much about the Prius as the people who designed it.

 

best to stay away if you can. no telling a good one from a bad one.

 

If you really want to own a 2010 prius and the bug bit, have a rainy day fund of at least $2,000 ready to go. The HV battery gremlin will be coming for ya. If not, a new head gasket.

 

The pistons and rings are identical in 2010 through 2013 (model years). 2014 has a revised piston. 2015 has both that revised piston and revised rings:



Whether they actually help with oil consumption is debatable. There is a TSB for oil consumption, and the fix is to swap in those revised part number pistons and rings (see attached).

I'd like to see a few more votes in this poll; so far only one 2015 owner has voted:

3rd gen model year and oil consumption | PriusChat

Anyway, a 2010 owner here, with a mere 81K kms (~50K miles). Oil changed every 6 months with Toyota 0W20, and not losing any oil between changes.

Which has me a little in awe: I'm used to Honda's that used a bit, never though anything of it.

 

As Mendel hinted, there's scant reason to expect a 2011 or 2012 to be less likely to guzzle oil than a 2010. That said, some examples in those years, including mine so far (at only 99k), consume very little.

 

The intake manifold was revised somewhere along the way too, but all the model years show the same (revised) manifold part number, IIRC. It was with the aim of improving EGR flow if I'm not mistaken, but maybe not that effective.

 

I've been on this site for over 2 years. From the beginning, the worst model year for head gasket and oil burning issues seemed to be 2010.

I would have guessed that the '11 would have similar complaints- just 1 year delayed. And the '12 would be 2 years delayed. But I haven't noticed that from the threads around here. That's why I'd look at 2011 and newer.

 

Since we are in the year 2019 (and half way through it) I would just look for a 2014 or newer. They will have less miles and a little more battery life on the plus side. And, see if anyone that you look at has the oil catch can installed.

 

Is it bad that I comb thru ads for Gen 3 Prii looking to see if they show the coolant reservoir in the pic to check the level?

I did find one a month or so ago when a friend was looking for a Prius. I messaged the guy that his coolant was low. He cussed me out in messenger and blocked me. Funny thing is, we were going to give him what he was asking, I just wanted to know how long it has been losing coolant.

 

There’s a Blizzard Pearl IV at one of my local dealers with 203K on it for 7300. Kind of odd that on the service record it had the J0V reflash done 14 days ago, and now it’s been traded in. I wonder if the owner was told something or noticed something after the fact.

 

Maybe the dealer took it in as a trade in and then performed the J0V update.

 

Just for anyone strugging, myself included, I looked it up: the J0V update (Toyota USA identification?) is an inverter related software update, basically the second kick-at-the-can (first was in 2013 IIRC), to protect the inverter from damage during hard acceleration, and to make the car less prone to leave you stranded, say stuck on a freeway. It is supposed to put you in a fail-safe mode if the inverter fails, and hopefully with the update will be more successful at that.

 

That's a LOT of money for a 2010, and with that many miles???? Still way too much. About twice what it should be.

 

I looked up our local Auto Trader listings. There's one "base" 2010, with 197K kms (about 5/8 less than the example above), says "no accidents".

They're asking $10,988 (CDN), and there's a note by the website that this is $913 above market. Dropping it to "market" and converting to US funds, comes to around $7500 (US). Again, this is a "base" level, and obviously just an opening number, subject to negotiation.

2010 Toyota Prius Base - New Westminster

It's through a dealership in New Westminster, just down the road.

 

Why are you focused in on a 2010 model ?

It soon will be 9 years old and probably has HIGH mileage........and may have had something major looming already which is why the previous owner got rid of it.

I think you need to widen your "net".
And if finances are REALLY tight, a hybrid probably isn't the best idea anyway.

 

@Tickwood has a barn find for sale in san diego

 

They have dropped to 6900, but like you I think they are high. Maybe not 2x what it should be, but maybe 1.5X. But they probably only gave 2250-2500 for it trade in.