Why I bought a 2008 Prius with 180k

You did good. I did similar, a 2009 with 150k, which I've already put over 10k on in less than 4 months. I've saved over $1,000 in fuel already, and the vehicle is still worth what I paid for it.

According to the numbers, I figured that getting a used and depreciated Prius, over the long haul would pay for itself with fuel savings. Barring a major catastrophe, this has proven to be true so far.

We face relatively the same risks with any car. With a brand new car, you lose thousands when you drive it off the lot. Buy a car several years old, and there is always a risk of some costly failure. Buy a cheap junk car, and its sort of a complete gamble. It may be worthless or you might get lucky and it lasts awhile, even though it has no value.

This is the first purchase I've made that I was completely comfortable with it from an investment standpoint. And I think its very comfortable as well, even over extremely long distances. It just takes some getting used to the behavioral and cyclical functions of the vehicle.

PS: My next door neighbor had bought a PT cruiser a few months ago and it blew up right away. He replaced the engine and some other stuff and it was still junk. After that, combined with some other things, he hung himself outside of my balcony. I cringe every time I see a PT cruiser.

 

congrats and welcome! you've entered the 'high risk area' i hope it works well for you, all the best!

 

Wait what??

 

missed that. i hate when that happens. another chrysler induced death.

 

I have 163,344 on my 09 and bough it off the lot with 160,733 miles on it. I'm considering keeping it until the wheels fall off. I would also be future proof when gas prices in the near future could possibly rise again as you never know with in the next two years. Just keeping the vehicle well maintained and keep it moving is a plus esp the Hybrid battery as you can extend its battery life discharge and charge just by driving the vehicle alot rather than having it sit. Just the only draw back is when selling the car with alot of miles racked up through the roof would make the car resale value rock bottom. You would be lucky to even get 2k to trade it in.

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Don't confuse maintenance with repair. All cars need maintenance. Virtually all cars will get to 100,000 without maintenance but after that, a lack of maintenance will make repairs needed.

There's a stick thread in the Gen III maintenance section with the NutzAboutBolts maintenance videos. You need to do most of these. If the transaxle fluid and coolants have never been changed on your car, you need to do them as soon as you can. The coolants are a very easy DIY, the transaxle just a little harder than an oil change.
The spark plugs should have been changed by now. And the brake caliper pins need to be removed and lubricated.

Unless the maintenance records say otherwise, assume these things haven't been done. If so, they are all WAY overdue. I would first do the brake pins, because mine were bone dry at 80,000 miles. If you have a jack, they're pretty easy to do. If you've ever changed brake pads, they're really easy to do.

Enjoy the car. I didn't mean to be too hard on you, but this work will really pay off. If you don't lube the brake pins, you'll likely have a brake caliper seize and need replacement.

 

Coolant can go a lot further than transaxle fluid I think. The latter does have an interval in the maintenance schedule.

Brakes are badly neglected, almost with glee by owners, who equate long pad life to no maintenance needed.

 

Second gen rears are drums. It's good to periodically pull the drums off, release the shoe hold-down clips, and put little dabs of anti-seize at the contact points (typically three per shoe) between shoe and backing plate. Be real careful to avoid getting anti-seize on the front face of the shoe, it's close quarters. Also eyeball the shoe thickness and drum interior condition, but they seem to last forever.

The drums will likely be hard to pull off. There's likely (it's more or less industry standard) a pair of threaded holes. You can screw into those holes M8x1.25 bolts (say at least 1" long) to break the drum free. Just getting the bolts threaded may be tough due to rust build-up. Just go back and forth, work them in, break lose the rust. Once both are through, continue turning them in, against plate on the interior of the brake, a little bit one side, then the other.

Eventually the drum should pop free, sometimes quite spectacularly. Even then it can hang up, due to rust on the hub, just take your time, work it back and forth.

Oh, do make sure the parking brake is off, at the outset, lol.

 

I'm looking at an 08 Touring, with 194k on it. However, it's had a lot of documented work (engine rebuild, new hybrid battery). High mileage on most cars doesn't bother me much- my jeep Grand Cherokee had 350k on it when the tranny went, but the engine was still great, and is still running! But, I am a bit worried as I've never had a hybrid before or a car with so many electronics. My Toyota Yaris was running great at 170k, with only maintenance. I had planned on keeping her forever, until an epileptic woman had a grand mal seizure and hit me head on last month.

I guess I'm just a bit skittish about buying anything at the moment. But I'm glad I found this forum, and ready that Prius, despite all the electronics, sounds pretty bullet proof- at least as durable as my Yaris was!

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The car is not bullet proof, especially with 194k miles. You already know about the rebuilt parts on it, that does show this car has limitations

 

I had a rebuilt 2009 Prius with about 100k miles on it. The car was running fine, but had several minor issues, such as cruise control, a/c and cd player not working. Replacing the audio system proved to be problematic. That Prius was totalled in an accident, so I do not know how it would do long term, but I heard about taxi drivers putting 500-700k miles on theirs.

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An Engine rebuild?? Not something you see very often with a Toyota brand. Man someone must of driven that thing pretty rough and not doing proper mantiance and changes. Hence the Prius require very little maintenance and very low cost. Only thing I can think of, someone must of jacked that ride up real quick in a big wreck that the vehicle may have been savaged.

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I just bought an 05 with 106,000 miles, the car seems to be in great condition on the exterior and interior. However upon further inspection after purchase, I have found the following problems.

1. Alignment off
2. Axle seal leaking
3. Rear shock leaking
4. water pump leaking
5. Non of the recalls were completed
6. Failed HV battery (this was disclosed)

So many cars may seem to be in good condition, however once you do a full inspection, you'll realize even a very nice garage kept car can have issues. These are minor issues for me as I will fix all those items myself. But you must know what you're looking for or you'll end up being stuck with a brand new looking mechanical nightmare.

 

But most def not anywhere near a German money pit machine that will keep you broke fixing it. A Mercedes Benz have more computer modules and sensors than any other car, as you have some, for the lighting system, brakes, car radio system, steering, shocks... All of them are equality as expensive of the mechanical parts it's self costing around $500 to a couple thousand dollars. The Germans are masters of complex Over Engineering. And what's even worst, you send $80k on a brand new Mercedes and in 8 years it's only worth 16 grand. That's alot of money lost in depreciation.

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I am a fan of this strategy. I bought mine with 160K miles and a 07 plate! Seems largely fine aside from that oil leak

 

What are your plans for the failed HV battery - brand new from Toyota, re-manufactured (Dorman), or DIY?

 

I put the 1 year old battery from my 2006 in the car. The failed battery is going through DIY repair at the moment. There are multiple failed modules.....I think this car sat for a long time.

I didn't have a long discussion with the seller. We met at a parking lot and did the sale and towed it home. I bought it for salvage value so I didn't really look that closely. It was worth what I paid.

 

Ah, I forgot about the nearly new HV battery in your 06

As you noted, the other issues with the 05 are not difficult to repair.
Looks like you will have another Gen 2 for a long time.

 

I always wanted to get a garaged kept lower mileage gen2, this one fits perfectly. It seems to run well, no real issues after the battery replacement.

The bonus here is that the inverter pump recall has not been done, so I get a new pump as well. This would normally be a maintenance item after 100k miles, so it's good this is covered.

So my 06 is up for sale with a rebuilt battery now. I hate to let it go, it's been a great car for the 4 years I've had it and it provided me with a brand new warranty battery.