Will we see 20 year old Priuses still on the road?

As a general principle, I prefer to buy a 5 year old car (private party) and drive it for 10 years. I'll have a 15 year old car by the time I part with it. My 2012 Prius plug-in is the newest car I've purchased (bought in Feb), but I bought it with a reconstructed title, so I saved a lot of money that way.

I've got my eye on a 2013 Leaf or a 2014 Spark EV in 2-3 years when the Bolt and Tesla 3 are released. That's when I'll part ways with the 2006 Acura TSX.

 

Last year my Prius replaced my 34-year-old Mazda. I'll be shocked if the Prius lasts 20 years or half as many miles without needing a much more expensive repair than the Mazda ever required.

 

The reason why is essentially that you're comparing routine cheap-to-moderate cost repairs (light bulbs, brake pads, struts, etc.) to several very expensive specialized parts I wouldn't trust to ALL survive beyond 20 years and 303K miles. One Prius brake controller, one high-voltage battery, one motor-generator, or one inverter alone would far exceed any one repair on the Mazda.
As for alternators, the single replacement was about $55 at about 480K. My brother has had two cars go well beyond 300K with zero alternator problems, so that's a non-issue.

 

I expect to never replace brake pads on the Prius. The only time I use them is to bring the car from 7 MPH to 0. Brake pads last 100,000 miles on my other vehicles, and they cost me maybe $70 to replace both front and rear with ceramics. $140 amortized over
20 years is small beans.

I've also never had an alternator failure in any vehicle. Some of my friends have, but they drive crappy cars like VW. Brands with good reliability should never need the alternator to be replaced during the life of the vehicle. Certainly there is a problem with the car if someone is going through 1 alternator every 5 years.

Struts often need replacement somewhere after 200,000 miles. Those will cost me less than $200 to replace, so again it's a fairly insignificant cost.

What would not be insignificant is a traction battery failure. Who knows what the cost of junkyard MG1 or MG2 units or inverters would be? That said, I expect the traction battery to go at least 200,000 miles in the PiP, and the MGs and inverters to go the life of the vehicle.

 

The thing is, in 20 years I don't want to be driving my current Prius. Technology will advance so much in just 10 years that I expect to have moved on from my current PiP well before the traction battery gives out. In fact, I'm looking at buying an EV to replace the TSX in the next 2 years; probably a used Spark EV or a Leaf. It will actually be cheaper for me to replace the paid for 2006 TSX with a newer EV than continue driving the older technology.

People driving 20 year old cars generally aren't saving any money by doing so; they simply can't afford the upfront investment to purchase something newer and more efficient.

 

Toyota and Honda are the only cars I look at any more because they have better reliability hands down. Preventative maintenance is a given cost regardless of what you drive...yes even the Prius with it's NOT lifetime fluids...component failure costs are what bite ya in the -ss. As a Mechanic my opinion is currently Toyota beats the curve on reliability. That said, Prius failures will cost you more when they do occur. There will always be folks that get lucky and buy the car assembled on Thursday verses the one assembled on hang-over Monday. All vehicles can be maintained and repaired as long as parts are available. Whether you want or can afford to do so is just a choice based on one's own personal and financial reasons.

 

Big fat Nooooooooooo!

 

The Boston Globe just ran a story on the 15 cars that owners have kept for a decade; the list is heavy with Toyotas, and includes the Prius.

Perry

 

Here's the link...
15 cars owners keep for a decade - News and reviews - Boston.com

 

the o/p's premise is 200-240k after 20 years, not 303k. and i think we can safely assume most mazda's don't hold up any better than a prius, all things being equal.

 

Well, don't include LED brake lights and headlights as "a good thing" for inexpensive repair. They DO fail, and they cost hundreds to repair! Of course, the brake lights might be done by the owner, taking the assembly apart and replacing the bulbs, but the headlamps, not so much.

But you have to ask yourself, do you really want to be driving a 15-20 year old car among the morons piloting 1 to 2 tonne missiles on the roads? Crash safety improves a lot in 15 years! I know these days I'm tempted to get out and kiss the ground when I arrive safely at my destination.

 

The led brake lights on gen 2 last me 10 years. I just replaced both on my 2005 in last year. The red brake part stopped working. $75 each on eBay to replace. Cheap enough.


iPhone ?

 

Bisco, the 303K number referred only to my earlier comment about the odds of a Prius lasting 20 years or half as far as the Mazda without failure of any of its expensive specialized components.

 

My father daily drives a 1995 Tacoma; he only has that because he bought it from my sister-in-law last year when he gave the 1991 Hilux he had been driving to my brother.

I'm planning on keeping the Prius for 20 years or more; I'll check back in to this thread then (if this site still exists).

 

Hmm, that is $15 a year though. Hardly a dealbreaker but, come to think of it, definitely more than I've ever been used to spending on light bulbs for cars....

-Chap