After how much mileage would you replace your Prius?

I'll drive it until I am physically no longer able to. I have the same philosophy about computers.

 

You're right...100K is just a number, but it's not arbitrary. Noone has suggested that when the odometer reaches 100K, that the car should be sold. But, since I was one of the earlier posters, I figured I could explain my rationale.

Within my lifetime a car has been expected to last around 100K miles with a certain degree of reliability, assuming regular maintenance. This is without regard to brand, model, or environment. Usually, after 100K miles the "big stuff" starts needing attention. After 150K it's a virtual certainty.

At that point the overall reliability begins heading downhill, and the repair costs start to rack up.

Since I fix computers on site, I drive a lot, and my living is dependent on the reliability of my car. The "drive it till it's scrap" approach is laudable, but impractical when you are dependent on your car functioning properly.

Given the different technology in the Prius, my arbitrary numbers for it will be 150K and 200K...with the hope that it will last longer. But, when it hits 150K I *will* start looking at the Gen5 and working myself towards the idea of a new purchase.

Chuck

 

I'm a maintain and keep kinda guy, so I'm going to hold onto my Gen 2 for as long as I can. Plus, the longer I hold out, the better the battery technology will become and hopefully... well, just two words - hybrid diesel. That's all I'm saying.

 

This sounds like a very domestic USDM car buyers approach to it. 100k miles is nothing for any of the imports that I am around. I would be surprised if a majority of Prius' need replacing of something that soon with normal maintenance.

 

US Domestic? Guilty.

Two of my favorite cars were my 1996 Dodge Stratus (mfd by Mitsubishi) and my 1997 Ford Ranger (mfd by Mazda) which both began deteriorating around 100K.

The Ranger is still in my stable. A truck is always useful.

 

... We'll replace our Prius, not UNTIL, and just as SOON as the first manufacturer delivers either a factory PHEV, or pure EV, that seats 4 or more, and comes in at under $40K.

.

 

Ford made the Ranger AND re-badged it for Mazda not the other way around.

 

It's not like the Prius is motor oil or tires....which you'll need to replace after X amount in mileage.

In general, it all comes down to how much extra disposable income you can spend on the new car replacement, and how much $$ 'loss' you are comfortable with by disposing the current one.

But at least keep driving until you can make back the 'Hybrid-Premium' on the saved gas first.

 

1.000.000+

 

Ah, such a sweet dream...

I remember reading in the mid-late 90s that VW were working on a diesel-electric hybrid Polo. Sadly, nothing came of it.

There are diesel-electric hybrid vehicles out there but they don't get anywhere near the mileage of a Prius. Mind you, buses are a bit bigger.

 

Since VW doesn't have a great reputation for quality to begin with, its probably a good thing that they are not trying to manufacture and support hybrid vehicles which are considerably more complex than the current VW powertrains.

 

I'll agree that. There was nothing wrong with my 1999 Corolla apart from a few scratches. It was just time for a change. The fact that the 3rd gen Prius resulted in more 2nd gen examples coming on the market at more reasonable prices combined with increased petrol costs were all factors in the decision. I will keep my Prius until I feel like a change. That will probably be before the end of the decade and if by then the 5th gen comes out meaning cheaper 4th gen's so be it. Of course the further savings in fuel costs of upgrading will be a factor in financing the cost, but it won't be the main factor.

 

You should do as you please. Putting a lot of $ into transportation can result in frequent gratification.

However, I am also a buy-and-hold vote. I try to keep a new car for 10 years. When I was commuting, that meant 150K+ miles, but now much less, unless I go nomad (my first road trip was really fine). This requires faithful maintenance, of course.

To get a purchase right, I start looking at cars 3 years before replacement--in the recent instance, waiting for the Gen 3 Prius was obvious.

My reasoning:

1. Full amortization of up-front cash purchase ($ working for me until purchase, no interest paid after purchase). ASAP, save up for a car to get on the good side of this.

Long ago Click & Clack recommended buying a 3-year-old car and using it for 7 years. Using their numbers, I get the same bottom line if I remove their auto loan interest cost from the calculation for a new car. Plus, you know where it's (not) been.

2. Amortization of third-party add-on goodies.

3. Ever-declining insurance and registration costs.

4. Happiness at new technology developed over 10 years.

5. I sell cars privately to recover more equity than a trade-in would yield. BTW, a mechanic I use when cars are out of warranty told me not to supply repair records, since it can help a litigious buyer to sue if something breaks, even if the suit is bogus.

I will need to replace a high-mileage 2001 Audi A4 sometime, but if I can hold on until 2015 I will be on a two-car, five-year cycle. High-MPG, cheap city car with AWD when winter intervenes would be ideal--nothing on the horizon right now.

 

2004 with almost 130,000 miles on it. Both water pumps went out ($300 or $400 each) and a new 12V battery, but other than that everything is perfect on it. Still looks great, paint looks great, and besides bottoming out all the time in parking lots, the rest of the car is in awesome condition. Plan to keep it for.......ever. It was the first major hybrid so I figure it'd be cool to put it in the garage once I get another car and keep it, but I don't plan on getting another car for a while. This one should last a long time!

 

Well, it depends upon what is repainted. A spot repaint might be $100 but the color may not match very well with the adjacent area. A "correct" repaint would involve painting the entire bottom rail and the rear quarter panel running up to the roof. That would cost more like $600, but this would not even include fixing the dent.

 

I also like to buy and hold, but I buy new and hold for 15 years. This does require some money on repairs, but it is worth it as long as the repairs are less than the value of the car. After 15 years, I don't bother selling or trading in, I just donate the car to charity.

 

went out at around 110,000 then maybe 116,000. what an annoyance! I have the same type of dent you are talking about on my passenger side on the corner of where the door and the rest of the paint meets. its about 6 inches long and a crease in the door but you can hardly tell--even I forget about it sometimes. i don't plan on getting it fixed