Rural Mail Carrier seeks advice on Pruis

Hello,
Are there any newer posts on a Prius used for mail delivery? I am considering purchasing a 2008 model for my wife. She currently drives a 2006 Dodge Dakota crew cab 4x4 v6. She averages about 12 mpg. It has been a very good vehicle and will likely be used during winter on bad days, but after being surprised there were carriers using a Prius for USPS delivery, the cost of gasoline is forcing us to look at other options.

I would buy a new 2011/2012 as we get it at employee price, but the console completely engulfs the area between the seats making the newer Prius impractical unless someone has a solution.

Mail carriers are running out of choices. Nearly all vehicles have console shifters now and my wife (she says the majority agree) does not like RHD. Which ever auto mfr comes up with a 'mail carrier friendly' vehicle first will sell them like hotcakes, and by the tens of thousands. Apparently nobody sees this niche market. Oh well.

Any info is appreciated.

 

The 2012 Prius have done away console for the most part. That part of the third generation of Prius's was something that many complained about it to Toyota so they changed it.

 

04-09 Prius makes an excellent vehicle for taxi, delivery, courier, and mail service. MPG is the best and brakes last forever. Only drawbacks are weight carrying capacity (rear springs are very weak) and lack of snow/mud agility. But it is possible to remove the back seats and cargo carrier to maximize interior volume for hauling bulky stuff.

 

Thanks.

I understand there are mods people are doing to extend the EV mode, but have not looked into it much.

I found a 2008 with 77k miles, asking price $16,995. Sound reasonable?

It doesn't look like the 2011 is going to work, so will have to stick with the pre-2010 models that don't crowd out the console area.

Any word on the 2012 plugin cost?

 

That sounds a little high. I see high mileage ones going for less than $10,000 here, including a 2006 for $7900, having 143K miles. For what you have in mind, the cheapest, highest mileage 2008 or 2009 will suit you well.

After market plug-in/EV mode systems are not cost effective. Nor will the 2012 model be that (~$40K).

 

If you go with Gen-II (2004-2009) you can cheaply install an EV mode button that allows the car to go a short distance on EV.
Probably not helpful, but that's probably the only mod you might want to do.

 

Thanks much.

In my area a 2008 Prius with 60-80k miles appear to sell for more than other regions.

Starting out with high mileage vehicles and putting them through the pounding of a rural mail route hasn't faired well in our experience; too many gremlins hiding.
I've been buying cars from auctions but finding a Prius at one is highly unlikely.

I may be misguided on the Prius, but after 20 years of doing this mail route thing, reliability is high on the list. I'd much rather pay more up front than being nickled and dimed to death, not to mention the time spent constantly working on it.

 

Have you ever considered order a Japanese Prius? They have the everything on right side of the car rather than the left side. I know it can be done at least in California as a few did it a few years ago with a 2010 Prius..

 

It may seem counter intuitive, but my wife does not like RHD and says most prefer LHD.

This will take some more thought.

Does anyone know what the most common mechanical failures are? What wears out more so when using in this type of environment? How does maintenance compare to conventional vehicles? What is the average life of the battery, inverter etc. I read brakes last a long time, a definite plus.

Sorry so many questions, but it will help narrow things down.

 

Maintenance would be the same cost as a typical small car. There are a few points to pay attention to, such as transaxle fluid changes every ~60K miles, coolant exchanges every 100K, spark plugs + pcv every 120K.

Inverter failure is rare in this version.

If the 12V battery runs flat more than once, it should be replaced. It is the most common cause of problems.

The high voltage battery is maintenance free and should last for a very long time. The greatest stresses are heavy swings in boost and regen under high temperatures.

2004-2007 (2008?) had a sub par engine water pump, with a high failure rate below 100,000 miles.

2004-2007 have been recalled for the inverter cooling pump.

2007 has a weird problem with the rubber piece that covers the opening switch for the hatch. It turns into silly putty.

2006-2009 with HID headlights have been involved in a class action lawsuit, extending warranty coverage to 4 years/50,000 miles, as the mercury-free bulbs have a shorter than expected lifetime. Dealership repair is very expensive, as they charge $150 per bulb, and 1-2 hours of labor.

Solder joints in a few devices have a rare tendency to break, in the multi function display, and in the combination meter (speedometer).

 

That's precisely the type of info I'm looking for!

I will ask the dealer about the pump and HID headlights.

There really aren't many used Prius' for sale in our area. I'll try to beat them down on price, but $16-17k for under 80k miles seems to be the asking price.

I even looked on Craigslist for Evansville, Indiana which is the home of the Toyota plant and there are just two for sale! Even my brother who works at that plant says used ones are not easy to find. So our options are limited and looks like this one near us is probably the best deal we're going to find.

 

Have you look at the upcoming bigger Prius v (42 combined MPG)? It has a dash similar to Gen2 Iconic Prius. It has bigger cargo area with slide-able rear seats so you can adjust the cargo area or simply fold the seats down.

 

Was not aware of this, just have a few more months to go to 100K.
How do you know if this water pump bad? Does it leak fluid on driveway?

 

That's the problem, it weeps out very slowly over time. Look for pink residue underneath the pulley. Check the level in the overflow tank. If you were going to pay someone to do an engine coolant exchange at 100,000, then adding a new water pump to the work order makes a lot of sense.

 

...I was under the impression my coolant was changed as part of the the inverter pump recall (I had asked them about that). But now I realize the situation is more complex. Not so sure.

 

Two different cooling systems: one for the engine, and one for the inverter+transaxle.

 

My 2006 has 149k miles and no problem with the engine water pump yet.

 

Haven't considered that, and we really couldn't wait much longer due to running out of cars to fall back on.

We ended up buying the 2008. At least it is a Toyota "certified" vehicle with 12/12 bumper to bumper warranty.

It all comes down to the math; ROI if you will. If it doesn't balance out in the allotted time, then the purchase is not logical. I figure the monthly payments, insurance and fuel for the 2008 will pay off bar any mechanical catastrophe.

Now I need to know if installing the EV mode mod will make that much difference for the mail route. Is there a chance of overheating the motor? What are the pros/cons? Thanks.

 

My 2005 has 83,000 miles and it just started to leak recently. The one in the my 2004 RAV, practically the same design and also redesigned a few years ago, lasted until 150,000. Random failure rate with unacceptably low mean and high variance, it appears.

 

I have put about 110k , more than half of that route miles, on my 04 prius ,total miles 223k now. Some things I had to repair perhaps due to the dust etc, front wheel bearing, broken spiral cable, and one rear door lock is currently broken. I also cleaned out the HV battery of dust (after 3 years of use) . Go to my profile page to click on the album. Works very well for the job. I have a backup vehicle for muddy, snowy days to keep the prius in better condition.

The EV mode is simply a convenience when I want to move the car around the yard, not relevant for the route, all the electrical energy comes from the gas motor. Its been stated that cycling the HV battery can lower its lifespan, so I really try not to use the EV mode much.