Lifespan of Prius? $10-12k for 100k-150k Used Prius: Good or bad idea?

Mr. Pooh,

If you are in California, and the car has been a CA car all its life, then the battery is warranted for 150,000 miles. Therefore, look for a car with somewhat less than that, like 130-140,000 miles. A bad battery can be masked for a short period of time but won't go more than a few thousand miles without triggering another fault code. Same rule applies to the catalytic converter, which is a $1500 replacement in CA outside of the 150K warranty.

There are slight chances of transaxle failure, but it fails at a comparatively lower rate than conventional transmissions. That would be your $3000 repair, maybe a 5% chance of that within the first year.

An older Prius with 200,000 miles, the battery and/or transaxle is on borrowed time and the owner should have a plan for replacing either one with no notice.

There are almost no problems that can be fixed for as little as $500, other than the 12V battery. Just about everything else is more expensive, but single-digit probability in any given year.

 

the most reliable cars are made in Japan.
the second most reliable cars are japanese cars made in usa
the third most reliable cars are ford or gm

so consider the prius to be a very reliable cars, just be aware that repairs can be expensive, so if you like to live paycheck to paycheck and don't have a rainy day fund maybe a non hybrid like corolla will be a better fit for you.

 

Transaxle failure is a $3000 to $5000 repair Change the transaxle fluid every 60,000 miles (and when you buy the car $90 to $150)

High Voltage Battery failure is a $1000 to $5000 repair. It appears that the more it is on, the better they last, A Prius that is unused is not pampering the HV Battery.

Inverter repair is a $2000 to $4000 and seems to be related to jump starting the car (incorrectly) Do not jump start any car with your Prius and do not jump start a Prius repeatedly. If the 12 volt battery is dead, replace it.

12 v Battery is a $140 to $300 dollar repair and happens once you run the battery down. Optima and Toyota make the only 12v battery safe for use in a Prius. (AGM and externally vented)

 

I strongly suggest that you test drive a few of these high mileage cars. For any used car, if it doesn't feel right, if something just feels off but you can't put your finger on it, then there probably is a problem. On the other hand, a car that really wants you to buy it will sing to you. By the way, a high mileage car that runs for a few years and then has a major breakdown, I wouldn't call that a lemon, I would call that reality. Have a plan.

$1000 repair with a used part, that's probably true for the inverter.

Used hybrid batteries are becoming difficult to find, even in CA where warranty is 150K. The going rate is about $1500 for a used battery that has been thoroughly vetted by an expert.

Transaxle is a major job and labor alone is around $1000. That could run you $2000 when it is all said and done.

Used catalytic converters cannot be installed due to federal law, and in California only, a factory level converter must be the replacement. The aftermarket does make Prius converters, but not yet any that are CARB compliant. Current MSRP from is $1600.

 

One place to start: A base Prius 'c' starts at ~ $18k.

Another place to start: A good rule of thumb that says that a car has depreciated 2/3rds of its initial value when half of its life is gone. If we start at 21k for a new Prius and 250k miles average lifetime, then a car at 125k miles is worth $7k.

Waiting for fuel prices to spike to buy a Prius is a bitch.

 

IMO longevity won't be an issue, like the other posters have already responded.

The prices you're quoting sound really high to me. I'm going to be selling a 2005 with around 103,000 miles at the end of the month and am hoping to get $7,500, but won't be surprised if it goes for lower. Admittedly, I haven't done too much research on local worth of my car yet, but don't think it's too far off of $7,500.

 

Although I wouldn't pay that much I bet you could get more than that, especially on the west coast, especially with current gas prices.

 

Yeah but what is usable life? On average, a Chevy will be usable at 100k miles but after a few major replacements. Again on average, a Toyota will be usable at 100k miles with no replacements. Various Prii have gone 200K, 300K, 400K, 500K, 600K, and more and work just fine with minimal maintenance. $7K for a Prius at 125K miles is a steal, especially with gas prices where they are. If they go up at all, so will Prii prices. If gas drops to 2000 prices, Prii values will slump, but still be worth more than $7K in any populated part of the country.

Checking recently sold cars on a few websites, they have sold for $8k to $12k for GenII's with high mileage within the past month.

 

A $500 car will always be cheaper than a $12,000 car. If your only criteria is price, then it doesn't make sense to buy anything but the cheapest of the cheap. No car will pay you back. No car gets cheaper to own as time goes on. These are all logical fallacies that people try to convince themselves of.

Now the Prius will be much more comfortable, enjoyable, safer, and reliable than a $500 car but if you are just concerned about money, then that doesn't make a difference.

 

Unfortunately, now is not the best time to buy a prius. People's perceived values are directly tied to the price of gas. $10k for a 7 year old car with 100,000 miles on the clock is not a good deal unless it was absolutely loaded new (package 6 with leather seats). Also make sure the car was maintained by the book (oil changes ever 5000 miles). After that, it mostly depends on the PPI and how well the car drives.

Bear in mind you can get a brand new Hyundai for just a little more, with a 10 year warranty, good gas mleage, and a good reliability record!

 

I just bought a 150k Prius for $7k, most of its life was in the desert.

It seems pretty good no hidden problems and it has new tires. However the cat is bad, and I need to put in new suspension. I don't need to fix the cat for another 2 years, but I have to clear engine codes from it. Already changed spark plugs, oil, trans fluid, some parking lights, bulbs etc. It runs like a new car, which is the consensus of the dozen people who've driven and ridden in it.

It basically runs fine now and I don't need to do anything else, but I will put in a nice receiver, probably HID lights and TRD/touring springs and other suspension compenents.

It looks and drives like a car less than half its age. I guess some terrible thing could happen at any time and I get soaked with a huge bill but isn't that always true?

 

I'm new to the world of Hybirds, just bought mine yesterday, 10 taxes in. about 80 K on it.Is motor supose to run 95% of the time at low speeds with all elc. off etc.light on the trottle.Temp today in Snow country in the 60s
only time its off is when slowing down and stopped.

 

Yes, the motor will probably run alot when you are driving and sometimes it hardly turns off for me. The only time I notice the motor is really off is parking or idling in traffic. I can still easily get 50-60 MPG warm (less on short trips when I'm moving from parking lot to parking lot)

What would be more important is your MPG...do you see averages over 5-10 miles that are really low?

 

No crystal ball here, but you can at least consider buying a used 25-30 mpg car for around $5k now (not a clunker) and then selling it when fuel prices dip. You have to buy and sell on the private market for this to make sense (cents).

 

Keep a close eye on your oil level. Consumption is one of the main causes of cat failure. Pulling the cat (front pipe) is fairly easy if you want to take a look at the honeycomb, just a matter of removing the downstream O2, the utterly pinche chassis "stiffener", and the four exhaust pipe bolts. Easterns sell 49 state replacement front pipe (2 cats and the resonator) for $300+/-