Buying choice: 2008 135000 km or 2010 175000 km ?

Non of your issues seem to be show stoppers to me in the scheme of possibe issues. The back up beep is tolerable at worst, but not a show stooper. My dealer disabled it for free albeit I had some other work done. Just a matter of getting the right person. Sometimes the Service Manager can be more accomodating. Make the suggestion that you will be in the market in the future for a new Toyota and you want to make sure your being treated correctly. Shake rattle and roll, well that is par for the course with an econobox. I had it on the dash on a previous car a Honda Civic. Evidently some after market stereo was installed without felt. Oil Pan Cover yep that is a flaw. These cars are good for about 10 years and 150,000 miles before stuff starts going fast. Keep that in mind of how much more time you truely have.

Think about the big stuff Battery, Inverter, Transaxle, newer car means more life span. The decision is yours. Best of luck and let us know how it works out.

 

That's the thing JMD....shake, rattle, roll and panels falling off didn't happen on the 2005. Hell, even after the red 2005 was totaled, all the interior panels stayed in place - the one in 2010 falls out if you look at it funny. That's why I say from a QUALITY standpoint, I feel that the Gen II's are better.

 

Kensiko,

Some time ago I put my opinion out here. Currently I have decided to keep both Prii and look at later on trading the 2007 model for a Auris HSD or Yaris HSD (Prius c) rather than going for a GenIII Prius. My wife mainly drives in town while I frequently take the long roads. She then can use the smaller Auris or Yaris while I use the 2009 Prius.

 

I have a Gen III 2012 and I'm not having those problems. However the 2010 was the first year for Gen III and may be more problematic to that year or perhaps a certain production run in that year. Is the rattle a common objection or was this car driven on lousy roads that looosened it up? Can it be reaired at a reasonable cost? However I rather have a 3 year old car with a shake rattle and roll for less money that a 2008 for more $ with a dead Traction Battery within the near future.
In the end you must decide what is your risk and what risk are you willing to live with. Best of luck!

 

I recommend the Gen 3 for both battery and body life.
You have to remember that none of the Prius line are particularly old, so we don't know at what point body rust will become an issue (though Toyota's seem to do pretty well these days). Two years newer probably buys you two more years before rust death.
I get the impression that the PriusChat population is skewed towards the west coast and southwest US. The longterm car ownership picture here in the rust belt is very different.
FWIW, my 2011 (about a year and 13,000 miles since delivery) exhibits no tendency to rattle or squeak inside. I like the seats and just about everything else about the car.

 

Sounds like you made up your mind. We can agree to disagree.

 

If it were me, I would pass on both options. Too many miles for my liking!

 

I'm not sure that this tells you much more than that both Prius models have far fewer repair trips per year than most cars.

It also appears to indicate that the 2010 Prius has fewer repair trips (15 per hundred cars) than the 2008 (18). These numbers are pretty close and as the web site says, don't place great reliance on numbers under 20 (1 trip every 5 car years).

I've not looked in detail but this information at least does not appear to distinguish between a trip for a $1000 repair and one for a free minor adjustment.

 

Good luck kid.

 

Maybe look at a few other cars. You may stumble on something better.

 

Sometimes the best cars slip away before we know.

 

In the US, the Gen II has a factory recall on the hybrid water pump. Failure of these can lead to a very expensive inverter failure. Are the Canadian models included in the recall? Also a steering rack recall. Check the VIN.

 

kensiko, since you plan to tow with the car I would think about getting the GenIII with the 1800cc engine instead of the GenII with the 1500cc engine. But other than that I would have to agree with energyandair in that whichever model you choose you will most likely get a better car than any other.