Sorry to flood this forum with posts. I'm looking at several used priuses (prii?) What kind of mileage should I avoid?
Avoid anything close to an expiring traction battery warranty (100K miles in non-emission states and 150K in CA emission states), UNLESS it has a brand new traction battery.
The main traction battery lifespan is about 10 years. Many have exceeded that and others have not. Much is determined by abuse and environment
Gee, that depends. How much do you have to spend? Cash deal or finance? What model years are you considering? It's always best to buy the newest model year with the fewest odometer miles that you can afford. Tell us how much you can afford and then current prii owners can provide you with guidance/opinions as to what you SHOULD buy. This is my story. I bought my 2005 Prius 33 months ago for $6800+ tax. $27.5K original sticker price. Almost every available option you could buy on it. It had 134K miles when I bought it. It has 201K miles today. The hybrid system (except for the inverter water pump which was replaced under the special warranty program at 185K miles) has been flawless. So are the brakes which are original and are still functioning well. The 12V aux battery and traction battery are original. The only problem I've had with it thus far was a noisy engine water pump that I replaced by myself a month ago/3000 miles ago. The HID leveling sensor was bad when I bought it so I don't count it as a problem within my time of ownership. So, chalk up a +1 for a Prius with "high miles". My goal is to reach 299,999 before selling it. Only 98K more to go. Piece of cake.
Toyota in general has a reputation for cars that run for a long time. If you look at the stickies at the top of this forum you will find separate threads for people who have 100k, 200k, and 300k miles on their prius. This does not guarantee that your car will do the same, but shows that it is possible. You could poke around in those threads for details.
I just want to stick this out there: Don't ever use a taxi as an example of reliability. Any taxi can last plenty of miles because they're only on the road for a few years. In my opinion you shouldn't expect the traction battery to last more than 150,000 miles. The rest of the car is pretty much bulletproof though.
Not the inverter water pump. It failed at 185K miles on my car. I was fortunate I was only six miles from home when it went kaput. The engine water pump failed at 195K on my car, too. It was really noisy and the bearing could have seized at any moment. As to the traction battery - its longevity beyond 150K miles depends on many factors - climate, topography, use, etc. In my opinion, 75% of Gen 2 traction batteries will last to at 200K miles and more.
If the car is clean and has the options that you want........don't worry about the mileage. The battery can be replaced/rebuilt for $500 ish. The rest of the car is bulletproof.
I have to disagree. As jadziaman pointed out, the inverter pumps do fail on the Prius. Also, the three way coolant valve does fail at times. Both items are a repair at the dealers in the 250 to 350 range. Those items are very common failures, and are often reported here on Prius Chat as well as elsewhere online. Google P0A93 Google for more info on the failure's of the inverter pump. That is the DTC code and it comes up quite often over the fleet of Prius on the road today. The Prius is a excellent car but is by far "bulletproof". Ron
