200,000 Mile Club

I hit the 200,000 mile mark back in August (now at a little over 210k). I've driven my Prius through all 48 continental United States... I've driven through all of them multiple times, with just a few exceptions. It's been a fantastic car so far! I had to replace a front wheel bearing a few years back ($200-ish). I sideswiped a deer, which knocked off my driver's side mirror and slightly dinged the door. Beyond that, no real repairs worth mentioning.

It is drinking oil pretty heavily nowadays, but otherwise, it still drives like new.

1) Did you replace the HV battery pack? Nope
2) Did you replace the 12v lead-acid battery? Nope
3) Did you replace the hybrid transaxle fluid? No, but now that I've heard about it here, I guess I ought to...!
4) Did you replace the brake pads? I replaced the front ones... I think that was 2 years ago. I will likely need to replace the back ones before the next inspection in the next couple months.
5) Your lifetime MPG (if available)? Beats me... we live at the top of a very high hill, so mine is probably a bit lower than most since I do a lot of short trips into town, down the hill and back.
6) How often do you change your oil? What brand / product did you use? I change it every time the indicator light tells me to, which is around every 5,000. I've been using the Pennzoil Synthetic Blend
7) How about post a picture of 200,000 miles on ODO? I'm sure I have a 200,000 shot on my old phone, but here's a 199,999 one that I had posted to Facebook

Read more: http://priuschat.com/threads/200-000-mile-club.57091/#ixzz2uD8Oo6o4 ​

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Check out this thread for oil burning:
2008 Prius - burning oil at 135,000 miles | PriusChat
and this:
Burning oil at same rate regardless of oil thickness --- What does it tell us? | Page 5 | PriusChat

 

1) Did you replace the HV battery pack? NO
2) Did you replace the 12v lead-acid battery? NO
3) Did you replace the hybrid transaxle fluid? Don't remember. Had major maintenance performed by a Toyota dealer at about 130,000 miles. That, plus a water pump replacement have been the only services by a professional mechanic.
4) Did you replace the brake pads? ONCE, at ~190,000 miles
5) Your lifetime MPG (if available)? 49.7mpg (approx 45 in winter, 54 in summer)
6) How often do you change your oil? What brand / product did you use? Approx 5000 miles, Castrol GTX 5W30 or equivalent
7) How about post a picture of 200,000 miles on ODO?

 

REACHED 200K TODAY!

1) Did you replace the HV battery pack? no
2) Did you replace the 12v lead-acid battery? yes, yellow optima
3) Did you replace the hybrid transaxle fluid? I did at 100k, my brother did it at about 150
4) Did you replace the brake pads? yes at 180k but they still had 4/32"
5) Your lifetime MPG (if available)? guessin 48
6) How often do you change your oil? What brand / product did you use? every 5k, mobil 1 is free for dealer techs.
7) How about post a picture of 200,000 miles on ODO?

 

1) Did you replace the HV battery pack? No

2) Did you replace the 12v lead-acid battery? Yes as a precaution in 2011 after 6 years of service)
3) Did you replace the hybrid transaxle fluid? Yes, twice
4) Did you replace the brake pads? Yes twice for the discs once for the drums
5) Your lifetime MPG (if available)? 48.1
6) How often do you change your oil? Every 5,000 miles
What brand / product did you use? Mobil 1 - 5w20 + Toyota filter
7) Any other repairs? - Front wheel hubs/bearings: twice
- Shocks and coil springs @ 150,000 mi.
- HID headlights: numerous times
- Headlight leveling sensor: once
- Coolant replacement: once @100,0






- Plugs and PCV valve @ 175,000 mi.
- Engine air filter: twice a year.
- Combination meter (under extended warranty) January 2013 ACTUAL MILEAGE IS 1527
MORE than stated on the odometer
- Muffler: Twice (2011 and 2013)
- Exhaust system from engine to muffler (including cat. conv.) 2011
- Power steering ECU
- Left side drive axle @ 70,000 mi. **
** The vehicle was used to deliver mail on a part-time basis from 2007 - 2010 and full time from 2010 - 2012. The vehicle was hit by a driver who admitted to looking at his appointment book and not paying attention to the road. I was able to avoid a direct hit by veering off into and empty cornfield but did sustain damage to the left front tire, fender, and door. The car had less than 30,000 miles at that time and seemed fine after the repair but front end vibration began and worsened over time. The axle repair cured the problem. I believe that the bearings also suffered from consistently driving off pavement to access mailboxes.

Car still drives and looks great with the exception of a small area beginning to bubble up where the body repair was done at the front rocker panel seam. No engine problems at all. Does NOT burn oil. Interior = spotless
Smooth leather seating/heated seats - 3M clear body panel protectants on front panels as well as rear bumper.

 

I reached 200k a couple weeks ago in my 2008. I have not replaced the traction battery, but I just replaced the factory 12v with a yellow top.

Replaced the transaxle fluid at 160k and haven't touched the brake pads.

My lifetime MPG is about 45 as winter kills it and I change my oil every 6500 miles with Mobil 1 high mileage.

Absolutely nothing has gone wrong with the vehicle since I bought it.


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Short version - 200,000 about two months ago. Hope to hit 300,000 before I need to buy a new car.

Extended warranty bought through the Priuschat contact. Highly recommended and will do the same for my wife's new Prius soon.


Lifetime MPG - 43+/- I have a lead foot and do mostly highway driving around 70-77mph.
Brakes still >50% - never changed, but did flush the brake fluid as recommended here.
Transaxle - changed fluid at 175,000
Spark Plugs - DYI at 125,000. New set soon.
12V Batt - installed Optima three years ago, melted down three months ago. Replaced with another Optima in January and it went nuclear yesterday. Factory battery installed by dealership under duress (on a road trip and no options.)
Flushed and filled coolant along with water pump recall at 150,000.
AM radio reception is terrible...

 

In my 2005 Prius I hit 200,000 a while back I really can't remember when. I've had a lot of repair since so I've not hit 300K yet. I'm still hoping to get it back on the road as my regular driver. I deliver newspapers. Between 200K and 250K: I have done Front brakes, hub, axles (due to stupidity), struts, shocks and ECU near the battery pack. I now have a brake actuator out and I need to do the drums; will bleed the brakes. I will also replace sparkplugs at the same time.

1) Did you replace the HV battery pack? no
2) Did you replace the 12v lead-acid battery? no
3) Did you replace the hybrid transaxle fluid? not till recently
4) Did you replace the brake pads? no
5) Your lifetime MPG (if available)? 42.1 from my Gas cubby App
6) How often do you change your oil? What brand / product did you use? more or less ever 5k, when life got in the way I never let it go over 10k. I use Mobil 1 full synthetic. I will also be adding MotorKote from this point forward.

 

I have 2007 Prius, just turned 205k, no issues - original batteries, visit dealer every time maintenance reminder comes on, although I fudge a 1,000 miles or so. Daily commute of 100 -150 miles, usually 48+ MPG. Bought used in 2009 with 17k on it from private party.

The highest mileage Prius I have seen was 270k, the owner just replaced hybrid battery, suspect driving with trailer full of his returning college kids stuff maybe had something to do with it .

Based upon my experience, I would not hesitate to buy used Prius - I'd use the fear of the battery going bad to negotiate.

 

I am not at 200,000 yet but closer to this than 100,000 mile. I have a 2007 Touring Model with 189,458 miles on it. Here is what I've done for maintenance and answers to the questions.

1) I have not replaced the HV battery pack and have not had any indication that I should.
2) The same for the 12V battery.
3) No.
4) No. I have at least 3/16 in. left on the on the pads and no indications or warning they should be changed.
5) Lifetime MPG I would estimate at around 48 mpg. This is based on a spreadsheet I used to keep but when the difference between winter and summer driving did not change the number appreciably I stopped tracking it. This was after the first 3 years. I used to record the amount of gas and the mileage at each fill up. The best one way trip was around 66 mpg for a 38 mile trip. I found that I had better mpg in moderate traffic and worse when there was no traffic ( I was able to drive much faster.)
6) I do oil and filter changes about every 10000 - 15000 mile using Mobile 1. I have gone as long as 25000 mile without changing oil. I do top it up when needed.
Additional Info:

I don't hyper=mile and drive normally although slightly on the fast side. I don't tailgate and do anticipate the traffic ahead of me and can practically drive all they home without using brakes.(mostly highway drive) Recently using a different route in order to avoid tolls (17.20/day) so I do use my brakes more so I expect to see more wear.
I've replaced headlight bulbs twice. (once each side) I 've also replaced tail light and turn signal bulbs but I didn't track as they did not cost 150 a piece as the Toyota OEM replacement headlamp bulbs do.
I changed plugs at 118000 miles
I manage about 55000 miles for a set of tires.
I change air and cabin filters about once a year.
The only thing it need besides a car wash it a wheel alignment as my front tires wear excessively on the inside edge and my rear tires on the outside edge so I rotate then so they wear evenly.

I love my car it has been great to drive I and I will continue as long as it runs.

 

Hate to necromance an old thread, but I just hit 200K on my Prius. Getting high miles does have a sense of accomplishment, but it's really not that big of a deal. Most people will trade or sell (or wreck) a vehicle long before they have these kind of numbers. I personally have had V-8s with in or around 300K. The first is my 97 lincoln town car with 285K. Another is my moms 97 suburban with over 300. The lincoln was bought with around 40K on it, and the suburban not a lot more. I do all the repairs on these vehicles, so I know there is no major engine work done. If you call for a cab, you will more than likely get a Crown Victoria. Ask the driver how many miles are on it. I've personally witnessed vehicles with 600K to 900k miles on them. There was an article about an Econoline van that went 1.6 million on the original engine and transmission without any major repair (if you do a web search I'm sure you can find it). I'm not trollin' just had to say that because some people might think that high mileage vehicle is a Toyota thing, when really it isn't.

1) Did you replace the HV battery pack?

No I did not. I bought the Prius with 160 or 170K on it, and it was bad. I got a quote from Toyota for something like 4K. I called up a couple of parts stores and they told me that they could get the 12v battery, but not the hv/traction battery (see #2). I did some web research, and bought 3 used cells of eBay. This was before I even disassembled the battery. Turns out one cell had shorted and was burnt. It caused damage to the two other cells from the burning, so I replaced all 3. They cost $90 with free shipping. 2+ years ago they were replaced, and my check engine light, turtle light, and triangle light of death never came back on!

2) Did you replace the 12v lead-acid battery?

I didn't, but it was replaced right before I bought it. Last winter I had an attack of type dumb, and left my lights on. Wouldn't take a charge with the battery charger. Thought a slow charge from the alternator with a 160 mile trip would do the trick. It didn't. I went to a parts store to see if they had a battery. They now told me that they could get me the HV battery (for $1500), but not the starting battery. (see #1) I bought the cheapest battery they had, and hooked it up via jumper cables. A few weeks later the battery did charge.

3) Did you replace the hybrid transaxle fluid?

The previous owner maybe. Me, no. Car dealerships push fluid exchanges. They pay very well, and don't require much more than a pulse to do. I worked for one shop where they kept a service manager uninformed just for upsells. I worked at another one where we had to do a 35 point inspection on everything called an ARGIS. We had a meeting one day, and we were #2 in the nation for upsells on that program. Most of the upsells weren't thing like brakes or ball joints which are safety issues. Mostly flushes. I can't speak for Toyota, but I worked for two of the big three American car companies. None of them ever recommend fluid exchanges in transmissions. The theory is that if the fluid is so bad that it needs to be exchanged, you have much more serious mechanical problems. Another thing worth mentioning is that a lot of dealers also try and sell BG magic additives. They have a cleaner for transmissions, and I have witnessed that ruin clutches. I've also saw their cooling system cleaner clean a high mile cooling system that has never had a service done to it. Does a good job of dislodging gunk, and it gets trapped in the heater core. They also have a cooling system sealer that is nothing more than sawdust and water. Does a good job of making thermostats stick open. Like I said they push these because they are easy money. If you would go to let's say a Freightliner or John Deere dealer, they won't try and sell you anything like that. Diesel mechanics are usually far too busy fixing actually problems rather than sell useless products and services.

4) Did you replace the brake pads?

No.

5) Your lifetime MPG (if available)?

N/A, but I have done several tests. I did one where it was warm out, no wind, flat road w/ cruise set at 65. On a thirty some odd mile trip, I averaged a hair under 55 MPG. But on the flip side I live in Nebraska were the wind chill can be -40 F. When it's that cold, and if there's any wind, not much better than 28-29 mpg. A lot of fuel economy has to do with driving style. I don't drive like a maniac, so typical for around this time of year is 37-38. If my numbers seem low, it's mostly because I have a plugged cat. Another thing that might be killing my mileage is that I bought the cheapest tires when one blew out when I was out of town. WHen I got back I looked up the review for said tires on Tire Rack. One of the first reviews said "don't buy for a Prius". I guess the OE tires were specifically designed for fuel mileage. Said guy claimed he lost something like 10 MPG! One thing I noticed is that I get better fuel mileage at 65-70 as opposed to 60. Last year I drive from Omaha to Denver. I reset my trip meter as soon as I left. When I got to the hotel I averaged something like 47 or 48 MPG. Most of the driving was done on the interstate with the cruise set at 70.

6) How often do you change your oil? What brand / product did you use?

My Prius came with what I call "the built in oil change option". It leaks a quart every thousand or so miles. I top it off as required, and change the oil filter every 10,000 miles (the Econoline with 1.6M miles I mentioned earlier did the same thing). I used to use Mobile One 5w30 synthetic. Two years ago I drove from Omaha to Miami. I reset my trip meter when I left. When I got to Miami I switched to Mobile 1 Synthetic 0w20. Reset the trip meter again, and took the same route back. I can't remember what the actual MPG numbers were, but IIRC I did average something like 1 or 1.5 MPG better than on the previous run. This may not sound like a lot, but at least the numbers went the right way. Also even though I took the same roads, there are still some variables. That could have been within the margin of error. But it was enough for me to switch. I know it wasn't asked, but I use Purolator filters. They look like they are cheap, but the API (IIRC) did a study on how well filters actually filtered. Purolator and Wix are pretty good. And the Purolators don't cost much. Some of the older mechanics will tell you that you need to change the oil because it gets contaminated rather than break down. This is true, but it's not nearly as big of a problem as it was 30 years ago. With advanced honing procedures and gapless rings, this isn't really an issue. The parts store will tell you to change oil every 3K or 6 months. You also got to keep in mind that they are trying to sell you a product. I've had customers that insist on having their oil changed every 300 miles. Weather it's 300 or 3000 it is honestly a waste of natural resources. But don't take my word for it. There are companies like Blackstone Labs that will do an oil analysis for about $25. I have a C-15 in one of my trucks. According to Cat, the oil change interval is 30,000. That's with regular dinosaur oil (but then again the oil filters probably hold more than a Prius).

7) How about post a picture of 200,000 miles on ODO?

Why not?

8) Other thoughts...

I've always been product loyal to FoMoCo, and this was my first non-ford product that I purchased. After 3 years, I'm impressed. I bought the car for 3,250 USD. Since I bought it, I did replace the spark plugs ($30?), put maybe 15 qts of oil in it ($5/qt), a couple oil filters ($4/ filter), set of tires (~$250), bought an actual rim for a spare ($75 shipped), a catalytic converter (~$100), and $90 for 3 cells. I have to pay a whopping $350 a year for insurance. Other than that the only money I have spent on the Prius is the fuel that goes in it. I don't even bother to wash it.

So for 40K miles of driving, it is cheap. Leaves a lot of money in my pocket, and still gets me from A to B.

I do have a minor issue with the AC. The light does flash and the AC cuts out. The computer doesn't store codes, and I always forget to check when it is acting up.

In conclusion, I'm not looking for any praise, or even a reply. I was just searching for "Prius Longevity" via web search, and I came across this thread. Maybe someone will be doing a web search in the future, come across this post, and say "maybe my next car will be a Prius".

See you soon in the 299,999 thread!

 

**** U R thorough!
Thank you.



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It is Saturday morning. Last night I went to a local auto shop. My Prius is my true love. I shopped for cleaning tools. Some I know were meant for exquisite show cars .. fuzzy, furry tools .. some with real fur! I found some tools I can use ( to poke and clean my wheel covers ), and some special cloths and sprays for cleaning my tires and wheel covers. I got this knobby microfiber 'thingie' that reaches the center of the roof of the car, and a sheepskin tuft to remove tiny debris from the crevices of the windshield.
And and I got a Hello Kitty visor that I get to unfold and display when I park the car, so it will shade and protect the interior of the car.
Today, I will fill the tank with gas.
A great day.

Long live the Prius!




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Dude you don't wash your car! 'Tis a shame. I love rubbing cream into my leather seats, vacuuming the floor, even cleaning under the door handles, yesterday I cleaned my tires! I like then extra black and shiny! I think I am going to replace my wheel covers. They are not quite perfect. Clean. But not perfect. Yesterday I purchased a new waterproof cover. Semi -custom. Fits snug. I replaced my other non-waterproof cover. To anyone who has to park their car outdoors, and you have your own driveway, get a car cover . ASAP. The difference is amazing. No more little leaves in the windshield crevices, or mud and twigs in the cracks of the hatchback door!


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post scriptum
Long Live the Prius!


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My apologies for being OT. I do not wish to have bad form. I do not have a computer, just a mobile device and I use a Apo. I cannot start a new thread. So I guess I will be silenced. But to the Prius gods, may I just say:

"I am not Worthy.
I am not Worthy,
I am not Worthy!"

- take off on Wayne's World. SNL circa1992


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201972 yeah baby!! still burning a quart in 700 miles...lol

 

So you haven't had to replace the hybrid battery?

 

The vast majority of people haven't had to replace the hybrid battery, even at these extreme mileage situations.