Is 150K+ Mile 2010 Prius Still Worth It?

Dumb question but do you mean the car drains the battery when it's not moving but the accessories/ac are on? The battery gauge in the dash, is that for the 12V or the traction battery? I would assume it's the traction battery but why does the ICE kick on when you sit there too long with the stereo and a/c on if those are powered by the 12V?

 

the gauge is for the hybrid battery, which charges the 12v. the engine charges the hybrid battery. so when you are sitting with the car in ready using accessories, all 3 come into play.

the maintainer is for when you're parked at home and the car is off. the car has systems operating that drain the 12v, most notably the sks key system.

 

Thanks for the explanation! I was wondering why the heck the ICE turns on when battery gauge gets low if the hybrid batteries didn't power the accessories directly.

 

Just to confirm, this is primarily for the cars that aren't driven on a daily basis? If the Prius is my daily driver, then I shouldn't have to worry too much about ways to extend the life of the 12v?

 

absolutely. the 12v is being charged all the time you are in 'ready'.

it's a bit complicated, but as the 12v ages, the downtime between drives puts more stress on it.
as i said, the batteries are small, and do not like to be severely discharged. so leaving a door open or a light on overnight can have a seriously detrimental effect on battery life.
heat is also a killer, and south/southwestern car batteries don't tend to last as long.
4-5 years maybe average, but i have never discharged them accidentally, and have gotten around 8 years out of them. i drive almost everyday, and a few days in between drives is probably not a big deal with a healthy battery.
you can also turn off sks if you're not going to drive for awhile.

 

Since Toyota makes Lexus, they're both #1 & #2 in reliability

 

Yep. Toyota does it right.

A couple of years ago, Infiniti (24) and Acura (18) lagged way behind Nissan and Honda. They've recently improved, but they still don't compare to Toyota/Lexus in reliability.

 

Nope. 75 on the highway, +5 MPH everywhere else. Careful accelerations, but I don't baby it. Just looked at a 2012 Fit auto with 56K for $5500 close by. I don't think you can buy a 2012 Prius for that anywhere.

 

Good deals like that Fit are kind of random, like good deals for Priuses or other cars. Or often they have something wrong with them. Used Fits are about double that price here (2011 Fit Sport with 56K for $10K on craigslist).

 

Several Fits on CL here cheap, but they have salvage or rebuilt titles. Makes me wonder if they were setting on a lot that went under water.

 

Well braddles pretty much summed it up.you should listen to em.

 

If I saw a deal remotely similar to the '12 Fit (non salvage) you mentioned, I would be driving one now.

Most of the Fits in California were priced above their private party KBB prices- especially when they have lower than average mileage. The car you referenced likely has a private party KBB value between $7500 (good condition) and $8100 (very good condition). From a dealer, you're looking at a book value of closer to $10,000, depending on the condition.

I attached a mpg vs mph graph for a 2nd generation Fit Sport (5 speed). EPA highway estimates for the 2nd generation AT was 35 mpg, and I'd consider that to be optimistic at 75 mph.

 

2012 fit with 56K miles for 5500 is a salvage title or scam

 

Prius

Fit ain't in the same league as prius but you can compare fit with PriusC.

 

You are right about 12v being charged all the time but with time,usually within three to four years it gets weak and hv battery spends most of its energy trying to keep it in optimum condition,resulting in big drop of mpg.

 

I say YES. The car is 7 years old and if it hasn't had any issues now it should be fine. It is a Toyota and people that keep telling him to buy a Corolla, first of all he did not even mention wanting a Corolla which doesn't have the same engineering behind it.... its smarter to go with a car where the manufacturer spent a lot more money in R&D and engineering. I will bet those 175,000 miles are mostly freeway miles also which on a regular Prius is high but not that bad. (I would just find out from the seller if and when he changed brake pads and rotors)
My 2012 plug-in has 85,000 miles and has never needed anything but routine maintenance. Has not even needed or had any brake pads or rotors changed. (which is pretty standard) And I have driven mine pretty rough since it was brand new in 2012. It's also a good car to have to keep the mileage off your other cars you will own later. Thanks to my 2012 Plug-In Prius my 2010 Audi Q7 TDI only has 40K miles and my 2013 BMW M5 only has 20K miles.

IMG_2422 by moviebizman posted Jul 25, 2017 at 3:43 AM

 

+1 we drive our prius everywhere for errand type stuff to keep miles off my M2, M3 and GT3.

 

Love the tree.

 

In my humble opinion, high mileage cars are DIYers, not college kids on a budget. I made that mistake in college of buying a cheap car and within 2 months I had spent more than the purchase price getting it fixed up. Only lasted about a year. I also agree with some of the other posters that you're not going to be getting a good deal if you're only driving 5k a year. On the prius, it needs some time to warm up and work the condensation out of the system. If you're doing low mileage trips, you will actually need MORE maintenance, and get poor gas mileage. For $3k-$4k you can get a well maintained car from a private buyer off craigslist or somewhere. Same car as you get from the dealerships without the needless markup. Don't be fooled by the fact that it's a dealership, they don't give a damn about the car's condition if it's cheap. You're getting it in the same condition as they did when someone else traded it in for half the price. For any used car you need wiggle room. With a conventional car, with lower miles, and a cheaper price, spend the $3k-$4k (though DO take it to a mechanic before purchasing) and leave the extra $2000 for unexpected repairs (or even better, a tons of glorious tools!). That's just my take on it.