2010 Prius III vs 2014 Plug-in Prius

If you can at all afford it, I'd strongly suggest paying the extra 4k for the 2014, at least if this will be a long-term car. The combo of 10,000 fewer miles, and 4 years newer, and new tires, and a Plug-in, and from CarMax, all for only $4,250 more would make it a very easy choice, at least to me. Even if I do think the 2010 is overpriced, the 2014 is simply a much better deal. Even if the mileage was the same, and the cars had identical tires, the 2014 would still be the better deal.

However, if this is just a stop-gap car until you can afford a new one, the calculations are different.

 

go for the plug in. the 2010's are hit or miss for head gasket failure around 100k.

but be aware, you lose the spare tire and under hatch storage.

also, the plug in came in two flavors, base an advanced. sometimes the dealers don't know, and you can score big.

 

The 2014 plug in is the better deal in most ways. One draw back is that it has a smaller gas tank. Only 8 gallons! This can be an issue if your daily commutes are long, over 100 miles round-trip. The regular Prius has an 11.9 gallon tank. Can you plug it in? At home and at work?

Agreed to stay away from the 2010. It's the first model year of Gen 3. There have been a lot of reported engine oil consumption issues (here on PC) that in time could lead to the EGR Cooler clogging up, and eventually possible head gasket failure.

 

10 gallons

 

If I knew where you folks were located, I could probably help more.

The plug-in models seem to add about $2,000 to the value of the car over the regular Prius. Since you can afford to go to about $14,000, though, I'd also strongly suggest looking into a Certified Pre-Owned Toyota from a dealer. With just a quick look, I found a 2013 Prius Plug-in, 44k miles, for $13,600. (It's in NJ, but still a decent price) Certified Used Toyota Vehicles | Pre-Owned Cars, Trucks, SUVs & Hybrids

The Carmax price for the 2014 seems somewhat fair, especially since buying a car from them looks like it costs about $1,000 - $1,500 over the cost of buying the same car elsewhere - about the same premium you'd pay for a CPO car from a dealer.

If the extra cost is really an issue, in my area (Atlanta), according to Truecar, there's a 2010 Prius II, 87k miles, for $8,647; a 2012 Prius II, 92k miles, for $10,299 and a 2014 Prius II, 77k miles, for $11,000. (There's about a $1,000 cost every time you go up a year from a 2010, all other things being equal. This seems remarkably consistent wherever you look.)

I agree that you should stay away from the 2010's if you can. If you don't, upkeep is critically important.

 

I have a 2010 Prius with 92,000 miles and watch trade in and dealer value. Edmund's says trade in about $5500, Dealer $9600.

Get the plug in or keep looking. You can save $1000 to $3000 by looking on Craigslist. $3000 would cover the cost of a new hybrid battery if you need one down the road.

 

Plug-In batteries are going to be pricier; though haven't heard of any needing replacement yet.

 

yes, and even some of the ben 4 prius now come sans spare. seems to be an industry trend

 

Another gem: 2015 model year only (PIP or regular Prius I believe) have revised piston rings that are supposed to be less prone to oil consumption problems. There Technical Service Bulletin for the earlier years, with the fix being to replace piston rings with 2015 m/y style rings.

 

If you like the idea of a Plug in Prius,,, You'll love the idea of a Volt !
It does so much more than a PiP when it is trying to be an EV and will save you $$$ in fuel and oil maintenance.
You can probably find one in this very price range or less.

 

and comes with a spare!

 

>I assume you mean how these cars use the High Voltage battery (not 12V), in terms of kWh / mile.

The Volt is a 100% EV when it is using the HV battery for that ~38 miles of range.
Full 150 HP, heating or cooling fully EV. You can preheat or cool anywhere without making stinky! Up to 2 yr. oil change intervals.

With the PiP its 6-11 miles of range may be adequate to some commuters. But step on the Go pedal on an on ramp and the cold engine wakes up and has to make power. Press the defrost and the engine has to wake up and make heat. Ask for heat, same thing.
Even if you are one of the owners that manages to get, say, 75% EV usage for 10k miles the manual still tells you to change that engine oil.
You have winter weather. The PiP is at best a '3 Season EV'.

Yes the PiP gets slightly better kWh/mi and better MPG on gas.
But if you manage 95% of your driving on EV with a Volt, that more than makes up for 'Road Trip' MPG.

>>Yes, there is that bias. But where does that come from? Do your research. Get real numbers.

>>> To me there is no choice. Especially at those prices and mileage !!
You can enter the future with a True EV, (a PHEV that doesn't need the gasser for power.),
or get a PiP and tip toe around trying to not make that ice cold engine wake up.

Go test drive both in the same day!!! It will be fun!! Except for dealing with used car salesmen...
Do you know how to tell if they're lying? (old joke...) And watch, those dogs won't have them plugged in.

 

It was chilly this morning here for FL (42F). So I hit the "Auto" button on climate control mostly to clear the windshield. It's a 9.8 mile drive one way to work. So, I only got 198 mpg this morning. 95%+ of my work days I use no gas at all. And on longer trips I "only" get about 50-70 mpg. But almost half my miles are in EV mode and you can see my current mileage in my signature line, which includes two trips to Ohio, one of which was in the dead of winter. All my other fill-ups come in at over 100 mpg. I'm at almost 85,000 miles now and have had zero problems. The car is comfortable for me and costs me about 2.9 cents per mile to drive. How could I possibly complain?

 

in my case, volt would be overkill. but if your driving pattern typically fits the 50 mile ev range, and you don't do much long range driving, it's definitely worth a look see.

 

Edsel,
Keep in mind when you see figures like this that they are sort of misleading. They make it seem like the EV miles were free and the only the gas miles count towards MPG.
Is this $/mil figure factoring electron costs, or just gas? It's a complicated subject.

If your commute is beyond the low 9-11 mi. range, or you deal with winter weather, a PiP is going to be firing up that smelly gasser all the time. It's not a Full Featured EV. To enter the future you need that!
And you are going to be taking it in for oil changes at 10k mi. regardless. More advanced PHEV's don't do that.

Drive both. Put pencil to paper and try to figure your actual Total Cost of Ownership.
And really? 40k mi. vs. 80k mi. ,, similar price?
Definitely not similar technology. {for instance: 101 mph in EV mode! The PiP is speed limited in EV...}

I used to go months without the smelly gasser firing up. (Boring, no road trip months....)