Which year is the best year to buy? Former Prius owner

Tesla has no dealerships. That has been a large challenge working against the powerful dealership lobbyists. Dealers make too much profit off repairs to want to sell a low maintenance BEV.

 

How do you know that ?

As an owner of a 2010 that will surpass 200k miles tomorrow evening and it’s the best car I have owned.

Don’t forget the model year for 2010 was well over a year, so there are more Prii from this year than any other.

Also it’s age and miles make these “issues” more pronounced that will and are appearing in later gen3’s.

Still very reliable.

 

@Raytheeagle See for yourself. The data does not lie. 2007-2008 had tons of headlight issues and 2010 had tons of engine issues. Both of these have been confirmed on this site as well. You can read for hours about all the problems on the 2010 on the website. Now yes, not everybody will have the same results. You are lucky. I am not lucky. So I depend on this website and what people say on here so I will take advice and avoid a 2010. Toyota Prius Problems | CarComplaints.com

 

So for the over 140k Prii sold in the 2010 model year, there are a total of 414 engine related complaints. That’s a 0.29% chance if you believe in their statistics.

So “rolling the dice” on a 2010 seems reasonable to most with those statistics. But you’re not everybody and willingly take risks on cheap cars.

How were the statistics on that one?

Keep thinking we’re lucky.

 

@Raytheeagle you're automatically assuming every Prius owner reports to car complaints.com? I'd bet that most Prius owners don't even KNOW about the website. Bottom line is, that 2010 has the highest amount of reported issues. It's not just on carcomplaints.com. But that website makes it more convenient to see. You can believe that it isn't true and that 2010 has no problems. Others on here know the problems. Again, it doesn't mean that every 2010 is bad. I roll the dice all the times on cars. I win some and I lose some. Overall I am definitely ahead so I think I'll keep using the car complaints.com data.

 

While staying in Sarasota, Florida last Summer and going to their mall, Tesla has a storefront space in the mall that is quite large. Maybe you don't call it a dealership, but I call it a dealership mostly. You can't see 100 Tesla's at once on a lot, but I got to sit in the sedan and sit in the SUV and the salesman showed me all the cool tech and gave me information and everything. It was right across from the Apple store in the mall. I told him when I win the lottery I would be back.

 

I wish people who really don’t have any real knowledge would stop making statements that affect the entire Prius Line for 2010-2011. There are plenty of Prius during these years that have traveled over 200k miles with no issues. It’s not the car you should be focusing on, but who drove it and who maintained it. These are now 9 year old cars. These cars have proven to be some of the most reliable cars on the road. It’s actually the 2nd oldest car that people tend to hold onto the longest.

 

Better looks?!

 

I don't need to have any real knowledge when I have facts. The data speaks for itself. I understand that you and Ray have 2010 models, so obviously you are going to be biased on 2010 models and you are entitled to your own opinion. But that is your opinion and I have posted facts from a reputable site with reliable data. If you don't like the data you see, and you don't believe it, then I encourage you to check other sites on the internet and you'll see the same results. I really love the star tribune article. A 2010 Prius owner with 120K, always had her oil changed on time and serviced her vehicle routinely on time. Her engine blew because in less than 4000 miles after an oil change, the oil consumption used all her oil. Of course the dealership wouldn't help her even though they did the maintenance on the car. They blamed it on her, saying she should've checked her oil level more often. I'm sorry but If I go to a dealership and get oil changes every 4000 miles, then I shouldn't have to check to see if I am completely out of oil in less than 4000 miles.

I get it, you both are happy with your 2010 models and I'm glad for you. I had a Town and Country van that made it to 687,000 miles on the original engine and even more surprisingly, the original transmission. At 687,000 miles, the ECM started acting up and I would have to disconnect my battery sometimes to get the vehicle to run. It wasn't worth putting a new ECM in it. I sold it for $500 in running condition. I'm sure that wasn't the typical result with a Town and Country minivan. I have a much newer Town and Country minivan now. I only use it to pickup large items from the store. It has 171K on it, with the same 3.8L engine but I can tell this engine won't last near as long. And the transmission sometime erratically shifts which is normal in the newer Town and Country with the 6 speed tranny. And yes car complaints.com accurately reports the year that I have as having engine and transmission problems. I also have had multiple electrical issues. Windshield wipers speed up or slow down, but won't turn off. Driver's door can't control any windows even though all the windows work. The control switches in the door have been changed and I still have no window controls that work. And car complaints.com specifically talks about this. So maybe you'll have good luck and maybe you'll have the results that car complaints.com warns people of. I find that car complaints.com is usually right.

 

It’s pretty clear in every car manual to check oil at each fill up. 4,000 miles is 1,000 miles shy of the next oil change. So yes the dealer was right. Again it comes down to how the car was driven and maintained.

 

If you are looking for a Gen 3, the 14 or 15 are probably the best years to purchase. They have the lowest likelihood of developing oil consumption issues.

The head gasket issues are likely to affect all 10-15 Prius. Mine is a 2011 and it failed at 185k. I am currently helping another forum member with a 2014 with 220K who also experienced a head gasket failure. So, I would plan on the head gasket being a "problem" regardless of which Gen 3 model year that you decide to purchase.

 

What I am trying to say (and @The Critic and @orenji are offering support for) is that these “issues” are things to monitor across the Gen3 line. The data is evolving and when someone continues to say one year is better than another (when in actuality it isn’t as no components truly changed until 2014 and 2015) it leads people down a path. I deal in the land of semantics and technicalities daily and data supported by less than 1% is not reliable. But the data can tell you whatever you want.

I believe in preventative maintenance so I am more inclined to replace a part and monitor condition prior to the issues arising. When toyota switches to the 10k mike oil change and pandered our the “closed hood philosophy” with the launch of the Gen3, it gave the false impression that what’s in front of the driver’s seat never has to be checked. This is not true.

While simply checking the oil level and monitoring other conditions might not be enough, it sets the car up better for long term success. Getting a car to 200k miles is great and well past what other car makers attempt and consistently deliver.

You read consumer reports? In the 2019 auto issue the 2010 has fallen off but here is a shot of the findings:

From this (470k respondents to all models), the engine and transmission information appears at the top, so consumer reports says something different than your data. Since they collect and report data, who do you believe ?

It just so happens I also have the 2018 consumer reports auto issue available (we are buying a Prime Sunday) and here’s what the data says which has the 2010 info there:


Same structure with engine and transmission at the top and this is on 640k responses (many models do not specific to the Prius) so more than 2019.

Just trying to offer light to a cloudy data world .

 

Again you are being biased. A Prius shouldn't lose all 4 quarts of it's oil in 4000 miles. That's ridiculous.

 

I think most any 3rd gen with 200K miles is pretty much guaranteed to have a clogged EGR system, if it hasn't been removed and cleaned. And that's not routine maintenance. So isn't that an "issue"?

Toyota knows about it (obviously), but in their public response they hold their cards close to their chest. Partial quote from a Warranty Enhancement Program notification I received from Toyota Canada, dated May 2017 (SOSH-W11-1A):

"While the majority of vehicles will not experience this condition"

https://attachments.priuschat.com/attachment-files/2019/02/161867_SOSH-W11-1A.pdf

 

I agree, and this is what I look at to anticipate which problems may come up. The engine (major) and engine (minor) are both well above average, compared to other vehicles. Sure, there have been reported head gasket and oil burning issues, but as per CR owners, the Gen3 engines still have among the lowest reported problems.

 

Mine was at 209k when I bought it with a head gasket leak. Blue Devil patched it for almost 4K miles. But ultimately did fail(?). I’m not sure which failure, the head gasket or oil pump actually did it in though.

 

If I knew on March 3, 2018 that the Prius I bought would experience a sudden, catastrophic engine failure 90 days after I bought it, I’d still buy it.

Wait, I knew it had a leaking head gasket the day I bought it and I still drove it almost 4K miles with the help of Blue Devil. And I’d do it again. This car has taught me so much about my mechanical ability, and about how remarkably easy the Prius is to work on, that I wouldn’t trade the time or money I spent for anything on this earth.

 

Again we are talking about a 9 year old car. Things happen with all cars as they age. But Prius as a whole is very reliable.

 

Yes, front end and back end have better eye appeal to me. Of course looks are subjective.
Oh yeah, forgot that the wheel covers are more stylish. Reminds me of my hot wheel cars when I was young.