How bad are the 2010s?

welcome!

unfortunately, there is no data.

the best we can tell you is that some people have problems and some don't. the ones you read about here, often came here for help with the problem.

we do know that there is a piston problem, because they changed them in 2014.
we do know that there is a ring problem because they changed them in 2015.

we don't know why some people have oil burning/head gasket issues and some don't. there's no telling how some people treat their cars.
and we don't know what will happen to the specific car you will buy.

 

These are horrible cars, known as the turd gen car

 

There are 2010s that are trouble free, but there are oil thirsty 2010s out there so when inspecting check if it uses oil only fix that may be even cheapest is buying new used engine on ebay

 

Hi! I have a 2010 with 125,000 miles on it. Everything on it works as new. I have had no major problems with it. It doesn't use oil, it doesn't use coolant. The traction battery charges and discharges normally. I get 51 MPG on the highway with AC on and 47 MPG around town with AC on. I have a Prius V w/ATP and 17" wheels. I had one rear wheel bearing go bad and both front door lock actuators fail. Aside from that, just maintenance and preventative maintenance. Good luck!

 

If your in the market for a 10 year old car why not get a 2009?

I’ve never understood why the 2009’s are so much less popular than the 2010, you would think they would be the best Gen II

 

We owned a 2010 from August 2009 until April of this year. We put 200k miles on it. It was a great car.

Did it consume oil: yes a quart every 5-6k miles
Did I clean the egr circuit: yes
Did I have any major failures: Nope
Was I happy with our purchase and a little sad to let it go: Absolutely
Did I sell this due to their being problems: Nope just helping someone out
Would I recommend buying a 2010: Sure if either you or someone you know is mechanically inclined as it is 10 years old and will have components fail due to age or mileage

Hope that helps .

 

How does one do "research" when there's no data on it?

 

I've been told by a mechanic, and my instinct if that matters, says to avoid the 2010-2011 ones. The safest best is going to be a '15 due to the changed pistons & piston ring set: https://attachments.priuschat.com/attachment-files/2019/04/165269_T-SB-0169-16.pdf . There's no guarantee it'll fix the oil burning problem. The other thing is the 2015 may have fixed the inverter dying problem, b/c they only offered the 15 year warranty on the 2010-2014s. It could be argued the '14 might be 'better' because it's covered on the 15 year inverter (til '2029) warranty, but you're dealign with the oil burning problem.

Also, someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but perhaps the reason why the '12-'14s haven't had as many oil burning problems yet could be because they're more recent - as far as I understand and I could be wrong, but the '12-14's I think use the same part numbers as the '10s-'11s. Also, while I'm assuming the '15 might offer a fix, there's not enough data to know for sure yet.

Also, if you look at Toyota Prius Problems | CarComplaints.com you'll note that while the 2010 has the most problems, carcomplaints.com says the 2011 has the most costly repairs.

I don't see the point in taking the risk of saving a couple grand when you can get the '12-'15 for slightly more. The oil burning problem is something, btw, that I think isn't a huge deal if you check your oil dipstick every gas fillup/month, and top off the oil, but that's assuming you lose a quart say ever 5k miles or 2500 miles – if it starts losing a quart ever every 1000 miles or less then that's a problem imo.

 

I have a 2010 with 210,000 miles on it, runs great, no major problems

 

So if you check it and do what the analysis says, it isn’t a big deal.

You do realize that all cars as they age aren’t the same as they were when they were new.

I’ll take adding oil any day of the week over some of the other car manufacturers issues.

 

@Haschwalt I do not know what prices are in your country but in mine 2014 and 2015 are worst Gen 3 too buy way to expensive at their prices its easy choice too save alittle more and go for Gen 4

 

The 2014 models, I think, are the ones that were the subject of the lawsuit between a SoCal Toyota dealer and Toyota: the dealer claimed to have a lot of these models that he had taken as trade-ins but refused to resell because they had a tendency to switch into "limp home" mode (15mph max, I think) even while doing the speed limit (or more) in the fast lane.

 

Did you ask yourself these questions?

 

Yup.

Would I have sold it to a friend of a friend otherwise, probably not. When we bought the Prius in August of 2009, I was offloading a Jaguar. That I would not have sold to a friend of a friend .

It went to a dealer for a “thorough” inspection prior to selling.

 

I own a 2010 and I've had some minor issues with it. It currently has 120k miles and has the 17inch Prius Five wheels.

1. burns oil at around 1 qt 3000 miles, burns more if you drive really aggressively.
2. leather passenger seat is rattling, seems like it's getting loose somehow
3. my hv battery is very weak causing my mpg to drop significantly but it just won't fail completely
4. had bad rattle at start up issue, dealer changed egr valve and issue hasn't returned
5. cleaned the egr loop not too long ago and it hasn't given me any issues.

So I think the 2010 are still worth buying, it's not too different from any of the other years.

 

statistically worse, but we won't know until the later years are older and have more miles racked up.

i would go fo a 14 or 15 if i could afford it, but i would always buy the newest, lowest mile car i could afford, regardless of issues.

 

Any used vehicle is usually buyer beware. Few people keep track of all the service they have done.
You just don't know how they've driven it, or what quality of oil and filter they have used. Or how often
they changed the oil. Or any other service.
The Prius is no different. I honestly don't really see any cost difference. There are cars out there that
brake master cylinders are a few hundred dollars, other are $40. The computer will cost more for any car.
When I first got on here, I saw 2011-13 models were the ones with blown head gaskets and battery problems.
I bought my 2010 with 116,801 miles on it. The guy had EVERY single receipt for everything done on his Prius.
98% of the service was through Toyota, and on time. Oil changes every 5000 miles. The car looked almost new
inside and out except for a few spots, which he pointed out to me.

At 119936, I replaces the transmission fluid.
At 124929 miles, Spark Plus
At 124929 Engine and Inverter coolant
At 138745 miles, EGR system, and intake manifold. The cooler was sooty, but not clogged. Oven cleaner took care of that easily.
There was only a little oil at the bottom of the manifold.
At 169xxx miles I change the trans fluid again.

I have had NO problems with my 2010 with over 176,000 miles on it.
The guy drove 75% highway miles at 65mph. I'm about 85-90% highway, 90% of the time, 65mph.
I use about 1/4 quart of oil in 10,000 miles. When I drive 70mph a lot, I use about 1/2 a quart.
I'm happy driving 65 to reduce oil consumption, which really is nothing, and improve the MPG by 4-5mpg.

I'm still driving my 02 town and country with 376,000 miles on it.

Like some have said, it will depend on how you maintain it and take care of it.
I do agree the 2015 would probably be the best Gen3 to get, but they will cost more, and may still have the same
problems previous model years have. They just don't have enough miles on them, yet.

I do my own work, so I don't have labor costs.

 

2014 might be better than the 2015 b/c the 2014 has the inverter warranty for 15 years - 2015 only has it for 10 years -> so 2025 for '15 and 2029 for the '14. The '14 changes the pistons, but not the rings, but the '15 changes the pistons and rings. No idea if the '15s inverter is any different. The inverter issue seems to effect about 5-10% of all Priuses & is the bigger problem over the oil burning problem which isn't that big of a problem if you check fluids often

 

5-10% is a pretty big number to pull out of thin air