I have a ridiculous commute and reliability is important. I have been looking at Gen 2 Prius for quite a while on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist where they are a dime a dozen. I now have an auction connection from a co-worker and we all work for the same entity so this is a trusted source. In fact, I can return the car if I don't like it. With that said, I have been using "mycarangel's" review as a guideline. I think that I might be getting too hung up on buying a Touring though. I am also concerned that he might get something with leather that is not a Touring. I read that one of the easiest ways to identify a touring is to have him look at the door sticker and it should have "x" tire size? Is that the best way? Also, is the touring so rare as to be almost unfindable? I read that only 5% of these were touring. Also, read that the touring comes at a noticeable fuel economy penalty. Is that right? Read something about some of the software updates reducing fuel economy? How do I know if I have an effected vehicle and how prevalent is that? Additionally, when the hybrid battery decides to die, is it a huge DIY job to do reliably? Not so much worried about expense as I am simplicity of the job. How about handling (or at least the potential to improve handling without reducing fuel economy)? Any years to get or avoid? All in all, trying to get something that gives me more family time than my R53 Mini Cooper is. Fun car, but not reliable enough for a daily unless you want to sink lots of money and time into it. Not sure if I want something that is pristine or a true beater where I could give a rats if someone dinged my door. Any thoughts or advice would be helpful. I can't link to the mycarangel prius review but he is very hung up on the cloth and/or non-touring interior being low quality citing that I'd be much better off with the leather. Thank you.
Never heard of touring getting different gas mileage... One thing more expensive about them is larger wheel diameter / inch larger than standard so tires are more expensive. Only other difference in Touring model is slightly stiffer rear shocks and slightly larger wing on the hatch. Definitely not worth trying to get one. Just get the best Prius between 2006-2009 and plan to replace 12v and clean, charge, balance and recondition hybrid battery. Also change trans fluid, engine oil and all filters. If you do all that you'll have a super reliable car.
Very concise post. That's what I will do then....just pursue the best 06-09 that I can get. Another thing, I hear that if not driven daily you can mess up the Hybrid Battery. What if I have to do major maintenance and the vehicle is down for an extended period of time or I am not in the area for an extended period of time. This concerns me a bit.
The car doesn’t need daily operation to survive. It also doesn’t like to be forgotten in a garage for 8 years. There is a happy medium and most people find it without any time spent looking. If you get one with the smart key system, disable it for extra protection when you go on vacation.
Looking over the stats and based on discussions here the last three years the touring model gets about 1-2 mpg less than the standard model. We had a standard model that was totaled in an accident before acquiring this touring model and our gas mileage dropped 1.5 mpg (U.S. gallons). The larger Prius V delivers a 10% or or higher reduction in the gas mileage.
if the hybrid battery has a weak cell, but not throwing a code as yet, sitting for months may cause it to go completely bad. but it would be inevitable anyway. if you're going to do your own repairs, read through the battery replace/rebuild, engine replace, tranny replace, brake actuator replace, a/c compressor replace threads. those are the big ticket items at a dealer. you'll want tech stream diagnostic software to read trouble codes all the best!
A quick way to identify a Gen 2 Touring is to look at the wheels, if it still has the factory wheels that is. @srellim234's profile shows the wheels that came with the Touring model, which are distinctly different from the regular Gen 2. Personally, I am very happy with the ride and MPG we are getting on our 2007 Touring, but never having spent significant time driving a regular Gen 2, I can't comment on how it compares. I can vouch for the durability of the leather interior with 280k miles on our car now, and really no significant signs of wear anywhere. I definitely think it would be worth paying a few hundred more just for that option, if there were no other differences in 2 cars you were comparing. Note that the leather was optional on both the Touring and regular model cars, though, so there is really no difference between the Touring and non-Touring interior.
I have replaced one section of the leather on the driver's seat. It didn't survive my wife getting in and out often while wearing her gun belt. Now that she's fully retired, no issues with the Softex to report. A cloth interior would have never stood up to that gun belt either. Between the two, we prefer the leather. Easier to clean and keep clean while being more durable.
hybridautomotive.com sells a system that's similar to a trickle charger for a 12v battery, but it trickle charges the high voltage battery. This is also the system you will need to do hybrid battery reconditioning... As for if the vehicle is down for a period of time, this isn't that big of a deal, just more problematic.... For example the packs that fail that I've worked on tend to be the lower mileage closer to 100K after a dozen years and daily drivers that are up above 200K miles seem to have fewer problems. But that's kind of an end of life tendency that can be addressed with periodic trickle charging and reconditioning. And it doesn't mean you should invest in high mileage Prius over a lower mileage one, just a good reason to pull the trigger on a high mileage one it it's a really great price.
I agree with a note that my 2005 has been with me I’ve 590,000 miles so with that in mind let milage, Dr Prius and the Veepeak code reader be your guide. Keep a grand in the bank so if the battery doesn’t last you can get one that will. iPhone ?
Don’t overthink the touring part. Your better off just getting the nicest cleanest one you can find. I agree with the 2006-2009 call. They made some changes in 2006. Leather interior is mostly found in the upper models so you get most of the goodies that go with those models. I drive a 75 mile round trip 5 days a week and my Prius saves over 100 bucks a month over my 4 runner or Tacoma. That pretty much pays for my parking space downtown.
Thanks very much. Like anything else in life, a very applicable monkey wrench just got thrown into the mix. My co-worker just advised he is getting rid of his ALH TDI Jetta for $500 and asked me if I wanted to buy it. It's an Auto though which don't give as much mileage and aren't as reliable. Might just pass that over to my son as a first car though. Awesome tips.
By the way, I am required to travel with a holstered gun but maybe only 2-3 times per month. Wondering if the seats can handle that? My Forester XT seats don't like that. My Mini Cooper S is happier.
I loaned out my Prolong system to mcbrunnhilde yesterday. She's looking to replace her Gen II Prius with a Prius Prime soon. She was asking me where to find a buyer and I suggested here at Priuschat. She doesn't log in very often so I'll prompt her again. She has a really nice 2004 with 300,000+ highway miles that's been really well maintained and taken care of cosmetically. She has always kept it in a garage. Original battery pack. If someone is interested, I'd be happy to put you in contact with her. Touch base with me through a conversation so we can keep our contact info private. EDIT: She did mention out of state delivery should not be a problem. She loves road trips.
