Just sold my Gen3

What maintenance did you do on this vehicle?

 

well, it won't be as spacious, but should be much better in every other respect.

235k, that was a pretty dang good run, makes you wonder about the h/g issuecongrats!

 

I hear they're even better than the wireless Priuses!

Good Luck!

 

I sold my 2012 v Five a pie 3.5 years ago. It was sad to sell it since I LOVED that car. 3.5 years ago was when my sisters 2010 head gasket failed + it burned a lot of oil.

I maintained (over maintained) my v myself, I’m a bit OCD, even with that care it started burning oil around 120k. I decided to get rid of it while it was still in great shape. That 2010 I mentioned above had its engine replaced and about 1.5 years ago it’s engine is already failing with a blown head gasket and oil consumption. The battery is still going strong at 285k!

I traded my lovely Prius v for a loaded Ford C-Max since my family had great success with Ford hybrids. I’m glad I did! It’s been wonderful now with 187k, doesn’t burn any oil and drives great. Going to buy a Prius Prime next!

 

this does not compute.

 

Good for you! I like the Prius Prime engine design since it helps eliminate EGR clogging and head warp issues. Love the ability of reclaiming miles as I'm coasting down a mountain. Not sure if PP will work for my family of 3.

I'm still driving my 2010. It's had no oil burning issues so far - knock on wood. Approaching 110 k on the Odo.

moto g power ?

 

Our family of 4 (kids are 10 and 8) finds the Prime to be a good size .

We also have a second vehicle (RX450h) when the 4 seats or more cargo room are required .

Good to hear the experimental car is still performing well.

 

I think what was my issue is the Prius v wasn’t really the right car for the job for me since I did a lot of intestate miles going 75 trying not to get run over by traffic. The v has a different final drive ratio making the engine rev higher on the highway vs the standard lift back. Glad your 2010 isn’t burning oil!

 

congrats, all the best!

 

I've heard good things about the longevity of the C-Max.

I'm kind of excited to see how the newest Ford hybrid system performs in the upcoming Maverick. In fact, it is taking a lot of my willpower to hold off on ordering one!

 

Ford makes a good hybrid! I love the new Maverick! My only worry is it being so adorable, it may have quality issues. Also Fords built in Mexico don’t have the best reputation unfortunately. My C-max was made in Michigan.

actually just got back from a 1,100 mile road trip loaded down with a gas scooter on the back doing 80 mph. I’m pretty happy with the 36 mpg on this run.
Going to hit 190k next week

 

I am facing the same dilemma now. My 2010 G3 has about 220000km (about 136000 miles) on it. It is running fine still and not burning excessive oil. It is just dreadful to hear the engine knocking noise about once a month. The head gasket replacement runs about CAD$3000 in Toronto. It's also time for new brake pads and rotors too. The water pump is still the original and may need replacement at the same time. The 12V battery drained once early this year so may also need replacement soon. Factor in all these, it will cost $5000 to bring it up to good condition. If I trade it in, I would get about $3500 only. I really love my Prius since I got it 11 years ago and it is hard to imagine to part with it. If it isn't for the faulty gasket issue, I'd love to keep it for another 10 years. However, I don't want to be a sitting duck and wait for the engine to fail. Toyota knows this problem yet chose to offer no assistance to the G3 owners. That's a shame, isn't it?

 

If you keep the EGR System cleaned, it's doubtful you'll have a head gasket failure.
You only have 136,000 miles on it. I just turned 240,000 miles on mine and no problems.

The least expensive car to own is the one that's paid for! Any car will needs parts replaced
as they wear out, that's normal. If you keep up on it, you're less likely to be straned somewhere.

 

under cover mechanic eh?

 

To be fair, 3rd gen longevity requires owners to go well beyond regular the regular “due diligence”.

Wouldn’t it be nice, if all you had to do was the maintenance Toyota outlined in the schedule. That you didn’t have to DIY dive into some pretty significant extra-curricular tear down, and clean out a boatload of carbon crap, due to Toyota’s design fail?

 

Doing the egr stuff in certainly NOT normal maintainence... And a lot of people aren't able to
take care of it themselves. But it's now known that keeping up on this will reduce the chance
of a head gasket failure dramatically.
If independent shops would wise up and reconize this, they could make money cleaning it.
If they charged a "resonable" price for it people would be more prone to have it done.
The "average" mileage a year for most drivers is 12-15,000 miles so every 3-5 years they need it
cleaned.
Neither time when I cleaned the cooler was it clogged up. But both the previous owner and I drive
80+% highway miles at 65mph.

 

True, but you are talking about the <1% of owners that even know what an EGR system is, much less knowing that it needs cleaning.

It would be hard sell, given that there are no symptoms (before its too late) and its not mentioned in the maintenance schedule in the manual. An average driver would probably think that the shop is trying to rip them off: "The car's running fine and you want me to pay how much for maintenance that Toyota doesn't even recommend?"

 

Dealerships have been instructed by Toyota, via the warranty extension, to wait for a code, or significant shake-on-startup, both of which seem to occur when the clogging and ramifications are WELL along. And if you’re beyond warranty (and the extension), their “replace everything” approach, plus labour, can drive owners to to throw in the towel.