Can I get some thoughts about the 2010 Prius

I have a 2010 and the reason I believe it's still on the road is because it's almost never off of the road my ex drives this car for Uber eats and all of those silly things and it's an early 2010 with solar roof and JBL The prior owner kept the car on the road all the time as a young college student and then in some kind of sales job real estate who knows then the car went to a small car dealership where it did not sit but a day or two and I came along and bought it for my ex she immediately put it on the road full time It's never had time to sleep since I bought the car for her I believe this has a big presence of why it's still on the road now I have a 2013 persona I bought a year later that car blew a head gasket needed an engine in 24,000 miles It was just luck of the draw It's a Gen 3 issue I put a motor in that persona and we're heading to 50,000 mi on that motor and it's only been in there 7 months or something like that The persona is not driven like the 2010 at all we'll see how the JDM spec engine holds up in the persona which is driven like most people here regular go to town come back go to work come back. The 2013 is driven nothing like the 2010 I believe the 2010 is still on the road because it's hardly ever off the road I truly believe that the Prius needs to be three sheets in the wind as much as possible always being driven The minute it sits things start to happen immediately It seems like. It is one of the perfect cases for use it or lose it so if you're buying a Prius to sit in the driveway and drive 6/10 of a mile to work and back and rarely do much else truly do yourself a favor buy a Corolla or a Yaris seriously.

 

The hybrid batteries are nearly guaranteed to fail somewhere between year 15 and year 20.

That 1.8L engine is known for elevated oil consumption.

There can be expensive problems with the brake booster and master cylinder.

The EGR system can clog up, and there's a theory circulating that a clogged EGR system can lead to a blown head gasket. This theory makes some sense to me, but none of us have the resources to prove it one way or the other. Toyota just ignores it altogether, since it occurs long past any warranty coverage.

None of these problems are easy to detect pre-purchase. They don't happen to every single car- you could get away totally clean. But some cars will hit all of these problems, and the total for fixing just these is higher than what you've negotiated for purchase.

Elevated risk of catalytic converter theft.

When a Prius is running well it is an amazing car. When they aren't going well they are legendary money pits. You can spend a fortune trying to save a little gas.

The gamble we all take with a Prius is that we are driving enough miles to save enough fuel to pay for eventual repairs on the more exotic hybrid powertrain. When you are driving many miles per year and you start with a fresh new Prius, this is a good gamble. Those repairs won't be needed for a long time.

If you start with a 13+ year old car, you are much closer to that risk- you'll have to do the math to work out if your driving demands are high enough to justify the bet.

Welcome and good luck!

 

The ideal person to buy an old Prius is someone who is handy enough and has tools, space and time to do maintenance and some repairs. If, for example he hasn't had spark plugs and coolant changed, it is time to do it. You can do it yourself for almost nothing or pay to have it done. I agree with Leadfoot's comments about EGR. The EGR circuit can be cleaned when replacing plugs. There are plenty of videos to help. A old Prius can serve you well and be fun to own for a long time if you continue to maintain it.

So, can you do that? If not, get an estimate on how much it would cost.

There is a very experienced and respected independent hybrid dealer in Tampa. If I were you I would have them do an inspection.

tampahybrids.com

 

The logic there is that the wipers and windshield cowl need to come off for plug replacement, and the maintenance interval for plugs is 12 years or 120k miles, whichever comes first.

my 2 cents: if you leave the EGR to 120k miles, that just may be too late. Taking off wipers and cowl is a pain, but head gasket failure is a disaster.

Maybe do the EGR every 60k (double up on spark plug miles interval), and do it well, including intake.

He “may” just be starting to experience the cold-start shakes, got some bad news.

Ask to take a test-drive starting with a stone-cold engine, early morning.

 

Well. A new head gasket job at Tampa Hybrids is well worth it for $2,600. If you are willing to spend $5600 on the car and don't have $3,000 to spend on the repairs. I would pass. Or. Look up Tampa Hybrids online. They sell Prius THAT HAVE ALREADY HAS THE HEAD GASKETS repaired and offer a warranty. I would look at there website for cars for sale as well. The 2010-2011 IIRC is the worse offenders and can be a money Pit. Ask to see repair paperwork. See what they did. Was the PO diligent on oil, air filters? Was it garage kept? Why is he selling? If you don't need the space and you don't commute very far I would look at a Corolla. I had 3 Corollas and only went to a Prius when we had a family and needed more space...Starting to outgrow that now.

 

IIRC. means....If I Recall Correctly. . I would run a Dr. Prius APP at a minimum , and if you are really serious about this car. Pay a Mechanic to look it over and get a in depth Professional opinion. Dare I say pay the toyota dealership $150 to give you a report on it. I think that a 2010 is worth $150 if I was serious about buying it. I would gladly pay that for a professional opinion. However If you don't have $2,000 to invest in repairs for the first year....it is a big gamble in my book. Cheap Cars....are....usually cheap for a reason.

 

3rd gen Prius EGR access and cleaning is more involved. See first couple of links in my signature.

 

2010 with 150k is a ticking time bomb

 

Past performance is no indication of future results.

You're seeing the ones that were used heavily while they were fresh. A young Prius can absorb miles like nobody's business. The first 10 years of any Prius' life is pretty magical- low usage costs and ultra-low maintenance costs.

Once you get past that period things start getting more random and expensive. Not all at once, of course. Every car is different, and years of use further individualizes each one.

The point is that the ultra-reliability that everyone talks about is something that happens in that first 10 years and then fades after. That's not what you're getting when you buy a 13-year old Prius.

Don't make the mistake of thinking you are buying into that legendary reliability unless you get one new enough to actually deliver it.

 

That was true. But time has moved on, and it isn't necessarily true anymore. That's what I'm getting at here: you can go broke chasing yesteryears' ghosts. Old cars are expensive to keep up with- especially high tech ones like hybrids.

A 2010 like the one you found obviously isn't dead. It'll probably be okay for another couple of years before something really expensive happens. But is that really long enough?

The same money on a simple car like a Yaris, Accent, Corolla, Fit, Spark etc would get you a car that could age more gracefully. Much cheaper repairs. If you aren't going to drive much, the difference in fuel savings is negligible.

 

My 2012 had the inverter failure at 100k July 2022 and the abs booster pump failure at 120k December 2022. Thankfully both were still covered by enhanced warranty programs, the booster pump barely because my car didn't get first registered until July 2013. Those would have been $3,500 for the inverter and likely a $3k repair. Older Prius's are terrifying potential money pits. Mine I bought in 2021 for $14k with 75k miles with documented 5k oil changes so other than those 2 potentially catastrophic repairs it's been fine. I likely will need a battery in a year or 2 but decided to wait till it pops a code. Something else may go before then and it still gets 48mpg on the way to work.

 

Clean egr, intake manifold, throttle body, maf sensor, replace all fluids.

 

I don't understand the first part of your question, but for the second part: yes, we bought a new 2018 Prius c. It's now coming up on 5 years old, just shy of 70k miles. It's been fantastic. We love the car.

If you want to have a fantastic, carefree, low maintenance experience with a Prius, try a 5 year old like mine.

Would our answers be less surprising if the website had been called oldprius.com?