Help buying a 2010 gen 3 tomorrow. Bad idea?

run a carfax to verify the mileage. too good to be true

 

A Gen 3 may be a good buy if you're willing to fix the common issues by yourself (lots of help here, and documentation is extensive) or if you have deep pockets. That being said, $9000 is a lot for a 2010.

 

Hi Ben
There is alas simply no way that buying a vehicle out of full warranty is not a gamble. You have to mentally accept that. A trusted seller is your best bet. For reliability buy 2 used cars. Nothing you can do with a used vehicle can ensure long inexpensive life. This is simply reality. And car prices are still ridiculously high.
I'd buy the 2010 if it drives without issues, and if a knowledgable person with techstream shows it has no fault codes. Prius is a very very complex car. If you're unwilling to gamble for the sake of saving a few dollars on gas, buy a regular car. They are less complex and any mechanic can work on them, or you can replace them cheaper when they fail.

 

Welcome!
How much do you have set aside for repairs?
Do you have to buy a hybrid?
It sounds like a nice car but 14 year old cars are always potential problems and hybrids even more so due to the expensive complicated systems

 

Under no circumstances or any conditions by the generation 3 It will be a great disappointment and cost can go through the roof if you're not careful and you become attached to it like you do your pet It happens to people avoid this at all cost You can probably do better on a generate You will do better on a generation too than the price is you're mentioning above but I'm assuming those are very clean cars and you have a certain standard you're needing to meet if you're going to buy something that old I kind of sort of understand your pain. The generation 2 will serve you 1000 times better than any generation 3 or a pair of generation 3s forget it I have a pair of generation 3 sitting right here just forget it save your hard-earned money if that's what it is. I just bought two generation twos one with nav both with leather both undented one with faded paint both running etc I paid $700 a piece for them separately but like 2 months apart the one I rebuilt the hybrid battery in which is something I don't very often do and the other one needed a break actuator which I still haven't installed yet. My 09 work vehicle is flawless but it is a work vehicle and it looks it The other two I just bought are extremely clean look ridiculous considering they're almost 20 years old they're very clean most people would be proud to drive them anywhere they're nice looking cars except the kid but I'm not getting my cars for kids. I give the kids something like a Yaris they have no use for the Prius The lights and warnings will take them down quickly.

 

I hate to say it, but I think that's exactly what you're headed for.

These cars are built to last about 15 years. A few make it to 20.

If you need to buy a 2010 or earlier car to save money, I'd suggest getting the simplest, cheapest-to-fix thing you can find. It was also built to last about 15 years, and it should also be expected to have problems approaching that age.

The difference is that with a simple Corolla/Impreza/Elantra etc. you'd have the flexibility of hiring any mechanic in town, including the cheapest ones.

You don't get that with a Prius.

Remember: the way a Prius saves you money is by not needing as much gasoline while you pour on the miles. If that's not how you plan to use the car, it won't do much to save you money.

 

Hybrid battery's lifetime is more by age than mileage so at about 14-15 years old now, could become a problem too. I'd be more likely to get the 08 or 09 than the 2010.

 

Yes. If you get it be prepared to clean the EGR, including intake manifold, soon. If you can DIY you’ll be fine. Pros who do this, properly and completely, without resorting to wholesale parts replacement ($) are scarce.

my 2 cents: carbon-clogged EGR is the reason gen 3’s are blowing head gaskets. Cleaning every 50k would be optimum. Delaying first cleaning to 100k is a little less onerous, but…

see top two links in my signature. On a phone turn it landscape to see signature.

 

i'd go with the fit. saving the world is for those who can afford it, it's not cheap

 

merv is very entertaining! and there are tons of how to videos online:

watch

 

You may well be spending $10k in repairs over the next few years with a 2010 Prius. Just being without a car a few times is bad enough. The new car buyer back in 2010 got 13 years of benefits with low maintenance and gas savings. The used gen3 Prius buyer today overpays upfront and has to deal with the issues.

https://priuschat.com/threads/new-2-me-prius-v.245339/page-2#post-3410784

The worse thing that is happening too often is a bad head gasket is temporarily masked by a $15 can of sealer. The car runs fine for a month or two leaving the buyer with no recourse.

 

Watch the video linked in top link in my signature; that’ll give some idea, though there is a lot of unnecessary coolant spillage.

a caution: a gen 3 for sale with 140k, odds are better than even it’s already got head gasket letting go. And/or burning oil due to the low-tension piston rings and 10k oil change interval.

Honda Fits are cool cars; it’s a shame Honda’s discontinued it here.

 

"It costs a lot of money to save on gas!"

 

No I'd go with the Toyota Yaris You can find them a lot cheaper than the fit The fits enjoying up I don't know what but sales I guess Honda's doing well whatever it is The Yaris is a much better deal and better engine as far as I'm concerned and then if you're buying an older yara's like an '09 or something like that you're getting the same engine basically that's in a generation too Prius that's not detuned and not connected to an electric motor transmission and no battery so basically it's a generation 2 Prius without the electronics and a Yaris can almost get 40 on the highway or the Prius will get 40 pretty much on a bad day full time The yaris can get it on the highway. I have and seen yaris's here in Central North Carolina with 495,000 mi on them clean is a pin running like a top these are generally fleet cars that come from trucking companies Hertz rent a car whatever some of them are clean as a whistle too like 3,500.

 

You had the right idea the first time, go back for more!

 

Stay away from Priuses with over 100k miles. Get a regular gas car.

 

I see you're up in Massachusetts You're a simple thing is you need to just come down south for a week I don't know what you could do mini vacation I don't know what you do for a living or how you'd work that out but you'd find the car down here for probably half of what you're going to spend there with none of the body issues so on and so forth ready to almost ready to go and you could make it that way and still have less than the $5,300 that you're talking about unless people see you coming down here in the south that 09 Prius is just not worth a lot because everybody down here is expected to keep up with the Joneses and have a 2023 back to about a 2016 Prius prime v whatever the heck when people see my '09 coming and pulling into the parking lot they don't even pay it any mind It's like somebody driving an old VW beetle 25 years ago It is completely not thought about and I like it that way that is the best. My 08 silver Prius flies so far under the radar people look at you crazy if you were to mention it.