What should I do with a 2006 Prius I inherited that doesn't run?

Get a code reader You should own one anyway I guess everybody should have a basic code reader well maybe not and see what you've got You don't need the Prius specific You just need a fairly updated regular OBD2 code reader there's a big thread here about ones that are tested and we know work I use a cheap Innova brand I don't know 3200 something 3210 something like that Very inexpensive gets most of the codes I need to get first try and then you got a good shot I would keep the 2006 absolutely that's a nice unit I don't know which interior you have or any of that but probably is worth fixing if you're looking at a Yaris or anything like that they're going to be five grand maybe 5,500 so just the basic battery and the 12 volt and maybe having to fix a speedometer if it's not working and what have you You're well under $5,000 even if you buy or a new Toyota battery buy it online pick it up at the store give them your old one stick that one right in right in the parking lot won't take you anytime watch a couple videos couple wrenches sockets it's out of there.

 

Unless you are somewhat handy and ready to take direct action, an old Prius in that kind of shape is a money pit starter pack.

Sell it off to somebody who is better suited to work it over. It's worth a few thousand as it sits just for the parts in it, starting with the catalytic converter.

A simple car is much cheaper for a college kid to fix in a pinch, and newer cars generally have better safety tech than older cars- even at the cheap tiers.

Good luck!

 

At 65k, that thing is a peach!

best thing is to have the trouble codes read at a dealer, and then determine how much you want to spend

 

The car might need a ton of work or virtually none. With the information provided we cannot say.

If "all the warning lights" were on that would include the CEL. If you can't find a code it means either:

1. the 12V battery is so far gone that the computers cannot function properly
2. the code reader is too basic to read the Prius codes
3. the ECU has gone (very, very unlikely)

Use a digital multimeter to measure the battery at the jump post in the fuse box under the hood (the fuse box lid release latch is at the front, then tilt up from the front), 20V DC range, positive lead on post under the red flip lid (facing the car, left side of fuse box, about 80% of the way towards the rear) and negative lead on one of the exposed metal bolts on the inverter (the big shiny thing to the left of the fuse box). Don't have a multimeter? They can be had for $10 or so at Harbor Freight, good enough for this, and useful on any other cars you may own. If the battery is below 12V it is probably toast, if it is below 11V it is definitely bad. Or pull it out (in the trunk, passenger side, under the floor) and take it to an Autozone to test it. If the 12V is bad replace it for about $200 with one from Walmart or for $50-60 more for an OEM one.

Have a known good 12V? Good, then...

There is a thread on this site that lists OBD2 readers which work well with the car. Or read here:

Hybrid battery diagnostic and repair tool for Toyota and Lexus

I have a Veepeak and it works with both Torque and Dr. Prius (on Android, I don't have an Apple device but it probably works fine there too.) Turn the car on and read the codes. Once you have numbers, report back here. A failed inverter pump will give symptoms more or less like you describe, and these do wear out and need to be replaced every 80K miles. That would be P0A93. You can check for this without a code reader - if the pump has failed the skinny tank of pink fluid next to the inverter will not move when the car is on. When the pump is working there is a slight roiling motion at the top. If you are handy you can change the pump yourself, although probably best not to do it in a college parking lot. Only use an OEM pump unless you don't mind changing it again in a much shorter interval. Only use an OEM pump bought at a dealer, the web is awash with fakes.

Once the car will run without dropping dead you can buy Dr. Prius and check the state of the HV battery. If the car is all original it is probably toast, but occasionally people report cars with still healthy HV packs at that age. Paying somebody to replace the pack will be expensive, but you can do it yourself for around $2000. The other common expensive repair is the ABS,

Now, should you do any of this? Depends. The Prius can be pretty expensive if you have to pay others to service it. Some mechanics either don't work on them or manifestly don't know what they are doing when they do. Do you work on cars yourself and are you close enough to help? Is your daughter at all mechanically inclined? Mine wasn't and she pretty much destroyed her car in college by driving it until it died when the serpentine belt fell off. Massive overheating and it never really recovered, even after replacing all sorts of stuff. (My daughter once had that car serviced and the bill was huge, when I asked what they did she couldn't remember, except that they had changed the "tiny bell".) So, in short, if nobody in the family is up to working on this car you probably don't want to send her to school with it. Just get a conventional car like an old Corolla, Civic, or Mazda 3. Those are all reliable, pretty economical, and most mechanics can fix them.

 

Number 1 thing I would highly recommend not to do is let a repair company take your battery and let them put some junk in its place.
A battery with 65k miles is a godsend if it hasn't been used in city traffic all these years. It simply lost capacity over the many years during which the car was parked more than it was driven.
In this battery, 1 module most likely died. If you restore its capacity, it should be a good battery.
In the summer of 2023 I sold a 2007 Prius with 67k miles.
About 5 years ago I sold a 2007 Prius with 34k miles on it without doing anything to the battery. The triangle lit up at 47k miles, 1 bad module.

 

Hmmm... an old low mileage Prius.

Maybe something good, maybe something bad. Nobody knows.

There are three POTENTIAL high cost problems on a Gen2 Prius.

1) the High Voltage battery - car can't run if this fails completely. Most reliable repair is a new Toyota battery. Refurbished batteries are a crapshoot - some go 2-3 years, some 2-3 weeks.

2)the brake actuator - step on the brake pedal and computers decide how the car will slow down. This "borg cube" assembly turns those commands into hydraulic force at the wheels.

3)the catalytic converter - the prius cat has "lots" of precious metals (high $$ value at a scrapper) and is easy to cut out so this car is often targeted by thieves.

You can get an scantool app and device that can scan all systems on a Gen2. The best bang for the buck is the Autel AP200.

Here's a thread that reviews several options.

This car could be reasonable IF:

You have strong DIY skills and the time and space to do any needed repair work.

Or you have the budget set aside to cover those repairs as needed

If not, then this car may not be the best choice.

https://priuschat.com/index.php?posts/3290690

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Are the brake actuator and cat dependent on miles, time, or both?

 

The catalyst will last forever if unused. Heck, it will last almost-forever when used in normal conditions. It's oil-burning that eventually clogs and wrecks them.

I couldn't tell you about the brake system.

 

Cars need to be driven.

I wouldn't be surprised if the gas is any good. There may be clogged injectors, a pump, and a filter to deal with at this point. Other fluids should be replaced as well - coolant(s), transaxle fluid...

Seals dry up and start leaking when the car sits. Maybe an oil change with the high-mileage oil with the additives that is supposed to soften the seals would be in order.

The batteries also may have troubles as they need to be charged/discharged from time to time too.

If the car has been sitting for a long time, those issues are to be expected. If not when you first drive the car, soon afterwards. If you can work through these issues, that car should last a long time. I wouldn't junk it just yet - unless there are other issues with the body, or interior from sitting in the sun.

 

Both? Neither? I got my 06 with 160k. Now at 215k, the cat and actuator both are fine.


Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

It is worth pointing out that if the daughter at school doesn't drive the car a fair distance in one go (like 20 or 30 miles) once a week or so the car will eat 12V batteries. I imagine that many students pretty much park their cars for weeks at a time, or just drive them in a radius of a couple of miles around the school, and both of those things are bad for the small battery. Parking it for a really long time, more than three (?) weeks, is supposed to be bad for the HV battery too, at least the manual says not to do it.

 

I recommend giving it to a poor person like me: "you fix it, you can have it." :-D

JK of course.

As others have said, you need a diagnostic to know the problem(s) and thus the possible expense to fix it. With that few miles it sounds like it has sat much of its life, which is no bueno for the batteries. If you're handy, it's hard for it to be a money pit unless you need to do major work under the hood.