Cost of ownership

The Prius is one of the cheapest vehicles to own in terms of maintenance costs.

- Regular cars with automatic transmissions require a brake job every 20,000 miles or so. Prius on average will go past 100,000+ miles before needing a brake job, due to the use of electrical regenerative braking.

- Regular cars with automatic transmissions usually require a transmission fluid change every 30,000 miles or so. Prius uses a simple planetary gearset as its transmission, with no gear-shifting wear-and-tear. Toyota recommends no Prius transmission fluid change for the life of the car, though here on Priuschat we recommend a drain-and-refill every 60,000 miles or so. Still cheaper than a normal car.

- Regular cars have timing belts, alternators and starter motors that eventually wear out and require replacement. The Prius has none of those things.

As far as normal maintenance goes, changing oil and filter on the Prius is done the same way as on normal cars. Engine air filter and cabin air filter you can do yourself without any tools. No specialized knowledge necessary for normal maintenance.

Prius is mechanically SIMPLER than normal cars (see what I wrote above regarding the transmission and absence of a timing belt, alternator and starter). The complexity is in the control electronics. The mechanical simplicity means less potential failure points, so the Prius is just as, if not more mechanically reliable than normal cars.

As far as insurance costs go, in my state (New York) hybrids don't cost more to insure than normal cars.

Bottom line: Total cost of ownership for Prius is awesomely low.

 

No data yet on the C, but here's how the big Prius stacks up in 5 year TCO on consumer reports. Note that the Prius is an IV, and still does well against much smaller stripped vehicles. Based on that I'd think a C should kick butt in TCO.

Honda Fit Base: $26,250
Toyota Corolla Base: $26,250
Smart ForTwo: $26,750
Scion xD base: $27,000
Toyota Yaris: $27,500
Mazda Versa Hatch: $28,000
Toyota Prius IV: $28,750
Mini Cooper Base: $28,750
Mazda 2: $29,000
Chevy Aveo: $29,500
VW Golf TDI: $29,750
Ford Fiesta: $29,750
Toyota Matrix Base: $30,000
Honda Civic LX: $30,000
VW Jetta TDI: $30,000
Fiat 500: $30,350
Mazda 3 sedan: $31,500
Hyundai Elantra: $31,750
Toyota Camry LE: $33,250
Kia Soul: $33,500
Hyundai Sonata: $33,750
Chevy Cruze LS: $33,750
Honda Accord LX: $33,750
Nissan Sentra SL: $34,250
Ford Fusion SE: $34,500
Ford Focus Hatch: $34,750
Chevy Malibu: $34,750
Nissan Altima S: $36,000
Chrysler 200: $42,500

 

Why would this list compare a base Fit or base Corolla to a Prius IV ?

 

TCO takes the following into consideration: Depreciation, Financing, Insurance, State Fees, Fuel, Maintenance and Repairs.

If you skim through this blog you can see what things fail on Priuses and at what mileages: http://lusciousgarage.com/blog/cat/repair/

 

thank for the info