What is your best Guess of how long a Prius Gen III will last?

Indeed we have been on this roller coaster before. Nixon created the Dept of Energy to solve the gas issue. Now we are 7 presidents later and still no solution. I remember in '73 when gas doubled and my dad was driving a '71 Ford Country Squire woodie wagon with a 400 c.i. V-8. He was was mess over the increase and the long gas lines. So in '75 he replaced it with a '75 Chevy Caprice with guess what? a 400 c.i. V-8. He finally downsized in 1980 with a 4cyl Chevy Citation. I've driven mostly 4 cyl cars for the last 30 yrs with the stray full sized pickup and SUV thrown in when gas prices dropped.

 

Me too usually. But if I want to keep it the price of a new hybrid battery should be lower by then.

 

Righteous! Less weight equals better mpgs!

 

I'm a tax auditor (don't hate me) and I've audited a number of taxi drivers with well over 300,000 miles on their Gen III Prius's. I don't see the mileage being an issue with these cars. Some are operating their cars 24 hours a day and putting on 200,000 miles a year with nothing more than basic maintenance.

 

Good to hear!

If you're a tax auditor working for the IRS or state govt, that must really stop the conversation at parties when people ask what you do...

If you see any with really high mileage, we'd love to hear about them.

 

If a battery lasts about 10 years, that suggests that a 20 year life of a Prius costs 1 penny/mile for battery related costs if the car is used for 15k miles a year.

That seems to clog the internet pipes with discussion, but barely a squeak about $1000 strut replacements every 50-100k miles for cars. Or 2-6k USD transmission repairs for non hybrids.

Absent fatal accidents, cars last as long as someone is willing to put the money into repairing them. Just ask the Cubans
If I can keep my car in good shape, I'll happily pay 5 cents/mile for maintenance and repairs after it hits 10 years old. That works out to 500 - 1000 USD a year.

<<shrug>>

 

^^^
For me, unless I sell/trade it my Gen 2 in early for some reason, I'll consider trading up to a Gen 4 once the 10 year/150K mile HV battery warranty is up.

 

The biggest risk appears to be accidents . . . roughly 3% of the fleet each year.

Bob Wilson

 

Accidents that remove the car from the roads for good ?

 

It came from a salvage industry study that roughly 3% of the fleet is lost per year. But you are right, not all accidents:

• Car Research Publications | Center for Automotive Research
• http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/TSF2005.PDF

But near as I can tell based upon the 2005 data, the bulk are accident losses.

Bob Wilson

 

I've always been one to trade my car in when I get bored... but I can honestly say that I've had my 2010 for two years now and it still seems like brand new to me. At 12k miles per year, it will easily be near the eight year mark before I even have 100k miles. Although I can see myself getting something new after eight years, I doubt I'll ever reach the 200k or 300k range... That would be 16 to 24 years of ownership at this rate!

 

It may be in your plans, but not for many people that I know.

 

I agree with their comments 100%. They are spot-on about the potential exposures that come with hybrid ownership.

Toyota EV Rav4 Battery repair | Facebook

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It seems like average HV battery life is 10 years, regardless of mileage. This is proving the case with the Toyota and Honda products across the board. As technology improves, this may improve, but unfortunately it takes 10 years to find out."​

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As for making the jump into a hybrid, our mantra is 'Don't buy a hybrid to save money, buy a hybrid to put your money into the technology you believe in'. We also like to say "A hybrid is not an economy car, it is a luxury car which gets good gas mileage". If you buy a hybrid, assume high-mileage maintenance and repair costs will exceed those of an economy car."​

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