NewBie here, both in this forum and to my first Prius. The Prius is an "old timer", 2002 so I guess that would be a Prius I. Nice condition for 10 years but it had easy/loving care, I understand. Have seen most of the service records since it left dealer service. My biggest concern would be the main batteries since it has a whapping 276,000 miles. No record or indication that the batteries have been replaced. Also I got it at an auction of a dealer inventory. I got some history but the car condition speaks volumes. What my bid objective was Kelly low Blue Book and that is where it got it but other than the mileage, I would put it in the good to excellent range. On the first day of driving it, I got a the dreaded red triangle but was on my way home and it didn't effect the driving in hybrid mode. Since I have an OBDII reader and a full set of service manual, I figured I would explore this warning and run the OBDII tests. I found an unlisted code of P3191 and looked that up with a Google search and tracked it now to a Toyota service bulletin 1202, which states: "Unknown or other Summary Some vehicles may exhibit a master, hybrid and malfunction indicator warning light on condition if an abnormally low engine power output has been detected during a particular drive cycle." Not much help and no direction on how to clear the warning indicator. All this research took about an hour and when I went back to the car to erase the OBDII code, I discovered I had left the key on and the Aux. battery was dead. I jumped started the car and the warning Triangle had gone away. The OBDII code was still set so I erased that. (I should mention that the OBDII reader also indicated that the error code was an EV code.) Went for a test drive for at least 50 miles of stop and go plus freeway driving and no problems. Well so much for my introduction and I look forward to reading and discussing out related experiences and problems. Steve
Welcome.. the admins have hidden the Gen 1 forum, but there is a lot of great information for new owners to NHW11 and Bob Wilson has posted some threads recently regarding new to the old prius. There are no stickies since they for some reason won't even give the Gen 1 it's own subforum. Generation 1 Prius Discussion | PriusChat Who should and should NOT buy a 2001-03 Prius | PriusChat Introduction to traction battery rebuilding/refurbishment | PriusChat Toyota Prius Controls Oxygen sensor general info | PriusChat Accelerator pedal (Gen 1) | PriusChat
Yeah, why did they do that? This website should take great pride in the Prius heritage! To OP: I keep hearing these urban legends regarding the batteries. I can tell you from personal experience, my first Prius - bought August 2006, 200,250 miles on the engine, did need the gas motor battery replaced. NOT the main battery. This is under warranty up to 150k, according to the service department, when I had it replaced. The motor battery cost around 300 bucks, from the dealer. This, and the water pump (total bill battery + pump = 495.) , not included in the recalls, was the ONLY REPAIR made in over 200,000 miles. I don't know of another vehicle that has a reputation like Prius. Anyway, there is an urban legend about the other battery. I hear it is rarely replaced. The dealer (La Crescenta, Ca) said they've never replaced one. I don't know if this helps. Two weeks after replacing the battery and water pump (495), I totaled my car. I turned the receipt in to the claims adjuster, and they included the whole thing in the estimated value.
I recall reading that when a 12V starts to lose power plenty of things can start to go wrong that may be resolved with the 12V replacement. Before you throw a few hundred bucks at it a good start is to check it's capacity.
JMD, Thank you. I'll be taking your advice about checking the battery. My first (totaled in accident) got over 200,000 miles on the 12v. I got another '06 from the insurance with a little over 100k on it. Thank you for the heads up. I never had a car I liked as much as a Prius. I can't see myself in any other car.
They are very popular in California. This morning going to work about 3 of us are lined up on the Freeway on ramp.
