200,000 Mile Club

My Prius is at 195,000 miles and is about to go past 200,000 miles.

1) Did you replace the HV battery pack? (It has not been replaced)
2) Did you replace the 12v lead-acid battery? (Replaced 4 months ago)
3) Did you replace the hybrid transaxle fluid? (Yes)
4) Did you replace the brake pads? (Yes)
5) Your lifetime MPG (if available)? (Unavailable)
6) How often do you change your oil?
What brand / product did you use? (I will be changing it every 5,000 miles. I'll mention the brand in the future)
7) How about post a picture of 200,000 miles on ODO? (I will do this in about 3 months when it happens).

 

I have a 2001 Prius with about 230K miles. Purchased with 180K miles. Going strong. Just changed 12V battery, new paint job year ago since old silver paint clear coat problem. Runs very well.

 

Is the HV battery original? If so.........

 

I am now a member of the 200k mile club. I have a 2004 Prius that I bought back in May. It had 176k mi at the time. I am the 2nd owner. It now has just over 200k mi. So my ownership only consist of 24k miles over about 6 months.

1) It is still running with the original HV battery.
2) The 12v battery was replaced by the original owner
3) The transaxle fluid has never been changed
4) The breaks were replaced by the original owner
5) I don't know the lifetime MPG, but I am averaging 40 mpg (using on a newspaper delivery route)
6) I've had the oil changed every 5k mi at the Toyota dealership. The original owner did 5k mi intervals also.

I replaced the water pump and belt shortly after purchase. I also replaced the HID bulbs.

 

Ok, I have a 2006 Prius which I purchased used with 70k on the odometer in 2011, now abouot 3 1/2 years ago. In that time I've managed to get it up to 264k and it just doesn't cease to amaze me.
Let me answer the forum's questions, then add a few comments.

1) Did you replace the HV battery pack? - NO
2) Did you replace the 12v lead-acid battery? - Earlier this month, 11/18/2014, it was the original so 8yrs
3) Did you replace the hybrid transaxle fluid? - Didn't know I had to do that but thanks for telling me. Now I know it has at least 200k (what I've put on it) and probably more.
4) Did you replace the brake pads? - You gotta be driving some other car, buddy. Prius will rot to pieces with new looking pads. I tried to replace them once and the used ones (original 2006) looked a little thicker than the new (high end $80) pads, so i left them in and took the expensive ones back.
5) Your lifetime MPG (if available)? - Don't know how to get it but i drive modestly hypermiler, not extreme ans I routinely average 52-55 each tank. Summers, city-only I can get 60 sometimes out of a tank.
6) How often do you change your oil? What brand / product did you use? - Change my own oil /filter every 5k like clockwork. Only use fulll synth, whichever one is cheap. Mostly Mobil/Castrol/etc. Use Bosch or Fram filters and pay a little more than the ones included with the "oil change special".
7) How about post a picture of 200,000 miles on ODO? - Nah, I'll wait for 300k, about another 5 months I figure.

Now, I don''t have a lot of Prius buddies, but I don't know what the hangup is with fear of replacing the big battery. I've never heard of anyone replacing it but that's just me. At any rate, after market battery packs are down to about $800 so I'm not too worried. Yes, mine has a little bit degraded perfrmance after 1/4 million miles - when other cars have been at the junkyard for the last 10 years, easy.
I have NEVER had it in a shop until just this month (dealer), so far I have replaced only:
- One headlight bulb at 185k
- Windshield wipers at 155 and 225k
- Rear tires at 240k (those has around 200k or so) and Front at 259k (those only 160k or so)
- 12v Battery, after 8 years, 264k
- Drive belt, at 264k (original)
- RECALL - Steering gear thing?? at 215k
- instrument panel at 264k, technically not a recall, they just extended the warranty to 9 years and that's exactly when it failed - whew!
- That's it, I have kept pretty good records and I know the car up and down. All fluids are original (264k) except the oil.

I do not cease to be amazed by this mechanical frickin miracle! Best car I've ever owned and I've owned some good ones. It's not hard to guess what my next car will be, especially if I can find a good used plugin for a decent price.

 

My 2004 Prius is at the 225,0000 mark. I have done the 100k maintenace every time that incl new water pump, 100k plugs, surpentine belt.I change the oil and filter @ every 4k. Rotate tires @4k as well. Had to replace...a right rear wheel bearing...the 12v battery...after 200k miles. Replaced front disc pads Only @ 185K, still have original rear drum brakes. I get an average 44.5mpg! Had to replace the headlight units due to fading...bought aftermarket units and installed myself..not difficult to do. I have had the transmission fluid changed...not required but felt at 200k would be a wise thing to do.

The purchase of this car was the best thing I could have done. I take cre of my Prius and it takes care of me. Looking forward to 300k.

 

Mine is '07, just turned 231k, still original battery pack. Starting to burn oil, 1 quart every 3k miles ( same as BMW M3, per my neighbor). I take it to my dealer every 5k miles.

 

For those that reached 200,000 miles, please post information about your ownership experience. Some questions to think of...

Ok I am at 205,000 on my 2006 Prius, and very pleased with my Prius but want to warn you all of another very expensive fix if you live in California. Yesterday my engine check light came on and I took it into my shop. They got back to me immediately with the very bad news.... in fact if I did not have a check light on I would have traded it in. The catalytic converter went out and with parts and labor it cost almost $2,1oo.oo. What gets me for $2,100 it upsets me my car does not run any better, faster or smoother, but the people in California can breath better. So let me answer the questions.

1) Did you replace the HV battery pack? Yep at about 180,000 miles I had to replace it.... oh the warranty is nothing like the original...
2) Did you replace the 12v lead-acid battery? Yes I have have had to replace this 3 times... about every 30 months
3) Did you replace the hybrid transaxle fluid? Yes I think it was replaced around 125,000
4) Did you replace the brake pads? No here is a real deal... so far I have only had to replace the pads once but getting close to replacing them again.
5) Your lifetime MPG (if available)? Well around town I have done well between 43 - 48 MPG but on the long hall if I drive 63 I can easily pull 55 MPG. I run my tires on the hard side and do not jack rabbit start.... also will watch lights and coast into a stop or roll off.
6) How often do you change your oil? What brand / product did you use? I change my oil every 5,000 miles with what ever Toyota puts in...
7) How about post a picture of 200,000 miles on ODO?[/QUOTE] I could not find my pics but then you would not believe it hard over 200,00 because it looks like it came off the show room floor.

 

316, 721 2008 Bought new 2/14/2008.
Original Battery
Original 12v
Replaced transaxle fluid twice
Replaced Brake pads twice
Lifetime mpg somewhere in the mid 40's
Oil every 7000 or so with Mobil One
If you scroll back a few pages I have my odo posted rolling 300k
I just replaced the interior fan blower motor. ($285 all in and 90 minute wait time)
I will have to replace the Catalytic converter soon. No big deal. The car looks great runs great and is paid for. On to 500k!!

 

I thought I would tell you all about my Prius.
I have a 2006 I bought with 40,00 miles on the clock. It now has 176,00 no battery replacement except for an optima auxillary gel battery battery it was a great update .
I always change the CVT fluid every 50,000 miles using Toyota fluid expensive but worth it.
I use Mobil one extended use oil in the engine and change the filter every 5,000 miles and add one fresh quart. At 5,000 miles it is down about 16 oz.
I average since purchase about 42 mpg.
I have never had to change the brakes and I inspect them every time I change the CVT fluid. I do all of my own normal maintenance. My last Prius was a 2002 gen 1 . At 185,00 miles I lost the CVT I beleive it was my fault for not ever changing the CVT fluid. I bought a used CVT for $ 800.00 and my friend and I changed the CVT. It was a big job and I do not want to do it again. LOL

 

Are you saying you got 200K on the rear tires and 160k on the front tires???
What do you drive on - carpet and feathers?
Seriously...what kind of tires got you those numbers? Highway driving mainly? What pressures are you using?
Wow.

 

OK, I'll add my data:

I bought my 2006 on January 4th, 2006, and leased my old faithful 2001 (used) Prius to my daughter (who worked for a Chrysler dealership).
The "clown car" (as my kids called it) served me well from 38K to 110K miles. My daughter rolled it to almost 200K and sent it to auction.
The Power wire feeding the ABS computer had developed a discontinuity somewhere under the dashboard, and she didn't trust it anymore.

Now, the '06:
First, my wife insisted that we always maintain at the dealership, so we did, and are still doing so. I collected all my official stamps in my maintenance book, performing some of the fluid (like CVT and various coolant) changes at a more aggressive rate than what was recommended, at the dealer's suggestion. When the book ran out, we just kept on performing as per the schedule in the book.
I also added a trailer hitch to the car, and hauled my empty 4x8 flat-bed trailer from NY to MD (380 miles), averaging 51 MPG (pre-Ethanol!)

a. My HID headlamps went out for the first time just before the warranty expired at 35,800 miles. I talked Toyota HQ into also paying for the next set at 75,000. Then, I installed a pair on my own ($100 for two, instead of $300 each) from the Internet at 115,000. These lasted for over 50,000 miles more. I let the dealership install a cheap pair ($40 for two 6000 Kelvin modules on the Internet), one of which died abruptly after 30,000 miles. The dealership had bent the retainer spring, and one of the bulbs had rattled loose and broken. I cannot prove it, but I surmise that they had used one of their "small hands" employees to relamp through the portholes on the headlight housing, and he had missed hooking the spring correctly. So, I bought two 5000K lamps (I don't like the 6000K color), removed the front bumper and installed the new lamps after shaking all the bits of glass from the broken bulb out of the driver's side headlight assembly. I bought a new backup pair sometime later. I am now going to install them (at 230,000 miles). I still retain the remaining 6000K bulb as an emergency spare.
b. In 2013, I replaced both my front wheel bearings with Auto Zone's in-house brand. Only one went bad, but the Mr. Tire shop had me replace the WRONG one. I had brought it in to them just to find out if a bearing was indeed bad. I replaced it myself, then found out that it was misdiagnosed. So... I replaced the other (bad) one too. That was just the beginning. One of those bearings failed after 20,000 miles, so I replaced it with a Timken bearing.
c. I have also gone through five and a half sets of tires. The reason for the half set is a post-warrantee road hazard strike in the sidewall of my Michelin Defender tires. I am keeping those two tires (Yes, even the punctured one!) in my shed... just in case.

Now, addressing the longevity points above:
1. Yes, at 222,400 miles, I replaced the traction battery (with a 18-month parts and labor guarantee). This battery failed at 229,750 miles, and has been repaired by replacing the failed module and rebalancing the pack. I have been reading the appropriate forum and will be repairing my battery myself when the 18 months is over.
2. Yes, at about 90,000 miles. I do a lot of visiting to NY, where most of my children live, and the battery failed after being outside for a cold soak at -10 degrees Fahrenheit. My cars (including the Prius) have always been garaged at all times. Perhaps this had something to do with the failure of the 12 Volt battery. (I call it my "Motorscooter Battery.")
3. The Dealership does this on its own schedule. I don't pay as close attention to it as I should, perhaps.
4. I replaced the pads and rotors, even though the little noisemakers had not yet begun to squeal. I had the new parts waiting, and when one of my replaced front wheel bearings went at 220,000, I swapped out the rotors and pads at that time, since I had the front end apart anyway. When I brought it to the dealership for alignment after the front-end work, they had to replace both tie-rod ends, which had fused to the steering shafts. I thought (and do still think) that this was very peculiar, since I have had the car's front-end aligned regularly. Question: For the last few alignments, did they ever adjust the toe-in at all? The before and after data sheets said that they did... Hmmm... Just sayin'...
5. MPG before Ethanol: 52; MPG with 10% Ethanol: 47. It would appear that the Ethanol acts like an inert filler... Like adding bleached ground-up peanut shells to Tide to make the box look more filled up by actual detergent.
6. Dealer was using Castrol for the first 150,000. Now uses Toyota brand 5W-30. Oil is changed religiously at 5,000 miles, my normal service interval.
7. I just replaced my muffler (229,700 miles) with a stainless steel one. The spot welds attaching a little heat shield to the forward muffler pipe caused that pipe to develop a small hole. Although the new muffler is made of Stainless Steel, the attached input and output pipes are just aluminized plain steel, so they are still weak spots in the exhaust system. The remainder of the exhaust system looks very clean and bright.

 

OMG!! $2100?? What did they do for that? You could buy an aftermarket direct fit replacement cat and pipe for $300, or just the cat aftermarket for $90 buck($100 for a muffler shop to weld the old pipe to the new cat, or a used certified factory cat and pipe for $300. With option 1 and 3, you could install it yourself in about 30 minutes as no welding is required.

What is it they actually charged you for?

 

so cool to see this many cars above 200 and even 300,000 miles.

 

Umm, seems like Silver Wolf lives in California. As for used, see what I bolded, Aftermarket Catalytic Converters

I can't speak to the price of aftermarket cats in California, but I highly doubt legal ones for CA are that cheap.

For kicks, I went to Auto Repair Estimates - Get Honest Car Repair Costs and put in Catalytic Converter Replacement for 06 Prius for 95136 zip code (zip near where I live). Estimate is $1328 to $1757.

Estimate includes:
Labor $111-$142
Parts (excludes tax & fees) $1217-$1615

 

Here's my story:
2005 Prius with 211,056 miles. Regular oil changes (do these myself) every 4K miles, since new, always Mobil 1 synthetic; changed spark plugs at 100K miles; inverter coolant at 105K; replaced catalytic converter at 185K; replaced head lamps at 170K (did this myself which warrants another post); on my 4th set of tires; a couple software updates and the steering recall issue, free from Toyota, which are the only times I have had the dealer work on it. Replaced the serpentine belt at 125K. Regular filter changes. That is ALL I have done to this exceptional car. The brakes are still original to the car, and I have never replaced the lead acid battery or the battery pack. Average mpg is about 51 in summer and 44 in winter. This is truly an amazing car and has saved me so much $ it's unbelievable. I also bought a used '84 Camry back in 1989 that I put 240K miles on and then sold it with 260,000K miles.

 

I'm at ~206,000; I hit 200,000 on 15 Aug 2014.

1) Did you replace the HV battery pack? Yes, at 192k by Autobeyours.
2) Did you replace the 12v lead-acid battery? Yes, at 123k
3) Did you replace the hybrid transaxle fluid? Yes, at 103k and 173k
4) Did you replace the brake pads? Yes, at 173k
5) Your lifetime MPG (if available)? 45.1 mpg (I have a heavy foot)
6) How often do you change your oil? I change it on average of 5,700 mile intervals for the past 20 changes.
What brand / product did you use? I have used Mobil 1 Full Synthetic 5w30 w/ Mobil 1 MI-103 filter since owning it.
7) How about post a picture of 200,000 miles on ODO? Attached but it's at 199,999 when I was stopped at a red light.

* I also swapped out my malfunctioning MFD at Autobeyours at 164k. On average, I only get about 33k out of a set of tires. I changed out the spark plugs at 90k, should probably do it again. Water pump replaced at 103k. Differential, engine and inverter fluid changed at 103k and 173k. As you can see, I keep OCD level records on my cars.

 

Doesn’t sound like OCD level at all. That just what everybody and every shop should be writing in service book. Performed work, date, and mileage of every service should be the minimum in service book.