I am thinking about buying a gen 2 Prius but what concerns me is the mould issues that so many have mentioned on this forum. I am very sensitive to mould and I have had very bad allergic reactions in a car that had mould problems in the AC. Even after the garage tried multiple time to clean the system, I had those reactions. So I need to know if there is anyone on this forum who has a gen 2 car without any AC mould/bacteria problem.
I don't have the problem. All cars have problem with moldy AC when the system is not maintained. I have used sporocides before successfully. The drain gets clogged on AC systems occasionally, and need to be cleared. The car is an amazing vehicle and doesn't have most of the issues regular vehicles do. Toyota did a good job building this vehicle. I have only seen one Prius with a mold problem that I was aware of, and I too am allergic to mold as well. XT1585 ?
Thanks for the reply. What concerns me is the numerous threads here (Google it) where people ask about mould problems and not one person says they never experienced it. In fact some say it is problem known by Toyota. Bad smell from A/c | PriusChat I just found this thread where people are saying that they had many cars and only their Prius smells!!! Taking a Stand on 2007 Prius AC Mold Problem! | PriusChat I am going to see a Prius and if it smells I will not look at any more Priuses.
there is some truth to that. my wife drives RAV4 that has that problem. we have 2 more toyota cars (including prius) that don't have the problem. here is why. my wife has AC on all the time during summer. on the other hand, when i drive i turn it off half of mile to mile before destination to dry it before parking.
The evaporator box drain gets clogged easily and often on all cars, mud wasps are usually the culprit, they climb in there and fill it up with dirt and wasp spit, it's like a rock, so it HAS to be manually cleaned at every oil change. Or at least in late spring. Remember that the defroster also uses the AC system to dry the air. XT1585 ?
Mine does not have a problem, but I live in a semi-arid climate. And use the A/C sparingly and habitually shut it down before the car is stopped. I have never even seen condensate dripping when the car is parked.
I guess if I am looking for a 2nd hand Prius I would need to buy it from someone who makes sure the water does not stay on the evaporator. I went to see one today and it smelt bad.
I'm on my second Prius, ('04 and '10). Neither had any problems with bad smells from the AC. I never shut mine off with the switch.
Like Tony said bad ac smells are very common on new cars. Easy to fix just use what the dealer uses a can of pressurized microbial cleaner. Dealer charges $100 but you can buy the same stuff on amazon.com for $15. Its called Kool It and comes with the hose adapter. Just hook the hose to the drip hose and inject the cleaner back up the hose and it fills the dash e-coil and also keeps the drip tube clean and free of clogs. Goes up as soapy foam and drips back out as liquid. Makes the interior smell really good and clean. I do my car once a year. I do the trans fluid and the Inverter coolant change and the Kool It all at the same time. I been on this forum many years. Most people who complain of moldy smelling ac on this site have not done one thing about it except bitch.
Climate matters a lot for this issue. I am in an arid climate and have never had this issue with any vehicle, including both of my gen 2 prii. YMMV
Ditto. On the other hand, IIRC, my former leased '13 Leaf (leased for 2 years) had it intermittently, as does the used '13 Leaf I have now (built 5/2013).