After how many miles will a Prius typically stay reliable?

Long term care. We deliver to adult family homes and facilities across Washington State. We serves over 1,500 homes mostly around the Puget Sound area

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If you dont mind what shop are you using? I just bought an 08 with 57000 miles on it and am in Tacoma and would like to find a decent priced shop in case I have any issues.

 

Ours was reliable until 473k miles. I can't say that's typical though!

We replaced the catalytic converter twice, done both times at a muffler shop for under $300.

120k mile service three times. Lots of oil changes and tires. Headlights multiple times, those were very expensive at Toyota, around a few hundred each.

Some new tps sensors

The dash (under warranty)

Brakes once.

Struts twice.

 

not typical

 

Actually 400,000+ miles is somewhat typical for those that use them as fleet vehicles, taxis and ride share.

 

there is no qualitative data.

 

It appears he may be a troll or shill. So far, only 2 posts.
One contradicts a longtime member who has likely assisted with more Prius repairs than they have. The other is promoting a repair shop, claiming many satisfied users.
Color me skeptical.

 

I am in the exact same situation as the OP. I want to buy a Prius and my budget is about the same. I know there is a risk but both me and my g/f are very handy working on cars. On my 2001 Corolla (170K) we fixed/replaced rear wheel hubs, all the brakes (drum), oil changes, engine manifold gasket, CV joints, shocks, and more. On her 2000 Ford Ranger (240K) we did the brakes (disk), manifold gasket, spark plugs (pain in the nice person), bearings, regular oil changes, radio, radiator, alternator, vaccum hose. If I purchase a used Prius for about $5k-$6k, I can still afford to spend $2k should the HV battery break.

But I will say that the takeaway for me after reading this post is this:

• Get a Prius with a clear record of maintenance history
• Spend $200 to get it looked at by a Prius mechanic (anyone know one in South Florida?)
• I will definitely take good care of it.

Am I missing anything else?

 

Also scroll through the comments of Prius owners with 400,000+ miles Autotrader Find: 2007 Toyota Prius With 367,000 Miles - Autotrader

 

the biggest challenge can be electrical/electronic problems, and diagnosis. prius is very different from your past cars and requires special knowledge, code reader and service manual for proper repair.

 

I can only talk about my own experience with the Prius. I have a 2005 with 285,000 miles on it. It's performed well and never let me down. Here’s a laundry list of parts I’ve replaced on it:

General maintenance items:

· Headlights, $75 each from NAPA (on sale)
· Serpentine Belt $29 from Napa
· Engine Coolant Pump $30 from AutoZone

Non maintenance items:

· Gas Cap (I dropped it) $7 from AutoZone
· HV Battery ECU $50 purchased used
· HV Sense harness $65 from Toyota
· HV Battery Cell $30 purchased used

The total of these parts is: $286. That’s not excessive considering the age of the car and it’s mileage. I regularly change the oil and oil-filter.

This has been the most reliable car I have ever owned. I was so impressed with it that I purchased two used GEN 1 - 2002 models. I drive one of them and gave one to a daughter. The 2002 are less reliable only because of the age of the HV battery. I’m slowly amassing batteries from Gen II cars to replace the cells in these 2002's when I can find a smokin’ deal on them.

If you want to do your own work, the Prius has a high learning curve. I admit, I have always done my own work, even before I bought the Prius. I’m a retired computer software and hardware engineer with a heavy background in electronics. That said, it took me over six months of reading and digesting the repair manuals (after I first bought the cars) to even say that I could be familiar enough with the electrical systems to be confident/competent to repair them. Be prepared to do your own work, or pay heavily for someone else to do that work. From what I've seen where ever I've been is that skill-sets of local mechanics (Toyota and independent) are lacking. You'll be paying for them to decrease their learning curve.

Be prepared to buy a good Scanner. I have three. The first is a Scanguage. It stays in the car. I purchased a Denso Hand Held Type II Tester that's been invaluable. It stays in the garage and comes with me on long trips... "just in case" and I also have the Tech Stream software on a dedicated XP laptop that I can hook to the car. That stays in ny garage I prefer the hand held tester out of all of them. These tools are your friends, get to know how to use them BEFORE there is a problem with the car. You'll be able to save enough on one repair (avoiding the Toyota dealer's estimate fees) to pay for the scanner.

I would not hesitate to buy a used Prius. I would prefer to buy a used Prius, even if that meant some additional repair costs, than a conventional ICE car. I feel I come out ahead in both cost of repair and fuel over the life of the car.

 

Yeah I'm the kind of guy that if I can fix it myself, I will fix it myself. I'm very hands on. Last night before I went to bed I was thinking why the heck I don't own one of those scanner devices? I watch Scotty Kilmer videos on Youtube all the time and he is always saying how important they are. So I purchased this one from Amazon about 15 minutes ago. I know its not a fancy expensive scanner but I figure it will have enough of the standardized database to give me some good information (including HV battery & electrical system) I need and its handy to have around. I had no idea they were so cheap too and they use Bluetooth with Windows, Android, or iOS. Mine was only $11. So now when I go to look at a potential purchase, I will bring the scanner with me and scan their car. I am interested to see how a potential seller reacts when I pull out the scanner to hookup to their car. Pessemisticpaperclip, you should get one too if you have $11 laying around. It may save you trouble going forward.

 

Having the scanner with you when you go to pick out a car allows you to see that the car has no drive cycles since the last time the codes for cleared. Since some codes don't come up to a car has been driven a couple of Cycles this allows you to detect scammers

 

As the photo suggests, I am not always kind to my 07. Purchased with 45k, I have now run it to 240k. You probably won't want to treat yours as I have mine. In the 195k I have put on it I have replaced the 12v battery, replaced front wheel bearings on both sides (did the same to my 06, TWICE which I sold with 245k on it.) and I've changed the oil from 4-6k. It burns about a quart in 3k now. I change the air filter every so often. I live off gravel roads and drive plenty on logging roads in Ontario. I've changed about 4 headlights and an equal number of tail lights. As for changing tranny fluid: NEVER. As for changing coolant: NEVER. As for replacing the plastic parts under my car that I have torn off on rocks: NEVER. I have no hitch but have hauled plenty on the roof, including 123# 12' Lund boat. I've had it stuck only 3 times, each time in snow, despite using snow tires and taking plenty of chances. Finally, today the air conditioning didn't work on the warmest day so far this year. I am bumming, yes, but I'm not disappointed in the performance of the car. Not one bit.

As for the older car, an '06 that I bought new and ran up to 245k, I did have to replace the big battery around 140k. I paid a little over 400 bucks for a used one and another 100 or so to get it installed. Then someone bought my old battery off me for $100. That car, which I sold some years ago, is still going and it has at least 7 years on the used battery. It now has 275k on it. The 06 got better mileage, albeit slightly, than the 07. I average about 44 but this includes running snow tires at least 5 months a year and carrying a LOT of stuff on the roof.

 

This is so nerve wrecking. My neighbor is offering us a 2003 for 2500. Body is great, everything works inside. But I'm not sure what kind of questions to ask. This would be a learning the ropes car (so to speak) for my daughter. I'm just don't want to get a lemon off the top. I would like it to be useful for a few at least. Any tips? Thanks M

 

welcome!
that is not the right car for a newbie. 2004 was a new generation and much improved. 2001-2003 prius are chock full of problems, and expensive to repair.
it is nice of them to offer, and you might have good luck for awhile, or the battery might poop out tomorrow.
look in the generation 1 forum for the sticky 'who should and should not buy a 2001-2003 prius'.
the generation 1 forum is a small link in the gen 2 main forum. good advice there. you might also want to repost there for gen 1 owners advice.
imo, if your budget is tight, i would look for a corolla or similar.

 

Here is the thread:

Who should and should NOT buy a 2001-03 Prius | PriusChat

and here is the forum:

Generation 1 Prius Discussion | PriusChat

 

well played, thank you.

 

I figured why force a newbie to try and navigate the strange organization of this site?

 

i wish i didn't have to.