Fix Up or Trade In

Sadly, I'd suspect besides the lack of hybrid components, most everything else on the Corolla is just as expensive as on the Prius.

 

A long time ago, Consumer Reports used to do their own "bumper bashing" test. Included in the test results and ratings was the cost to repair any damage done by the test.
I think they stopped testing when IIHS testing got more thorough,

 

LOTS of people! 17.6 million vehicles in 2016 in fact, or 8.3% of the driving public PER YEAR!

No doubt, but you cannot buy a good used car, unless someone purchased it new first

That's a silly presumption and a baseless one thus far. The experiences of most used hybrid (PC) owners indicate otherwise.

How many modules in a Corolla compared to a Prius? Many vehicles have 20+ today (BMW, Ford), so the number is meaningless, it is the durability (failure rate) that matters. Granted, the Corolla and Camry are good cars, but that fact does not make a Prius less-so.

Sigh. Another baseless claim :shrug:

 

A lot depends on how much you need your Prius. Do you have another car to drive if it breaks down. Most of the time it is cheaper to fix your old car than buy a new one. I traded my Gen 2 for a Gen 4 and got $3,000 for it and it ran fine so don't plan on getting much for a trade in. Dealers as of late will tell you they want your old car but what they really want is to sell you a new one. If you want to find out what your car is worth take it to Carmax. I have had old cars with high mileage that say I put a transmission in one and was the car worth putting an $800 transmission in, NO but I did it anyway because I knew I couldn't replace it with one just like it for the same money.
Just some rambling thoughts.

 

Curious: I from Southern California purchased a 2006 Prius 145k miles for $5500 last summer. So far I have replaced oil change, and replaced aging tires (had a flat tire so I recently purchased 4 new one as preventive maintenance). The car runs well! I love it. I have been driving this for over 4K miles

However here is my question:

since I paid 5500 bucks for the Prius from the original owner, and the battery replacement may cost 3000 dollars including labor and parts, does it make any financial sense to keep it? Repair costs almost high as the value of car.


iPhone ?

 

Spot on! The average new vehicle payment (loan of fleece) is around $450/mo. With that kind of money for a new vehicle, I will drive what I like, after paying CASH for it and just fix it.

 

That's not the question really....

Can you purchase a BETTER vehicle (overall condition, insurance and other costs) for $3000 when the HV pack fails???

In most cases, that is a NO.

 

I see. I guess I should just pay the battery and move on


iPhone ?

 

If you are DIY @2k1Toaster sells a kit of new cells for $1600 shipped. That is a much less expensive alternative. @ericbecky and others have been testing extensively.

 

Here is a Dorman remanufactured battery battery from Advance Auto for $1400, it shows a three year free replacement.

Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

I traded in my 2008 last month after owning it for ten years and everyone kept asking if I ever had to replace the battery. I kept laughing and the answer was always no. The Prius has so few moving parts compared to a normal car that is why it has such a good reliability record.

 

And if you catch the hybrid battery before it’s degraded a simple discharge/charge will wake it right up.
Mine at 110k miles started to fade fast. A c/d I performed 8 months ago turned it into a new battery almost.
It’s running really well. All I did was discharge it too 87 volts and then put it on the charger for 15 hours, purple bars are now very rare where before saw them all the time at the drop of a hat.

I’m just buying time till a better deal comes along for a new battery like 2ks. Waiting on Becky’s review of his new battery cells but I like what I see so far. Last time I asked at the dealer they won’t sell me one and want
$3500. For them to install.
Or I’ll go with Todd.

I wonder if 2k offers a PC discount....lol....

 

Most all "re-manufactured" batteries, including Dorman have a parts-only warranty. The history here for re-manufactured batteries is not good. Even the ones with longer warranties tend to die early, disabling he vehicle until it is replaced under warranty.

The battery kit I suggested is built with new cells and you keep the core so you are not locked in or can resell the usable modules.

 

And why would you pay $1400 for a pack made up of someone else's old recycled modules that are in all likelihood as old or older than the one you bought with your car, when you could have all brand new modules for $1600? In addition, with the Dorman, you loose your core, so if it all goes pear-shaped, you no longer have the option to repair your own pack, which is likely to be in better condition (minus a bad module or two) than the POS Dorman "rebuilt".

People have to stop this fetish for cheaping out on a critical component. The old adages, you get what you pay for and there is no such thing as a free lunch, ring very true in this case.

 

You can order new headlights off eBay for half that price. The combination meter is very easy to replace. Removed my first one in 10 minutes. The entire repair for me was about 30 minutes. I even walked a couple people through it over the phone from a Facebook prius group. Order it off eBay and can even get mileage matched for less than $200. These engines usually burn oil after 100k miles no worries just check it every 1k miles or so. You can get a junkyard muffler for about $40. Both of my gen II's broke right after the bolted section behind the right rear tire. Easy fix. It's also common if you've been in the rust belt. Both bulbs they listed are easy and cheap to fix.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

My daughter had to pay over $4000 to put a new transmission in her Yukon XL (85k miles) and people are moaning about a $3000 battery?

 

I think gen 2 Prii have stood the test of time and fairly heavy use. Most of these cars that are in the 10 year old range have very high mileage and are running like champs. The statements of "too many electronic gadget that are expensive to fix" apply to non-hybrid cars these days just as much as the hybrids. Most (non-hybrids) have fly-by-wire throttle control that is in the high $100s to replace (whereas a throttle cable used to cost $30), ABS equipment (computers, pumps, sensors) are very expensive to replace and are in almost every vehicle sold today. I could go on, but suffice it to say that the modern cars have gotten so technologically "gadgetty" and increasingly less friendly to DIY repair that it makes no sense to single out hybrids. Your basic Corolla will have a dozen ECUs in it and unless they are robust (as Toyota's probably are), it's a risk of an expensive gadget going bad and costing a lot to repair.

That said, I understand the spirit of the statement. Cars ARE getting very complex and expensive. That is the state of the affairs today. We can't go back to your '69 Dodge Dart that was not much more complicated than a door knob. Just not going to happen. What we can do is make sure the electronics and other "gadgets" in modern cars are robust and do not fail prematurely. I think Toyota has proven itself with the Gen 2 Prius as these cars are amazingly inexpensive to own. At least till now, which is almost 14 years into beginning of production. That's pretty impressive and you just can't throw general statements like "too many gadgets" in that car at this particular vehicle. Tesla Model S? Maybe, we haven't had it around for long enough to pronounce any verdict, but Gen 2 Prius has been around for 14 years and has delivered on the promise of an economic vehicle. A $3000 traction battery at the end of 10 year/300K mile journey is not that bad if the rest of the car holds up and it seems to hold up.

 

Over Thanksgiving , our 2000 Tundra stranded me on a local errand. That's when I saw it has a "drive by wire" throttle.

 

Maybe there's price-fixing going on? And/or the the auto manufacturers are discouraging alternatives: refurbs and third-party?

 

Speaking as someone who just bought an '08...

These cars are at an interesting spot on the depreciation curve. Whereas an '08 Prius cost $5k+ more than an '08 Corolla did (MSRP) at this point the NADA black book lists the two cars within $400 of each other, retail.

Buyers are probably scared of older hybrids, thus driving down the prices.

I took a gamble. I spent $7200 for an 87k mile car with full maintenance records. It was sold by the dealer who maintained it for the most recent owner. New-car dealers don't put 9 year old cars on their lots unless they are nice.

For $7200, if the car lasts me 4-5 years without major troubles, it's a bargain.

 

Oh, boy! Was the throttle control broken? This has been a thing in the Volvo world in '99 model year, when they first introduced the electronic throttle control (fly by wire). Mine was a '98 and the last year of good old steel cable. It cost upwards of $400 to replace the ETC and there was a big stink about it in the community. I think they worked it out and the modern cars have much more reliable ETC modules. Such is the evolution of technology. Fuel injection was very unreliable and worse for users than carburetors for a time, but now it's standard tech and no one would want a carburetor car because ultimately EFI is way better for many, many reasons. Fly by wire throttle is the same. Without it we would not have a Prius. Even our brakes (gasp!) are fly by wire because the system switches (seamlessly) between re-gen and friction.