No more gen2 cars on long hot trips

Just finished a 5200 mile road trip in my 2008. Car has 237,000 miles on it currently. Battery block voltages are all within 0.1 Volts. And stay that close all thru the charge State and under load.
Not sure about the inverter pump.. if or when it's ever been changed.
Already changed the Brake Accumulator pump when it failed. Was a bit of a pain to do. Took me 5 hrs to remove and replace it.


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What was/is the warranty on the inverter pump? I just replaced mine at 125k. Toyota said there is no recall on it. My service records show I have not had it done previous and there is nothing showing that it is warranteed.

Thanks

 

If someone is worried about the pump - buy one and throw it in the trunk. And keep a screenshot driver and a small set of sockets 10 to 14mm and a small ratchet with extension. It's pretty easy to replace - remove the headlight and the stuff around.
It doable at any gas stations and you loose some coolant and if you are specific about it keep a gallon of coolant in the trunk or if not just refill with water.
I think for long trips this is doable and none of it will go to waste (pump or coolant)

 

Getting back to your OP, JC, I don't think it really has much to do with people not trusting older Prii for those trips. We have to remember that we are a tiny minority of Gen II owners.The average user has no idea about things like inverter pumps and weak HV batteries. They simply buy a car, drive it, have a mechanic take care of servicing it and then get rid of it for another car.

We're at a point where the number of Gen IIs is being greatly diluted by the number of Gen IIIs and IVs. Heading out to Palm Springs, Laughlin and Primm in the heat I still see some Gen II but not nearly as many as I did a couple of years ago. I don't expect to see many older ones out there. After all, the average American is only keeping their car for around 7 years and the Gen II is older than that. I don't see anywhere close to the number of ANY car over 10 years old making the trek across the desert as I did a few years back when those cars were 5-7 years old.

 

I suspect at this point most of those Gen II owners are second and third owners who bought their Prii on the used market either as a second car or as a commuter. They use their newer, primary car for comfort on weekend trips or they just aren't the type of consumer with the discretionary money to be making recreational trips to places like Vegas or Laughlin.

 

Okay, so this inverter pump is a water pump, correct? I checked and a water pump recall was done on my car 1/16/2013 at 42,737 miles:

C0U-REPL HV WATER PUMP ~|~C0U HYBRID ELECTRIC WATER PUMP RECALL ~|~C0U ~|~42737 OPEN C0U RECALL PERFORM RECALL; REPLACE HV WATER PUMP

This 2007 is now at nearly 90,000, so it sounds like I should be okay with the inverter issue? Done on my 2008 too.

 

I see many gen2's in my area, Ventura county. But taking any car across the desert that's 10-15 years old + is a risk. Not much to rent a car anyhow.

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Apologies for being off-topic, wrong gen, but maybe someone can comment: this cannot be necessary??



Huh, maybe:




Still, I'd look for a work around. Toyota seems to come from the remove your pants to take a pee school of thought.

 

We changed the inverter pump on @SFO ’s 2007 with only loosening the inverter, leaving the headlight as is and were able to get to the pump and swap it.

Really not a bad job.

 

We took out the front bolt and propped up the inverter an inch or so, was still a tight fit.

(example image below, not my hand pointing at the wrong part in question)

 

Hard ?

It still took all of about an hour total.

But we were shooting the breeze while doing the job.

Good suggestion though .

 

I did the same drive last weekend but I did see 4 gen 2's on my drive back to San Diego. I'm at about 153.5k on my gen 2 prius.

 

I'm sorry, but I kind of don't buy the whole premise of this thread. The sample size...one road trip..is too small to come to that large of a conclusion.
I doubt a majority of Gen 2 Prius owners are avoiding long road trips through hot climates through fear of breakdown.
I think it's fair to say, whatever you are driving you evaluate vehicle condition vs. task at hand. But I see older vehicles on the road and going everywhere and anywhere. Yeh, sometimes they break down.

I hate to say it, but if you are seeing less of them, it's probably just a symptom of the passage of time. Read: There are less of them. With each passing year, all Gen 2's get that much older, more are removed from service from "natural causes", accidents, or catastrophic failures that tip the repair maintain vs. retire scale to "retire".

But I know with my own experience with some high mileage older vehicles, my willingness to use them in any given long road trip scenario, really just came down to what shape I felt the vehicle was in, and you can keep an older vehicle in as good a shape as you want and/or can afford.

If I owned a Gen 2 that I had maintained, and I felt was in good shape, I wouldn't hesitate to drive it anywhere.

I live in a neighborhood, that my brother once proclaimed as "Prius and Subaru" land.
I don't need a road trip to Vegas to notice that I see less Gen 2 Prius.- I see less Gen 2 Prius. But I don't attribute it to a fear of owners to use them in any given scenario. I attribute it much more to just the cyclical nature of car ownership, and the inevitable realities of aging vehicles.

But give me a well maintained Gen 2 Prius, that is not demonstrating any impending signs of failure, and I'll drive it through the desert.
You're likely to lose a whole lot more just gambling in Vegas, than gambling on the reliability of a Gen 2 Prius.