No more gen2 cars on long hot trips

Most Gen II PRII are slowly migrating to Wisconsin, most every one here is 2009 or older as the coastal regions get newer ones we buy up your old cast offs.

Further our 12 year old car age metric is somewhat deceiving as we have well defined bands of very new cars, not much around the average age then very old cars.

Good visual of have and have nots in practice

 

When I visited Cambodia back in 2014 I didn’t see any Prius. But when I went in 2018 January. I saw a ton. They were everywhere. All are Gen 2. I saw one gen 3. So maybe they’re getting imported there lol

 

Well, my 2007 has logged almost 120K miles on the odometer, and many summer days in the Tucson area have high temps approaching 110 degrees F. My wife has no problem driving that car 500 miles to LA, and back.

Prior to 2009 I suggested that 2G Prius owners should replace the inverter coolant pump at no later than 100K mile intervals. This was before Toyota started the inverter pump recall program. The new pump design does not really seem to be an improvement over the original, contrary to the recall notice which announced that pump replacement program, so I agree that periodic pump replacement continues to be a prudent move for those Prius owners who do not wish to be stuck on the side of the road.
How to Replace the Inverter Coolant Pump | PriusChat

 

Well, actually my daughter is the legal owner of the 2007, however I continue to handle the maintenance of that car.

We rotate the 2015 and 2007 Prius back and forth between CA and AZ, so my daughter has use of the 2015 as well as the 2007. She actually is very careful with the 2015 and is keeping it in great cosmetic condition so I have no problem with her driving the 2015. The rotation occurs when the car that happens to be in CA needs an oil change.

I do not miss the 2004 since we have continued access to the 2007. My wife likes driving the 2007 better than the 2015. We recently repainted the 2007's rear hatch spoiler because the clear coat had chipped off, and the hood/front bumper cover because of road rash. So the 2007 looks basically like new.

 

Just got done driving 1189 miles from Cocoa Beach, FL back home to Missouri. The old Prius was flawless yet again!

I am big on preventative maintenance though. Inverter pump done last year, oem new HV 2 years ago. Went ahead and replaced the ICE water pump, t-stat, belt, idler pulley, upper and lower radiator hoses just before making this trip for good measure.

 

I envy those of you who can do all this work on your Gen II Prii yourselves. I'd probably keep mine forever if I could.

 

FWIW I drove about 90 miles out the I-10 to play golf in Palm Desert yesterday morning. I saw at least six Gen II Prii going the same direction on the I-10 so they are out there. Fitting with the narrative that Gen II is being replaced as a primary driver I did see a ton of Prius Gen III, Prius C and Prius Gen IV cars.

 

Well, if you happen head there again at the right time on August 10 you'll see mine. We're driving to Colorado to visit family and Kansas to attend a wedding.

 

I would imagine that in the next few years,we will see a sharp decline in GenII Prii. As More and more HV batteries go bad, I can see people giving up on their Prius. Not to mention if/when a brake actuator goes bad.

I for one absolutely love my GenII and I might even consider replacing my HV battery a second time with OEM new (which would be 8-10 years from now.

 

Hey now, I was out there last week! Pretty hot. Car never missed a beat.

 

Likely you are correct. I think I actually like this car enough to spend the money to repaint and redo the interior. Even though it’s just a run of the mill car, not a collectible. Probably not always the most cost effective thing to do but I’m willing (and thankfully have the means) to do it. This car has taken our family of 4 to many places and we’ve created many good memories. Getting kind of attached to it.

 

Now I feel as though I really should post some pictures of our Gen 2 after 265K miles, but it's dark outside, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow. Except for a few paint chips on the hood which are not visible from a distance, the exterior is absolutely pristine. The fact that the exterior is white must have helped quite a bit, even though it has spent at least the last couple of years in the sun. There is no visible wear anywhere in the interior. I attribute that to the durability of the leather on the seats of these cars with that option, and even to the superiority of the vinyl used for the armrests and console. Before I bought this car, I saw many examples of these cars with the cloth interior that had quite noticeable wear on the armrests and separation of the fabric on the console lid. For anyone looking to buy a Gen 2 car, it's totally worth going for one with the leather interior, if you can find one, everything else being equal.

 

You head that way a lot .

What was the draw this time ?

 

Xerox?