Looking at a Prius for driving 80K+ a year

The Prius can use oil, all you need to do is pull the dipstick and check it and avoid not seeing it on the stick.

If you do that, you’ll be fine .

Low tension rings were the cause of oil use in the gen3’s, but any older car can use oil once the miles pile on.

Just check it and you’ll be fine.

 

I don't know why you keep repeating that ^. They've been out since late 2015. That's thousands and thousands of them on the road, with many millions of miles. If there were problems, they would be well known by now. They're in their 4th generation now, been making them for 20 years.

ga12r1: just go ahead and get one. Even if it only went 200k, it would have paid for itself in gas savings by that time.

If you're too nervous about it being a hybrid, there's always a Corolla wagon or Yaris, which will get her 40 mpg. (instead of 50+) I feel like the Prius is a better bet though. Since it's a hybrid, Toyota's future reputation depends a lot on it. They have a lot at stake with Prius.

 

True, but get a higher option package model with adjustable lumbar support and that problem will be solved.

Neither of these options makes sense for 95% highway driving. The conventional versions of those car do about as well on the highway as the hybrids. The real savings on hybrid SUVs is city driving.

 

With this kind of driving, you're looking at 60+ mpg. The Prius will actually stay electric up to 60 mph if flat or downhill, so 65 would probably be better for the car, to cycle the traction battery less. Either way, you're talking about easy highway miles. Even if the car only goes 2 years, you will have cleared $84,800 in car use reimbursement. It only really has to go 1 year to pay for itself.

I think it would do 3 or 4 though.

That is a LOT of work you do on Land Cruisers. I don't think the Prius would need nearly that much maintenance, especially on those beautifully maintained Georgia roads!

 

I'm guessing that the land cruisers use something thicker than 0w-20.

In other words, it doesn't take much out-of-tolerance to let this super thin synthetic go where it wants to go.

 

Well fortunately the engine doesn't spend a lot of time at redline nor does it have a turbo, so the shearing challenge isn't bad. I haven't had one long enough to characterize the lifetime burn pattern.

Maintenance-wise I don't think this will be a terrible challenge. Dipstick vigilance recommended for the low-reserve sump. Keep up on tire rotations as regenerative braking is a front-axle-only situation.

The transmissions in these are hilariously simple compared to anything else on the road. No clutchpacks or friction parts at all, just a single planetary gearset. You change the trans oil mostly to keep up with shear & thermal degradation. Nothing special about the axles.

 

There was a mention of Yaris or Corolla. Before I bought my Gen 4 I test drove Corolla, and felt it wasn't the car the PRIUS is. Yaris certainly wouldn't be a car I'd buy for highway driving, Corolla maybe, but not as good as PRIUS. BUT - a new Corolla came out just in the last month or 2 - and there is a Hybrid version. It is based, I believe, on the same platform as Gen 4, and reported to be vastly improved on the previous model. It's EPA MPG is lower than PRIUS though, but incrementally better than a Highlander.

I can relate to that work - I worked in management of a similar organisation, but ours only had a small geographic footprint, so not a lot of longer trips (problem area!!). How does PRIUS's interior layout suit the type of child transport - child seats and boosters etc. I've got a child seat in my car for grandchildren, and it goes in easily, and I still easily fit 2 children across the back seat.

You mention highway driving - I'm wondering what her driving style is like. Like fast?, aggressive?, or placid?, going with the flow of traffic. This morning, I just drove 300km, I just kept up with the traffic which mainly went at 100-110km/hr (speed limit), with a few slower sections of roadworks. I averaged about 65 US MPG for that trip, and it just cruised effortlessly. The display indicated it was in EV (Electric) Mode for about 25% for the first ½, 32% on the return trip. So the petrol engine wasn't running for those times. RADAR Cruise is great for highway use. Higher speeds would use less and less EV mode though.

Could you rent one for a weekend or something to check out how she like is?

Some have mentioned oil use - I have no idea. When I researched PRIUS 2 years ago, excessive oil use was never mentioned, even by a taxi company. Mine has only done 33,000km and hasn't used a drop.

With any mechanical item, there are always the possibility of things failing. The vast majority of hybrid batteries have lasted the useful life of the car - with a very few examples which didn't. We don't hear anything of the 1,600,000 which haven't been a problem - but if 500 failed, we'd hear about each one of them (NOTE: the 500 is a wild guess). Same with engines using oil. I had a 1980 NISSAN - and 100% of them used oil at 35,000 miles - it was well known. TOYOTA's equivalent CORONA at the time rarely used oil - though I knew of one which did - the odd one out? Whether it was lack of maintenance, I'm unsure.

 

I guess I don't get why the prius wouldn't be regarded as a good highway car. Even our c, marketed as a city car, is serving us well as a long-range highway commuter.

I recently used it for a business trip that bounced me back and forth between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and my wife regularly takes it from eastern PA to northern VA. So far, it just works and I'm left to scratch my head as to why it shouldn't work.

The hybrid system is particularly effective at getting high efficiency in a stop and go situation, but that doesn't seem to come at the expense of locking up the cruise control and steering towards the vanishing point. If anything, the hybrid transmission and clean aero profile combine to reduce noise and cut driver fatigue.

 

for the simple reason that it took quite a few more years to discover the gen 3 problems.

 

Short answer?
It really doesn't matter.
If you want to get all geeky with it it's probably a combination of viscosity (too light) OCI (too long) the Atkinson cycle and maybe toss in some marginal engineering to boot (EGR circuit, marginal rings, etc)

In the end, it really doesn't matter because it's it's so dern easy to avoid.
Kinda like smoking cigarettes.
Who cares why they kill you if all you have to do is not smoke those first few cancer sticks???

The Prius is designed to get about 50-ish miles per gallon if adult driven and properly maintained for the 250,000 miles that I mentioned earlier.
THAT is their North Star.
Since the folks at Toyota sell them to a segment of the population that generally maintains a closed-hood maintenance philosophy, they only really have to stay in one piece for about half that which coinkidinkly is about their extended warranty period.
Just to make sure that the odds remain in the house's favor, Toyota defines "excessive oil use" for Priuses a little differently than they do for other vehicles.
FWIW, if you get a Prius (new or used) and put any effort into fluids and filters then you are just about dead-bang certain to knock down 250,000 miles with not much in the way of tow truck interventions or 4-figure repair bills.

That's all you need for your wife's purposes....presuming she digs the whole Prius thing.
IMHO a gently used G4 as close to base as your CFO will be comfortable LIVING in for as much time as she spends in the car will meet your needs quite well....perhaps more so than any other car given your particular situation.....which will be different than California commuters, East Coast urbanites, Florida pensioners, and sod busters in those big square states in between.

In the final analysis?
Happy Wife.....Happy Life.
Lean towards what SHE wants.
If she wants FRUGAL and dependable and you're able to swing wrenches on cars?
That makes the list rather short, IMHO (current street value....<$0.02)

The only stupid questions are the ones that people wonder about but do NOT ask!

Good Luck!
Let us know how it shakes out.

 

Check out this thread for somebody who drove a Gen 4 Prius over 90K miles before trading it in on his preferred VW Diesel.

Super-Commuter & high mile thread | Page 2 | PriusChat

 

There are some great posts in this thread.

The only thing I'll add is to recommend a higher trim level with the fake leather seats, lumbar support etc. She'll spend a LOT of time in that car and it will pay for itself easily, even if it's a high-dollar, high-trim model. I have a feeling it'll be the first of many Prii for her.

+1 on the radar cruise control. It is brilliant, being able to cruise even if there's some traffic. It actually will do a decent level of regenerative braking, while still staying in cruise. The other day, I remained vigilant and left it on even when traffic slowed to a stop. It worked, and even accelerated back up to cruising speed when traffic did. It's a little scary just because some people will get a bit too lazy with it. Toyota puts plenty of warnings in the manual for that.

 

Well let's see......for starters, the MSRP for your Land Cruiser probably was about 5 or 6X what the sticker price is for a Prius.

Cheap cars aren't made to last forever........and oil usage is a sign of wear.

That's all you really need to know.
Although someone will probably try to write a "book" to explain it in detail.

 

Those are nice cars, and quicker than Prii. But you're talking 35 mpg vs. 55.

The Prius will make you big money, with the miles she puts on. Also, having come from an Accord, I can say that hatchbacks are MUCH more useful than sedans. The Accord had more interior and cargo volume, but it is just not as useful. I don't think I'll ever have a sedan again until I get too old to move big stuff. I really had to shake my head when I had to borrow my wife's Prius C to bring a toilet home from Home Depot....wouldn't fit in the Accord.

 

you can probably eek out 50mpg v 60 in a prius.

there is an owner here with a thread on his extensive experience with the new hycam.
you definitely want the LE if mpg is priority.

 

For they type of driving she will be doing, it is probably the better, more comfortable long distance car. And still far cheaper to run than a Highlander.

 

I would like to modify my previous post.

Given the TYPE of miles you described later, I think a Prius could be a good choice.
BUT.....I don't think you should depend on ANY reasonably priced vehicle going over 160,000 miles and still be reliable.

If I was doing 80K a year, I think comfort and convenience would be higher priorities than a small difference in fuel mileage.