New member looking for a Hybrid

I've read every post in the last 30 months since Gen 4 PRIUS was released, and I've never read anything about an inverter misbehaving at all - definitely not hot or dying. Maybe that was older versions, but the current Gen 4 is a dramatic re-design of many factors of the car.

I think you'll find that we're all happy mostly with the car - great car, great economy. In the USA you get an entertainment unit with knobs and buttons, which is the biggest gripe I have - for some reason, Australia misses out.

 

I've also read every Gen 4 post on Prius Chat, as well as Toyota Owners Club and Reddit. Again, never heard anyone having any of the problems you describe with the Gen 4. This tells you a lot about the reliability of the car. It's human nature to moan about things, rather than praise, and people naturally come to forums to ask for help when they have a problem, so you can be very sure that a car forum will always give you a much worse impression of a car's reliability than how it is in reality. Based on the posts here, the car is amazing!

 

Wish I had a hybrid Tacoma.

Now is the time to buy a Prius as the market has tanked.
Had 4 Honda Hybrids and lemon lawed one. I will never buy another Honda (even though it was my favorite car back in the Civil war). They are years behind the Prius in every way. Now some of the plug in cars are interesting like the leaf etc.

 

I got to do some searching - I found a few posts of 2006 models - Gen 2. And some with higher km early Gen 3 - with over 160,000km. I didn't have time to read them all to see if there were any special circumstances like service history etc.

A Gen 4 in California comes with a 10 yr warranty on the Hybrid system (not sure of the kms?). Gen 4 is dramatically different, new chassis, engine heavily re-configured and almost none of the hybrid components carrying over. So far, no problems that have shown up on PriusChat in going on for 3 years.

 

And you can load a grand piano in the back.

 

Sadly not in either a TACOMA or a PRIUS. The 400 kg of mine (I think nearly 900 lbs) will do my back in.

 

No such problems that I've read of.

I'm a Honda guy at heart; they tend to be more fun to drive, as well as being just as reliable as Toyota. I had three Hondas; loved them all. My first choice would've been a Honda hatchback hybrid, but there doesn't seem to be one right now.

So I settled for a Prius.

In exchange for giving up a bit of sportiness, you get a quieter cabin and more options at a given price point, compared to Honda. I like some of the electronics a lot more than I thought I would: adaptive radar cruise, back up camera, parking assist, automatic high beams, seamless Bluetooth... They're all brilliant.

The power in this generation is good too, and I'm averaging 60 mpg. Handling is not as tight as a typical Honda, but we don't have twisty roads here anyway, and we have lots of traffic.

Value is excellent on a new Prius: they're priced comparably to traditional cars but are twice as efficient and with more options as standard. I paid about $25k for my Two, about the same as I would've paid for a pure gas car. I will save hundreds in gas and tolls over the years as a result.

I too would've like a hybrid Tacoma; pickups can be QUITE handy. But when I think of it, in my everyday life, I benefit more from the higher economy than the occasional handiness of a pickup. I'm better off just renting one when I need it.

You're cleared for purchase.

 

I know it is only 1 data point, but I'm 20 months and 55k into my gen 4 and have had no problems. And the MPG's are amazing.

 

By the way, if you really want something more truckish, take a look at the RAV4 hybrid. My brother in law has one and it's very nice. Pulls pretty hard too, compared to a Prius. It's their family vehicle.

 

gen 4 hasn't been around long enough to know anything about reliability. takes 4 or 5 years minimum.
who knew 2010's would blow head gaskets like cornflakes until a few years ago?

if you're looking for 100k of trouble free driving, it shouldn't be an issue. it's the people who expect 150 or 200,000 miles with no major problems that are unhappy.

 

Not that we know - I think there are a few which hit 100,000kms. TAXI drivers here were going 500k km without even having to do a brake pad replacement (depending on their driving), and no downtime other than routine servicing.

Mine had a brake-light switch fail soon after I got it - replaced under warranty. It only failed to work once, but was logged on the data-log. Nobody else has reported the same.

The drive system doesn't have an AUTO of any sort - try to get one of the latest 8 (or 10) speed AUTOs fixed and it's ridiculously expensive, the CVTs and TwinClutch transmissions not quite so bad.

BUT PRIUS has a very clever Epicyclic Gearset which directly drives from the 2 Motor Generators (MG1 & MG2) and Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) - no gearbox needed. Almost unbreakable, and likely to last the life of the car.

And - the savings on fuel are amazing. Should you need a hybrid battery in 10 years (unlikely) when it's out of warranty, it will co$t chicken-feed compared with the savings you've made on other repairs and fuel you'd expect on any conventional car.

 

that's typically when you start to see recalls, repairs and tsb's. gen 3 was much worse than gen 2 though.
jury is out on gen 4.

 

I think I remember the inverter failures being on a couple of years (2011 maybe?) of the Prius V - there was a recall to fix that issue.

Haven’t heard of anything like that on any other models.

 

Cars today are much less likely to misbehave than in years past.

In the '40s, you'd need to decoke every 10,000; grease every 1,000; check tyres daily. By the '60s, much greasing wasn't necessary as joints were greased "for life", radial tubeless tyres needed checking monthly, and a decoke was done when a valve job was done at 100,000. I remember my Dad putting his '49 Austin into the local service station every month or so.

Much of that continual servicing is now not needed. Cars are very much controlled by computers, which make adjustments to the car as it goes. Fuel economy is vastly improved. Major service isn't particularly major in a car with a chain-drive camshaft.

That said - the older the car, the more likely that routine repairs will be needed. Nothing will go forever. But with PRIUS, almost 20 years of experience have shown a car which is among the 10 most reliable cars in both ConsumerReports and Forbes ratings.

 

We just bought our 5th Prius last month. I have driven over 400,000 miles in a Prius with no break downs at all. Our last Prius was a 2010 and it was totaled out with 168,000 trouble free miles. We just got an 18' Prius 4 with all the packages and I expect it to be just as reliable. We took it to Florida 4 weeks ago and left with 900 miles on the odometer. We made the 11 hour trip averaging 67 mph including 4 stops. We were running at least 78 mph most of the time and averaged 52.7 miles with it loaded down with 3 adults and packed with gear. If you are driving a lot, I would definitively recommend a gen iv Prius.

 

The voice of experience.

 

Are you forgetting the Insight? I've got a Gen I and a Gen II. I got the 2000 Insight in 2004. I bought one of the 1st 2010 Insights in April of 2009 and gave it to our 16 year old daughter. She drove it until June of this year and wanted to buy her 1st new car on her own. She bought a 2018 Prius Eco and I got the Insight back. I'm driving it on my 100 mile daily commute and it just rolled over 170,000 miles. We haven't had any trouble with it either other than front brakes at 70,000 miles. I attributed that to the 16 year old driver. It's a hatch, but I despise the rubber band transmission.