Did you buy a Prius with 100K+ miles? Share your story here!

I'm just starting to shop. My daughters 'cheap' used car for college is headed off to the junkyard 3 years and less than 10K miles after purchase. 2000 Ford Focus, blown head gasket. I have another daughter that will eventually need something to drive.
So as I shopped around looking at cars I realized I have a 2007 Prius with 140+K miles that is incredibly reliable. Why not check prices for a used Prius? Lots of options in the $10-12K range.

 

Or a new one for you and the old one goes to one of them.

 

Heheh, if only the cash were there. It is possible I could end up with a 'newer' one though. Even some Gen3s were in that price range - just higher mileage.

 

Given the choice between an old gen2 and a high mileage gen3 I would take the gen2 every day.

It’s been said before the gen3’s just don’t seem to be able to handle the mileage that a gen2 can, once a gen3 gets past 150,000 it starts throwing up a lot of engine issues, especially head gaskets and egr cooler issues.




2010 Gen 3

 

Thanks, good to know!

 

I bought a 2012 Prius with 220k thirteen months ago. Inside was a little dirty but it drove good. Bought from an auction out of New York sight unseen and shipped to Michigan. Price was $4200 but after auction fee, shipping, and taxes/plate my cost delivered I think was around 5k. This was in October of 2017 so at the time price was fair.

Immediately upon receiving I did the following (guessing on prices cause it's been a year):

1) Within days of driving got CEL for P0403 for EGR cooler, EGR valve, clean the pipes that weren't replaced ---- > $600

2) Michelin Premiers and wheel alignment ----> $500?

That was all I did for an entire year.....Cost around $6000. Has continued to perform amazingly over the last year. Recently I just faintly noticed a humming (which was relatively minor 99% of people would not notice it) which led to:

3) Front left and rear left wheel bearings and all 4 brakes/rotors as shop said they needed to be done ---- > bill over $1000 really overpriced shop imo but I was in a rush ("the Moog brand parts are really expensive, about $300/bearing").

4) Changed interior from cloth to Leather....around $500 and pics before/after HERE

Went from really bad to pretty clean inside. Seats only had 60k on them.

I think overall you would expect to change tires/brakes/rotors and a couple wheel bearings on a quarter-million mile car with most likely all original parts...I am 2nd owner.

Current odometer reading: 240k? I guess my cost is around $7500 and I'd say it is only worth $4500...maybe $5000 because of the tires/leather.

Doesn't burn any oil. You would think it has 50k on it based on how it drives.

 

One in my avatar is a 2008 that has 192k miles that I bought in September of 2017 so 14 months ago.

It had only 145k miles on it so I added almost 50k in 14 months.

Did tires/wheel bearings as soon as I got it. I also did front struts brand KYB when I first got it "just because"...Technically didn't need it but I wanted to make it nicer.

And then just recently did tires again (used Michelin Defenders @ 70-80% for about $220 installed).

I also spent about $350 on the fuel filler neck which fixed an evap "very small leak" that kept kicking the check engine light on every few days.

I consider it to be running just as good...possibly even better than when I got it. Zero-issue car.

 

I found a fully loaded 2007 Prius April 2015 with 120k miles for 8k. When I had a mechanic look at it, he suggested to replace the suspension, brakes, and water pump for an addtional 2500$ in repairs. I ended up buying the car and opted to do none of the repairs.

It has 216k now, and I got around to replacing the brake pads when it started squeaking. The coolant reservoirs are still looking full and the car still feels like its driving great. As for other maintenance costs, I've replaced Michelin Defenders (45mpg) that came with the car with Bridgestone Ecopia ep422+ (46mpg). The traction battery died at 190k. I ended up buying a refurbished battery w/ 18 month warranty for 1450$ installed. The refurbished battery died 6 months later but the warranty was honored so hopefully it will last at least another 18 months.

Aside from tires and the battery, the only other things that get done are replacing the fan blower (40$) and the 20$ oil changes every 5k. In the 96k miles that it's been driven, I've spent 2400 on maintenance in the 3.5 years i've owned the car.

Overall I feel like I had a great value with this car despite having to replace the battery. Now I have a job where my commute is a 20 minute walk so my time up with this vehicle may be over.

 

I traded my 10 mpg 96 f150 pickup for a 2005 Prius with 147k miles on it yesterday. The car had documentation of 12v and hybrid battery replacement in the last 8 months. I did three right thing...changed the oil and cabin filter then drove it over 450 miles. Lol. I am happy to report no issues and i got 50.1 mpg!!!!!

 

Welcome to PriusChat! Lots of great info and help on this site if you need it in the future.

 

Just bought my 1st ever Gen 2 prius with 173k miles but has some issues lol
Any recommendations on which 12v battery to opt for?
I want to replace it before I start looking at the Hybrid batt.

 

I bought an ex taxi 2008 Prius with 690,000km on the clock (428,750 miles) and it now has 720,550km on the clock (447,700 miles). Have replaced the cabin fan motor and cabin filter, I replaced the cam chain but discovered that wasn't the noise, it was a blocked first catalytic converter so that was replaced with an after market unit for roughly $200. The timing chain kit included all the guides, gaskets and a water pump and that cost $300 from memory. I finally gave up on the dead 12v battery merry go round and fitted a second hand 40 ah lithium battery made out of old cells and the 12v battery problems went away along with a few other stupid things like the dash not coming on unless the 12v battery was disconnected and then reconnected.
I've since also bought a 2006 Prius with the full bells and whistles including a plug in 40Ah 76 cell battery pack.2006 iTech, let the mods / upgrading commence | PriusChat It has 263,000kms on the clock now (163,400 miles) but the traction battery dropped it's bundle now and won't hold a charge making it a bugger to drive in all electric mode because the traction battery needs to be charged to 60% before the big battery can charge it to 80% and hold it there ....... until you turn it off, then the whole things starts again if it sits for more than a few mins. I've stopped driving it now till I sort the traction battery problem, don't want any issues with swelling traction battery cells.

T1 Terry

 

Another report regarding the 2006 model with the crook traction battery. Not the easiest job getting the traction battery out with a 40Ah 240vdc 76 cell battery mounted where the spare wheel once was, it took a tad longer than it seems suggested else where to remove the traction battery from a non PHEV vehicle. It required the whole rear seat to be removed so the traction battery could come out through the left hand rear door because over the PHEV battery was not an option I wanted to take with a metal case sliding across the 240vdc battery terminals.
Besides the fun involved in getting the seat swab out, I'd say that it was really a much easier way to get the traction battery out when you are doing the job on your own.
So far all I've found is corroded terminals and 2 cells at 6.5v where the rest were between 7.2v and 7.65v, so I'll rig up a load test tomorrow to see what that shows. Any idea what the test load current should be? I seem to remember seeing up to 120 amps discharge showing on the scan gauge so I'm guessing that might be a rough guide. I'll start at 50 amps and go up from there while measuring the voltage drop for each cell while under load.

T1 Terry

 

Winning bid: US $1,152.96 +150 prosessing fee.
Mileage: 217,081

 

Ouch, the last one I saw go through the salvage auction locally went for $2,000 Aust and look to be in very good condition and still had rego on it. I'm guessing it must have had issues of some sort, but nothing like that one.

T1 Terry

 

I have a 2013 Prius V. Is that considered a 3rd generation?