I am going to sell my Gen2 and buy a Gen 3. I know from this forum and other sources that the big things to watch out for are oil consumption/head gasket and inverter/converter failure. What measures can I take to check for red flags on these items if a car I am looking at didn't have all the work done at the dealer, which would show in the carfax. Is there an easy way for me to check if work has or has not been performed? Also, what else should I do in general before buying a used Gen3? I have a code reader that was recommended in this forum for Prius's and have all the apps. Thanks! Craig
Any car under 100K miles "should" be ok for EGR, but should have it done soon. I'd try to avoid higher miles than that if possible. Figuring out if a car is an oil burner or not is tricky. For starters check the dipstick with the car on level ground. If it's low I would not buy it. If it's near top mark, who knows: might just have been topped up. For sure don't ask seller about oil consumption beforehand, just check it and see. 2015 model year is safest bet for low oil consumption; it has revised pistons/rings to (hopefully) mitigate the issue. See if you can cold-start for the test drive; the knock-on-start-up (sign of ailing head gasket) tends to be worse with cold engine I think.
In my view, do not automatically eliminate high mileage ones, just ask where the miles mostly spent. Because driving on highways do not cause wear and tear as driving in city. Everything is as supposed to be on the highways. I count these highway miles %10-20 of city miles as Scotty Kilmer says. I got one 2010 one at 234k two years ago and around 180k of it was on highways. This is equivalent to 70k city driving. So far I had no problem with the car. Also important how maintenance performed, I'd recommend replacing fluids and oils just to make sure
Oil consumption can be simply caused by the PCV which is a $35 fix! One trick. If you try and start the prius without your foot on the brake, that is the easiest way to find out if the hybrid battery is bad. Also, I prefer the 2010 or 2011, it is more substantial than the 2015. But you can get an extended warranty for up to 9 years old. There is a wonderful guy in Bozeman Montana Rissler that sells Toyota factory warranties for $200 over cost! But the lower the miles the better. If you call him, he'll even run a car fax and tell you exactly what an extended warranty will cost- if you are interested.
Oil consumption isn’t fixed with a new PCV valve. It’s a piston ring issue. That’s why in 2014 Toyota put new upgraded piston rings in the 1.8, and in 2015 it got the same new piston rings along with a new upgraded piston.
Following as I'm looking now at a 2016 v V w/ ATP. My poor '07 Touring just gave up the ghost at 349,685 miles. I would try to revive her, but she has cancer. So I will put her down.
So I ended up getting a 2014 Three with 70k. Ended up at $11,200 plus tax/title etc. $13K out the door. It was a one owner Arizona car. I felt less worried about the oil burning the more I read about it. We love it so far.
Sans a piston & ring modification and the addition of the ATP, there is no real “change” from a 2012 - 2017 V. iPhone ?
