Is the Gen 3 prius unreliable?

Here is a link to a search on the subject. https://priuschat.com/search/220816139/?q=Gen+3+prius+problems&o=relevance

 

It's very reliable. Not many people come here to post how great their car is, they come here to find solutions to a problem, hence the negativity. The biggest negative in my opinion is when something does go wrong it's often expensive to get repaired. Mine has 64k on it and has had no problems at all. I replaced the 12v battery and the tires and have kept the oil changed, that's all. But honestly I wouldn't buy a G3 with over 100k miles unless it's almost free.

 

Any car that has neglected maintenance, or high miles, or driven abusively, or involved in a wreck will most likely become or is unreliable. Do your homework of the vehicle's history, hope the previous owners drove the vehicle like a grand parent w/low miles on the clock.

 

If your looking at a 2010 get a 2009 instead
If your looking at a 2015 get a 2016 instead

if your looking at a 2013, then understand the extra egr, catchcan and shorter OCIs are likely prudent and sometime around 150,000 miles you can potentially expect a bad head gasket and having cash to repair/replace after that point is needed.

Nobody on the board recommends an old Prius (which Gen III IS IN) unless you are a hobbiest that will diy or have the money in the bank for a repair

 

Buying used is always a gamble. My previous two Prius were purchased used, lease returns, the last one was a Toyota Certified Used Vehicle which provided some additional warranty and peace of mind that all systems were go. My 2011 Gen III was very reliable during the six years and almost 200K miles I drove it. If you have a vehicle in mind already I would recommend going to the Toyota Owners website and creating a profile. If you have the VIN of the vehicle you can plug it in there and see the maintenance record and any other concerns addressed by a Toyota service department. Good luck.

 

I think frequent oil changes while the engine is low mile and clean will keep it that way longer, even with known piston ring issues. Reduced oil consumption will keep the oil out of the exhaust, which in turn will reduce the gunk in the cylinders.

It seems clear that small coolant leaks into the cylinder can go on for months with little impact but its certainly a game of engine hydrolock russian roulette that often bend connecting rods and sometimes blows holes through the block.

Then there is the fact that Toyota rerouted the egr intake to downstream of the catalytic converter by the fourth generation. Let the cat clean up unburned oil and fuel before dumping it back into the cylinders via the egr. Of course the rings and pistons were upgraded late in the gen3 run. Reduce oil burning and fuel blow-by. Makes sense. Almost like science at work.

 

I’d think it’s virtually all air-borne mist, and only a portion condenses/remains in the intake; plenty of the mist (an oil/water olio) is steadily passing through, to the combustion chambers.

 

apples vs orange, but feel free to believe two different technology will have the same longevity and functions reliability

 

Please try to be nice to the new people. The rest of us are used to you.

And the OP was only saying that older cars aren't necessarily unreliable. Different technologies notwithstanding.

Before pulling the trigger on a purchase, he's just trying to get footing on the disconnect from his the Prius reputation for reliability versus what he's read in the forum while doing his due diligence. Of course, people only post when there are issues -- there aren't many "things are just fine" threads.

 

Third gen owners were beta testers for:

1. Low friction piston rings.
2. New EGR system, that the engine DEPENDS on, to keep combustion chamber temps from climbing too high.

 

Once again this claim, which is always made in this sketchy way.

One can't quite reply by saying EGR isn't there to lower combustion temps, because it is, but that is to lower the temps across the threshold where NOx emissions are formed. It is an emissions control measure.

The implication always being made that it's something "the engine DEPENDS on, to keep combustion chamber temps from climbing too high" and doing some kind of mechanical damage, such as to the head gasket, is the part that keeps being recycled ad nauseam without any more of the homework ever being done (such as, "how close is the temperature threshold for producing NOx to the temperature limit for head gaskets", or "how did head gaskets ever survive in cars that lacked EGR and operated with temperatures in the NOx-producing range day in and day out?").

It's true there are numerous PriusChat posts about head gasket failures. There's probably a reason for that. But it's not going to be found just by picking an explanation that sounds truthy and repeating it forever.

 

Seen many posts about one taxi making it over a million miles so all are bullet proof.

 

Well, so what's the key thing about taxis? They carry lots of passengers.

So carry more passengers, and your Prius will make it over a million miles.

 

OP. Take what you read on this forum with a grain of salt. There are several extremely knowledgeable people here, but it seems most don't know shit about cars in general and just regurgitate the same responses without any understanding of what's really happening.

Engine running a little rough? Check your coolant, clean your EGR! You may have the dreaded headgasket issue! It's probably too late, put a new motor in it.

Ummmm, maybe ask a few questions firs before blindly throwing out , like how many miles on it? Previous maintenance? Oh yeah, it has 180k and is on the factory plugs. Yup. Headgasket for sure, lol. Great diag guys. So helpful.

If a lot of these posters ever bought something like a KIA their heads would spin around once those things hit 75k.

 

I'll add that I know of several Uber drivers pounding on these cars around Boston, myself included, and there have been no headgasket issues with any of us. One guy has run multiple cars to 250k before giving them to family members and getting another.

My car has seen 15k oil changes since I got it at 42k. It's a 2011 and doesn't burn oil, despite the "long" intervals, heavy loads, large throttle applications and "high" cruising speeds. "Conventional" wisdom here says that's all a no no for longevity