Will there be many Prius Gen 2 on the road in 10-15 years?

There are lots of 2nd gen Prii on the road in my area now, and I’ve put 50,000 miles on mine since I got it 4 and 1/3 years ago. Now it has 155,000 miles total. I think 2nd gen Prii will slowly decrease over the next 10 years, gradually getting rarer until they fade out.

 

My 2008 Prius has over 728,000km on it now and still going strong. Looks like an absolute refugee, painted enamel orange over the original metalic green, more dents than a golfball and the interior could do with a revamp .... but what could you expect from an ex city taxi. Would I trade it for a newer model, not likely, it's the newest car in our 6 car fleet :lol: I absolutely love my 2006 Prius with the extended range battery in the spare wheel well, anyone who thinks they werent worth the $$ or effort doesn't pay $1.40 ltr for fuel :lol: That one is about to roll over 297,000km and still goes like rocket. It has a few dents and paint in a few places that aren't Toyota std equipment, like the white paint on the front bumper where the wife tried to demolish a guide pole by going forward rather than reverse. Could I ever consider trading that in on a newer model, never.
I have a 1974 VW Kombi that has near 1 million km on the clock, now that one is high maintenance ... would I ever consider selling it, been asked so many times it gets annoying, no it is not for sale.

Some vehicle as just for transport from A to B, others are special, the Gen 2 is one of those special vehicles that you would regret for the rest of your life if you just traded it on something newer.
As far as insurance, we have a company out here called Shannons and they insure motoring enthusiast's vehicles for an agreed value, keep the agreed value up to real world replacement value that matches the condition and love you have for the vehicle and it will never become an economic right off that simply goes to the scrape yard.

As an example, the '74 VW Kombi has a right off value from an average insurance company of $2,500, you can't buy one that is still roadworth and rust removed type rust free in Australia for under $36,000 so why would you only take out insurance with an ordinary insurance company.

T1 Terry

 

I find it interesting around here that I see more Gen I and Gen II Prii out here than I see Gen III. A testament to the quality they put in these earlier versions and shows the Gen III does have problems the older ones don't. There are more GenIV around so those IIIs were probably traded in instead of repairing or traded in for the better gas mileage.

 

Gen 2 Prius checks all the reasons to keep driving a car for a long time:

• easy to maintain
• economical
• practical
  
• reliable
  
• sexy

Okay, not all, but four out of five is not bad.

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

 

Agreed, my Gen2 is still rock solid at 242,000 miles. My only struggle now is finding the right combination of seat cushions to be comfortable on long road trips. We started driving my 07 Tundra Limited Crewmax on long trips once gas prices went down last year—I kind of wish I wouldn’t have. Once I realized how comfortable long drives can be in that truck, it makes it harder to go back to the Prius and the discomfort that goes with it.

 

I’ve found my Prius to be comfortable on long drives.

 

That’s the thing-I thought it was comfortable too for almost 7 years. I put almost 150,000 miles on it myself, on road trip after road trip. Even did a 2300 mile round trip from Missouri to Florida in 2018. All I ever used was a simple lumbar support cushion all this time. We drove it on a 1000 mile round trip last week, and I had a sore back for 3 days. Nothing horrible, just sore. I had just driven the Tundra 14 hours straight last month and no pain at all. Besides the pain at the pump lol.

It’s kind of like when you get used to the heat outside and feel fine, then you walk into an air conditioned room, and you’re like “ahhhhh”.

Anyway, I just invested $175 in Obusforme cushions, hopefully that’ll help. Otherwise I may hit up a local interior shop to see what they can do.

 

We aren’t getting any younger as years pass, either...heh. My Avalanche seats feel real nice when I’m in it, too!

 

That is the cold, hard truth!

 

So true. We do at least one trip of at least 2,000 miles every year visiting family. Some years it's over 5,000 miles. I've always carried three different types of seat cushions to rotate and make the seats more tolerable. Since we bought the Acura MDX the rest of the family has now rebelled and said, "No more Prius on a long trip.". My wife insists we pay 3 times the cost per mile and take the Acura from here to North Carolina this summer.

If I were travelling alone I wouldn't hesitate to take the Prius but I have been outvoted by "She Who Carried a Gun for a Living and Must Be Obeyed".

 

You guys shoud try driving my Honda Element. Prius is a Lexas compared to my mini-cargo van! lol

 

I definitely believe you but I would still love to have an Element with 4x4 (AWD) for the utility of it in the local area here. Between desert trails, getting to fishing spots along the Colorado River and the accompanying cargo area in the back for sporting goods, pets, camping equipment, etc. it makes a lot of sense. I was always surprised, though, that Honda wasn't able to get better mpg out of the 2WD versions of the Element. They used to pride themselves on their fleet's gas mileage figures.

 

lol I’m in the same boat...I always like to say “I just got out voted 1 to 1” by my wife.

But seriously, with the kids getting big, one almost 6 feet tall, the days of the family vacation in the Prius are over anyway. But when it’s just the wife and I, she’s ok with long trips in the old Prius. Once the big one goes off to college next fall, we’ll likely use the Prius to go visit him (hopefully often).

 

What a great thread -- sincerely, I've loved reading everyone's thoughts, especially about how caring for the minor cosmetic things can turn into a more profound love and care and knowledge of the car. The Little Prince quote is especially apt haha

I see a ton of gen 2's in the PNW right now, though they do get rarer when I head into the more rural areas. I really like mine. I wanted to like the Prius V but I just didn't think it was nice enough to justify the cost. My ex has a new e-golf and other than adaptive cruise control, there's nothing in a 2019 car that I need, ESPECIALLY when comparing costs...

I agree that they check a lot of boxes for a car that'll be around a long time. I always figured in a couple decades they'll be like what the 90s accords/corollas have been. Hopefully the catalytic converter theft issue doesn't send them to extinction tho.

 

Same thing regarding the kids. Our daughters are 5'9" and 5'11". The shorter one won't go in a long car trip in any car anymore since she suffers from multiple back structural issues and loves to stay home. At age 22 she loves her privacy and loves to take care of the animals while we're gone. The taller one was ok with the Prius rear seat until she discovered the interior of the SUV; now she's not going cross country in that Prius even if I try to bribe her.

 

To tell you the truth, I think applying the catalytic converter issue to the Prius is a non-starter if you take a serious look at it. Catalytic converters are being stolen from almost all makes and models of cars, not just Prii. Any car that it can be gotten to quickly is a target. We hear more about our Toyotas because this is, after all, a Prius website. A lot of prejudice is still out there against the older ones so I think the news reporting is still skewed a little that way. Lately I've been reading more about thefts from SUVs and pickups that sit higher off the ground, making easier for the thieves to accomplish the task quicker.

For myself, I back into parking spaces when I go walking or hiking around here. With the back bumper barely clearing the curb and the tires up against the curb there's no way a thief can get under the car.

 

Well parking near the curb really makes no difference to a thief. As you can't get under a Prius without a car jack. But the thieves don't seem to be out here??

I called my friend in Ca the other day and mentioned the Prius Cat thing?? And he said in his neighborhood 13 cat's had been ripped off?? Most likely yours is safe because the thieves aren't here???

And the emission level's are different for a SUV's, based on Gross Vehicle Weight?? The cat's aren't as valuable and you certainly would not need to jack one up to get to the cat.

The A-Holes aren't looking for Cat's where you are (NV). There are ton's of Gen Two's , where I am. And we have no issues. I figure if it start's to happen here, it will start in Vegas?? And if it does I will do something different. I don't need to care about smog where I am but a stolen cat would still be a PIA!

 

Local news here has indicated that while many models are getting hit, the theft rate rose very sharply last year, and Prius is the top target

A few years back, it was predominantly high clearance vehicles.