I bought a 2013 Prius yesterday and I am very pleased! There are a couple questions I have though about things that the dealer told me. The dealership I went to was a family run place and a woman there told me that I should be careful about a couple things. She told me that the fuel tank was a bladder system so I should not let it go below a quarter tank. A quick Google search seems to say that they quit using a bladder in 2010 though. Is it the case that some later models still have a bladder? Or was she misinformed? She also told me that if I leave the car running accidentally, this will kill the battery and it would possibly need replacing. Is this true? I would assume there would be an auto shutoff if it idles too long (especially with the smart key outside of the car.)
There's no fuel bladder for 3rd generation (2010-2015). The rubber bladder was only on the 2nd generation (2004-2009). There's no auto shut off. The engine will run occasionally to top up the HV battery until you run out of fuel in the fuel tank. Then yes, you'll kill the battery but that's a long time to run through the entire tank of fuel.
The worst thing if you forget to turn it off is the potential for CO poisoning in an attached garage or the potential for someone to get in the car and drive off if its outside. Another possible problem is you start the car to warm or cool the interior, go back into the house with the key, leave the key and then drive off. As soon as you get somewhere and shut it off you are stuck without a key. This can also happen if you drop your wife off but the only key was in her purse. The car will start beeping if it is on and the keyfob has left the car. But sometimes people have ignored or not understood the warning.
welcome! sigh... wrong on both counts. sad that after 20+ years, dealers still don't understand hybrids. what she should have told you about is the massive head gasket failures
The 2013 has head gasket trouble? I specifically chose this year because of the 5/5 engine and transmission reliability ratings on consumer reports.
All gen 3’s have the more-or-less* the same, clog-prone Exhaust Gas Recirculation system and intake manifold. Neglecting to periodically clean them “may be a factor” in head gasket failures. info: Bad Flywheel | PriusChat * There HAVE been intake manifold and Exhaust Gas Recirculation valve revisions, but I doubt they’re that effective.
The Gambino, Genovese and Luchese (crime) families ran businesses too. It would seem that your local Toyota dealership might not be the pro's from Dover when it comes to Priuses - and that's OK! Just think about that when it's time to have the car serviced. READ the warranty and maintenance guide that SHOULD be in your glove box. Also read a bunch of threads in this forum about maintenance. If the Warranty and maintenance guide wasn't provided - that's OK! Toyota has it on-line. https://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/omms-s/T-MMS-13Prius/pdf/2013_Toyota_Prius_WMG.pdf Yeah. It's boring, and it takes a lot of time....but so does earning several thousand dollars to pay for repair bills that you can avoid! Priuses are exceptionally reliable and dependable cars - for the first half decade or out to about 120,000 miles or so. After that? YOU have to help out a lot more....especially if the car has been neglected on the front 9. Cars are like folks. They need more checkups and preventative maintenance after 50. Did the dealer provide the maintenance records? They should have. They have them, there a method for you to get them as well with your car's VIN. Track Your Service Records with Your Toyota Owners Account That can give you some clues about how well this car was maintained - or if it was maintained at all. NOTE that it is possible for a dealer to perform every specified maintenance check for the first 8 years and/or 120,000 of service life and the car to STILL have some underlying issues. Thread-reading in this forum will identify those! You should at least verify that the maintenance was performed on your car with your mileage....especially since 8 years worth of normal driving (15,000 miles per year) adds up to 120,000 miles if I did the math right. (check!) 120,000 miles is sorta like qualifying for AARP with Priuses, It's when a lot of maintenance is due or has been due and you really need to check and see if it's been done. If it's not written down? Presume it was not done. Yeeeeeah. Well....let's just say that they USED to be pretty good, and we'll leave it at that. They're a non-profit, and they USED to be dedicated to unbiased product testing, investigative journalism, consumer-oriented research, public education, and consumer advocacy. Opinions vary, but my faith in non-profits, investigative journalism, consumer-oriented research, public education, and consumer advocacy has taken a "yuge" hit over the last 10 years or so....and it doesn't matter!!! It's YOUR car, now! If you bought some kinda warranty for it - get a refund! If you can't get a refund my advice for you would be not to use it, and to seek out a decent independent mechanic to work on it. Perhaps somebody who knows that new Priuses haven't had bladders in them since the iPhone were only about a year old!! Good Luck!
The problem with Consumers Reports is the self reporting demographic rarely run their new cars more than 100k miles. Gen3 problems are more frequent after 150k miles but age is a factor as well. Most of the costly problems are Prius specific, or in the case of head gaskets, present symptoms differently, often leading people down the wrong path. In my humble opinion as an owner of a 250k mile 2012, the number one thing to do is change your oil every 5k miles, not 10k as advised in the manual. Clean the egr cooler every 75k miles, an expensive procedure which is not even in the manual. Be aware of Toyota's "customer support programs" (system specific special warranties) on the inverter and brake booster, good for ten years if you keep the car under 150k miles. Finally, don't buy a used or freshly painted high voltage battery when the time comes.
Honda recommends changing the filter every other oil change. Obviously it saves them money when they do the work.
were the ratings based on newly purchased, or 120,000 miles later? There’s plenty of Amazon reviews of product use within few days of buying but rarely the after a year later purchase. That’s when you get a bulk of positive reviews and then the 1 stars after long term use. And then the Prius 1,000,000 mile taxi up on the pedistal.
I don’t see the 2015’s being immune to the Exhaust Gas Recirculation clogging and head gasket failures. Yes they have revised pistons/rings, but AFAIK that could only help with oil consumption? I think I know your logic, but we’ve got ZERO oil consumption so far with our 2010 so far, but the EGR was clogging just nicely when I did the cleaning. Yes, think that’s a commendable stance. Unfortunately that’s Honda corporate, and good luck debating that with dealerships, well at least the one I frequented. The last time I darkened their doorstep for an oil change, the maintenance minder called for service A, which is oil change only. They basically treated me like I was nuts, made a point of noting on the bill that it was “special request by customer, and that’s why the oil might not look that clean”. between that and their penchant to grossly overfill, we parted ways, except for real serious stuff. BTW, my trick with service A (oil change only) was to remove, pour out and reinstall the filter; worked a charm.
Just recently a member documented getting his 2015 EGR cleaned and noting how plugged it was. So it seems that the most important change that Toyota may have done with the Gen 4 EGR was changing the flow to come after the cat converter.
I've got a catch can on our 2019 Prime so I'll be able to give some data here once I get to 120k miles . The can was installed at 20k miles. So 120k miles is about four years from now. currently at 40k miles and 33% HV running well.
