Would you buy a Prius with 100,000+ miles?

In my social circle we have 9 prii. I convinced all my friends to get them. I have two myself. I look for ones with about 110k miles and switch to 0w-40 oil so it hasn't been run on that water they recommend for too long. You could get them w more miles but I don't trust prior owners to have checked the oil often enough to have avoided running it dry.

Our oldest Prius has 240k, followed by another w 230k, and another couple at 200k. Only one got a head gasket, one got a battery pack, two got brake booster pumps, one has a misfire that is probably going to be the EGR valve issue. Almost every one of them have trailer hitches, most pull motorcycles, one recently pulled a Ford f150 can. We pull up to 2000lbs at speeds that often are at 90mph constant cruise in summer heat. We use a hitch mount for bike carriage. It avoids hitting the bike in parking garages and drive thru.

We have a repair shop of our own just for our own cars, bikes, boats, trucks, semi. I am an ASE certified mechanic. We do LT motor swaps, historic car builds, total restores, and have a paint booth. I swear by the prius. We use techstream Toyota software and even program our own keys. Don't be afraid of high miles. Just look for signs of abuse and run if u see those signs.
In summary, we love the versatility and reliability of Prius as a daily driver. If speed is what we want we can take the z28 or the zx14 for a spin.

 

I DID buy one with 100,000+ miles on it. Three years and almost 45,000 miles later I'm still very happy with the purchase.

 

I did. Purchased an 08 with 126K on it, for 5 grand out the door. The interior was immaculate, the exterior was in good condition, the driveability was very good. After a tune-up and wheel alignment the car averages 41 highway, 45 city.

The only issues I am having were caused by a dishonest shop. Their 'work' created a temperature increase in the HV battery pack. As a running fix, I use Hybrid Assistant to manage the fan instead of letting the car do this.

 

Have you tried cleaning the fan out? Maybe there is hair in there, making less efficient

 

That was supposedly done by the dishonest shop. I need to review the steps for accessing the fan.

 

There are Youtube videos that show the disassembly of the Prius rear end to access the HV battery. Just concentrate on the right side of the car, where the fan is located. No need to disassemble the left side. It's a fairly simple disassembly process, only takes 15 minutes or so (less if you've done it before).

I'm curious how you found out you have a temperature problem with the HV battery? Did you get the red triangle?

 

I was monitoring the battery pack using Dr Prius, prior to taking the car for any service, and took screenshots along the way.

After the completed maintenance by dishonest shop, dr. Prius reported higher battery temperatures consistently from then onward.

At the beginning of Summer, the app consistently reported three temperature ranges in the mid-to-high 90s. After the repairs the app was reporting consistent temperatures near 120 degrees, sometimes higher. The car was not switching the fan on at higher speeds. The only time I could get the fan to run at maximum was by using an app called hybrid assistant. This brought the battery temperatures back down into the mid High 90s.

 

I've never monitored the temperature on the battery pack so I don't know what levels would be normal. But if the battery gets too hot, it should turn the fan on automatically. The fan speeds are determined on how hot the battery is.

It's actually pretty cool to have a manual control to switch on the fan, that would help on extremely hot days to cool the battery.

 

No one I've asked could give me an actual battery specification for what's considered a dangerous temperature. I do know that about 123 degrees Fahrenheit seem to affect the rate at which the battery charged and discharged.

I'm not saying that the car"s fann doesn't turn on automatically, but it certainly does not turn at the maximum speed which you would want for a high temperature condition. Hybrid Assistant let's you choose how the fan operates.

 

I bought mine ... a 2005 w/ 142,000 laps ... last week Friday (Feb.1). I'm very happy so far. The air and cabin filters I got from Toyota are flimsy pieces of junk. I'm getting on average 45-mpgs. The rear defroster works better and faster than the one on My wife's Beemer. The radio sucks. In general it looks so much prettier than I thought originally ... and SSSOOOOO much prettier than new models. It's a CAR ... not a freakin' spaceship.

 

douglasjre ... Now I wouldn't testify to it in court ... and I'm rather old and I'm using old techno-information ... but in the '70's it was believed and tested that 10w-40 lacquered up much faster than 10w-30. I have NO idea as to now if that still holds true. You got any thoughts on that this topic?

Oil weights and additives always make for good conversation. ... To Me anyway. LOL.

 

I've bought 2 with over 200K miles lol. One was a super clean 2007 with 201k but I only kept it for about six months. The other was a 2012 plug in with 230k and I still have that. I just can't comprehend why people are scared of miles when you factor in the price discount (assuming still great condition). Of course I don't want nothing to do with a beat up / damaged / filthy interior prius....But if price is discounted and the condition is very clean then I buy it.

 

100k on a Prius is still childhood. It’s just getting broken in, unless it’s been abused.

 

It was far more common 10 years ago when this was first posted though.