Prius 2012 with 11000 km... to buy or not to buy

Sounds like a fair deal to me if it is in good condition and has been maintained well.. If you plan on keeping it a long time and putting a lot of miles on it, it would be good if you can do some preventative maintenance yourself. Engine coolant replacement will be due around 160,000 km. Spark plug replacement will be due at about 200,000 km. That would be a good time to clean the EGR cooler which can get clogged on this gen Prius. I have a 2010 with 165,000 km and it runs like new.

Yes the hybrid battery can fail at some point but who knows when. You can get an OBDII bluetooth enabled adapter and run the hybrid battery tests in the Dr. Prius app to monitor the battery.

 

That is a very low mileage vehicle.

Mine is approaching 200,000 miles.

 

Worth a test drive and look-over. You're in Canada? What province?

Here's a Auto Trader BC listing that's similar:

 

Check the underside for rust, that nothing's dangling. Pop the hood too. If you can get Dr Prius app and a bluetooth OBD adapter (Carrista is good), you can do the quick test of the hybrid battery. Take it for a good test drive, and start it up cold if possible.

 

Other concerns should be the brake booster system $2,500 US which will lose extended coverage in US at 10 years in operation. These also have flawed pistons and rings eventually causing excessive oil consumption. But frequent oil changes on a 11km engine might prevent, at least through 150km.

Egr systems clog up (your gen2 did not have), a $800 US maintenance item at the dealer. Inverter should have had a firmware update to reduce failures, another design flaw. HV batteries often have capacity loss due to aging and non-use which may be your case at 7,000 mile US over ten years. HV battery replacements are expected, the other gen3 issues are design flaws.

 

before purchasing, i would look to see the prices of a gen4 new or used. if i could swing the difference, i would.
if not, it is certainly a great car. does it drive and feel like new?

any rattles? what can you get for km/l on a 20 mile test drive under various conditions?

and yes, you should be prepared for egr circuit cleaning on a regular basis, along with an oil catch can.

check the 12v and spare tire well for water intrusion.

all the best!

 

Time has shown these issues are strongest on 2010-2014s. Some 2014s and all 2015s have better pistons and rings. However the brake booster and inverters are common through 2015. The brake boosters are becoming frequent with age especially since the 2010-2012s are losing Toyotas special warranty on them. Head gaskets are now hitting many owners, likely caused by oil consumption and egr clogging, both design flaws.

Again, a 7,000 mile 2012 should be the best example of the gen3s but the hv battery is still a real possibility in the next couple of years because of age and little use.

What most would say is the price is inflated and a gen4 (2016-2022) is far better engineering. In normal times, you could easily find a gen4 for this price.

 

The only significant revision in 3rd gen was changing to higher tension piston rings, happened sometime in 2014 model year.

 

The pistons were changed as well with different grove spacing. The 2014 vin last six digits defines the production change.