Ok, I have never had any kind of hybrid, but a forced retirement because of injury [woodworker] and current fuel trends has made me let go of my XC70. No sense having a nice car setting in the drive that I can't afford to drive. So in looking around I am falling in like with the Lexus CT, suits my space and comfort preferences, and the fuel economy is acceptable given the tradeoffs. One question I have is I keep reading about engine troubles in this generation of Prius/CT? are these problems that can be avoided by proper maintenance or is it just inevitable? Please tell me about any problems I might expect/causes/avoidable. I am in a fair position financially, all is paid off, but I also am in a position that I can not make any mistakes. If this is not a car I should buy, tell me why. I like to travel a lot, Arizona in the winter, etc. and spur of the moment jaunts at the drop of the hat, and I do not want to lose that, but I also do not want to be in the middle of Nebraska with a broke down car. I drove Volvos for the longest time, but the newer ones are not dependable and the older ones get not so great mileage. My XC 70 T5 averaged 22.7. Advise me at will. Also, I am 65 and a lifelong car guy so you are not taking to someone who is without some experience, just no Hybrid experience. Thank you in advance, Larry
There is one at Speed Republic in Wayland Mi I may go look at, but I can not post a link because I am so fresh. It is from Mass. Does Mass have a salt addiction like Michigan.
Also I am not positive what generation this car relates to but this forum seems a lot more knowledgeable than the CT forum.
If you want to step from a “conventional” ICE into a hybrid. The post 2020 gen4’s will do very nicely.
A gen3 from 2010-2015 over 100k miles has a high potential for being a mistake. Flawed rings (revised by 2015), brake booster, egr and inverter designs are responsible for head gaskets. blown engines, unsafe brakes and sudden stranding with little independent shop support. Clearly the worst Prius design in terms of reliability and ongoing maintenance. It does not matter if the car was maintained at the dealer since new. Every week we see many blown head gaskets or engines with holes in the block. One of the threads today has 97k miles of dealer maintenance with a blown head gasket. Dealer wants $6,900. Another thread this week out of DFW has a blown engine because of the oil burning rings; that dealer quoted $12,000. The brake by wire system had an extended warranty program because of flawed design. The class action suit remedy has expired. Now the brake booster system is the owners problem in most cases at $2,500. If they can find a part. Keep the nice car in the drive and pay the extra $75-$100 a month in gas. Why anyone would overpay for a 2010-2015 Prius today and still be likely to see repeated significant failures is beyond me. A 2015 is slightly better with revised pistons and rings. A 2016 and up is far better except for the 2016-2017 Prius v wagon which is still a gen3.
welcome! there's a lot to learn about hybrids before making the leap. do you intend serious diy? if not, you'd be smart to find a hybrid mech before buying a car. they are hard to come by, and dealers are outrageous. what is your budget? what year/miles can you find for that? is the ct engine the same as gen 3 prius? if so, you need to keep the egr circuit clean and add an oil catch can. a lot of labor, but not much for parts. i was interested in the ct at one time, but size and mpg turned me off. seems like a nice car though. all the best!
And I really liked the wagons so 18 and up, got it. Like I said, I like to wander. Last summer drove to Montana for breakfast and drove down into Mexico and across to the Pacific in the winter. So whatever I own has to be dependable. Breaking down out of state is the pits. Thank you! I had noticed all the ones with Blown Head gaskets and motors and had not correlated to a particular generation. That is what was causing me concern. So scratch the CT, much as I like that car. Gen4 is above my pay grade at the moment, so I will look at gen 2 cars. I really appreciate the response, so again, thank you. I saw a 50K mile gen II in the Carolinas, maybe see if I can find that and count on a traction battery By the way I lived in Kerrville 40 years ago, was there last winter, damn! Has it grown! My old house and property in now the soccer fields on the east side.
Yes, I will do most of the maintenance myself, in fact I am hoping for a car that I CAN do all the maintenance myself. I have a history with machines and three off-road championships, so a bit of an OLD SCHOOL gearhead, weak on electronics, good at mechanical.
you will enjoy a prius then. look into mini vci and tech stream for computer diagnoses. it will do the electronics for you, and guide you through the service manual trouble shooting. there is a ton of expert advice available here, and lots of salvage parts everywhere. beware of gen 2 oil burners, but if you can confirm low miles, you should be fine. you might also consider a gen 3, and put a salvage gen 4 engine in if needed at some point.
Imho, check out the 2018+ Camry Hybrid. It's bigger, much more comfortable, and will last for many miles. A Prius is nice. But, in terms of comfort ride and space, a Camry is far better than a Prius. A Prius is nice if you want/require a hatchback. Or, if you want better gas mileage, or a lower cost (cost to buy, and gas use) than the hybrid Camry. Fwiw, a plug-in(like a Prius Prime, or Rav4 Prime), or pure electric-vehicle(no gas engine at all), doesn't make sense for your use cases. Good Luck!
