Hi all, I'm currently back on the market for a new hybrid. In your best opinion, of these 3 cars, which would you prefer and why? Give your best insight. Note these 3 cars are about the same price ($18,000) 2014 Prius Two with 10,000 miles 2017 Prius Three with 57,000 miles 2021 Corolla Hybrid with 100,000 miles
Just my 2 cents. The 2017 technically seems the best pick. IF you can stomach the 4th gen styling and “features”. The 2014 is worth consideration too, except there must be a back-story about the super low miles. Doubly so if it’s beyond the VIN with the piston ring improvements (see attached). The Corolla, well, it’s a Corolla, sedan if I’m not mistaken? Wouldn’t be interested personally.
Hi Mendel I have the VIN but what am I looking for exactly? Position 5 has an *N* which indicates the 2ZR-FXE engine is present (?) And Yes the 2021 Corolla is one of the new Corolla Hybrid models with great gas mileage like the Prius. It's a sedan not hatchback
It depends on what you are going to do with the car. How much room do you need? Are you going to do all the work on the car? You'd probobly have less issues withe the Corolla, but if you choose between either Prius, the 2017 is probably the better choice. It has more updates. And with only 10,000 miles on the 2014, it sat a lot. Which is not good for either battery. The Corolla is the newest car and has the latest updates.
the 14 is a conundrum. if it's really 10k, you get a practically brand new car except the hybrid battery which likes to be used. the other issues are head gasket around 100k k or more due to clogging egr or other factors unknown. brake actuator around the same mileage, and inverter failure. as mendel said, find out about the updated pistons and rings. 2017 is a great car and would be my choice for my personal needs. one problem, potential leak in the coolant exhaust heat exchanger has led to some head gasket failures. there was a fix at some point, and if it is pre fix, i would do a coolant bypass loop and be done with it, but you could replace the heat exchanger prophylactically. corolla hybrid looks like a great vehicle, but i don't like the trunk and 100,000 miles.
Yeah I would have to go with the Corolla hybrid too I'm not sure I believe they're all the two ZFXE engine all of them of these choices here which is the only problematic thing to me at all they haven't gotten something right in this thing but it happened so late and it's life generally speaking You can't really talk to Toyota or talk bad about Toyota about it just because it doesn't go 500,000 like most everything else they make does oh well I thought they were going to have a two liter or something to come out to go in this 4-cylinder hybrid application but would be redesigned something but apparently we'll be in hydrogen or full electric before they get round to that it looks like. But I know quite a few people with the Corolla hybrid and they have not had the engine problems that I know of so far that people have had with the Prius and I just find this not in mind-boggling but quite interesting.
Corolla for the win, these cars will all have problems eventually BUT they tend to have have issues because of age rather than mileage, secondly the corolla is the least likely to have had the mileage adjusted.. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
It is a good vehicle. Low mileage for a 10 year Prius coudl have hybrid battery issues because it hasn't been used. It would be a nice car, brand new. Are you able to work on the car yourself? Change the oil every 5000 miles, Clean the egr system at 100,000 miles when you do all the other fluids. And you'll be likely be fine.
Hey thanks for replying. What is the EGR system? Is this also something that exists in the Gen 2? I do not have a lift for my current 2004 with 290,000 miles. I only do my own oil changes and other potential DIY garage-type jobs.
Newly introduced to gen 3, Exhaust Gas Recirculation system is prone to clog, which can lead to blown head gasket. See first two links in my signature; on a phone turn it landscape see signature.
You don't need a lift, but it would make life easier! The 3rd generation has an EGR Cooler, it get's clogged. It is not a hard job, just takes patients. And then cleaning the intake manifold. Search on Prius Chat and you'll find several articles about it. I do not believe it's on the gen 2.
EGR clogging is gradual. As to when to clean it, somewhere between 50K and 100K miles, depending on who you talk to. I'd stick with 5k mile oil changes too.
I'd get the Corolla. Lots of miles early in life is easy for many cars to take, and Toyota hybrids do this especially gracefully. Plus you'd get up-to-date cabin electronics and modern crash safety features. Also, the price isn't the value. You can buy a 2014 car for $18k but if you crash it tomorrow you'll have a hard time getting $18k out of the insurer. This is less of a problem with a younger vehicle. Good luck!
