Is it safe to buy a 2012 with rebuilt engine from someone who said they retired as a Toyota tech?

I'd get a 2004 Corvette m6

 

The reality around here is I see more gen2s than gen3s still on the road. More c’s than v’s.

More Tesla Model 3s than all Prii combined.

 

"Don't it always seem to go. That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone?" --Joni Mitchell

Gen2 was the best Prius!Gen2 was the best Prius!Gen2 was the best Prius!Gen2 was the best Prius!Gen2 was the best Prius!Gen2 was the best Prius!Gen2 was the best Prius!Gen2 was the best Prius!Gen2 was the best Prius!

 

C’s have a more reliable 1.5L engine than the 1.8s of the rest of the gen3s even though they were sold at the same time. The c’s were the lowest cost small Prius.

Most gen3s don’t have advanced safety features as they were a high priced option for the top trim. The advanced features were the first versions and essentially beta at the time.

 

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I’m driving an ’05 G2 that just turned 185,000 laps. Standard regular maintenance with only 1 kinda major repair; front wheel bearings at 184,000 or so laps. 60-mpg overall driving. Burns/leaks NO oil. I bought it used 4 1/2 years ago. It’s probably my favorite car as an adult.

 

i would trust todds opinion more than mine. he's got a nice 05 with only 150k and a new battery.

with his gen 3's, he often upgrades the head gasket and cleans the egr.

but keep in mind, an old hybrid is like any other car, and something expensive can always go wrong, especially if you don't diy

listings

 

That's a car sales tactic. They always tell you somebody else is on their way who wants it.

 

Sounds like the guy tried to do his own repairs as cheap as possible. Is that really a car you want?

 

No

 

sorry, another question for todd. i suppose you'll always have bad rings, and so egr cleaning will be a regular thing. catch cans help too.
some here feel the gasket can be eroded by acidic coolant, so it might help in that respect, but the weak points of the old gasket should hold up better or at least longer.

 

Will a new head gasket make a gen3 reliable?

First - Anybody selling a gen3 has a sale as his first priority even if he is completely transparent. If you lived near a good independent shop with hybrid experience the risk is reduced from a financial standpoint. Most used Prius problems are forced into shops with no hybrid experience or end up at the dealer.

You don’t buy a ten year old Prius and expect five more years of new car style reliability. A gen4 Prius (2016 up except v) or RAV4 (2019 up) are a much better bet and are the only hybrids I would fly to buy.

A gen3 with revised piston and rings, rebuilt head and completely cleaned of carbon throughout, with the latest intake and egr valve might give you another 150k miles or more. These days some give up on the gen3 engine and retrofit a gen4 engine instead.

A $2500 brake booster is waiting in the wings as well as water pumps and normal car maintenance like brakes, suspension and tires.

The smart guy won’t buy a high mile used gen3 without having a $10k emergency repair fund ready to go.