Which Generations Prius are best ? What years ?

Best Prius are 2004-2009 and 2016-2024... The 2010-2015 were the worst Prius ever built and I only know one person on here with 300K miles in one of those. Whereas all the ones not built during that time frame get to 300K miles with no major repairs unless they don't use their car every day and hybrid battery fails early from lack of regular use.

 

Of note, he’s an ex mechanic. Yeah I suspect that many buyers, if they could have foreseen the future, would have passed. The car “can” last, but you have to steadily accommodate the gens shortcomings.

Toyota does seem to manage something half-baked and fragile on every Gen.

Not sure I subscribe to that. A decent workout approximately weekly, plus a 12 volt battery maintainer, is how I’m treating our test subject.

@Starobin, I’d consider other cars (and manufacturers) too. Prius have had their share of headaches. If I’d known the future in 2010, we might be in something like a Honda Fit now. A base model that still had the easy-to-use dash controls, and a spare. They’re still in production, but Honda’s no longer importing them to North America.

This is a difficult time to buy, wait and watch?

 

You should also learn that every hybrid car is going to need a replacement battery once it is old enough. That's an expensive item.

For some models that's as little as 8 years and others go more like 15. A very few outliers are pushing 20 but that isn't normal.

Doing the math, that means all of those 2004-2009 cars are either about to need a battery or already got a replacement- maybe a good replacement, maybe not. Something you should check up on.

The 2016+ models all still have some time before this is an issue.

 

Yeah, the dilemma of the present time is used Gen3 for sale are the most abundant Prius you can buy right now and Toyota makes such a reliable car in general sellers & buyers aren't concerned about these obvious risks because so many other types of cars are worse.

As for hybrid battery going bad, maybe Gen3's more powerful motor-generator helps, but in my experience on here with Gen2 Prius is that original owners who didn't drive their Prius every day ended up getting a new hybrid pack under warranty of 150K miles or 10 years.

Meanwhile Gen2 Prius as Taxi cabs that were in constant use got over 400K miles with no hybrid battery issues at all. And I suspect if you have a trickle charge on your 12v as well as a high voltage trickle charger on your hybrid battery pack occasionally, you can easily avoid premature failure.

 

Gen 2, 2004-9, but you need to be a top notch diy’er, because they are getting long in the tooth and will need work from time to time.
For something that just runs and needs only regular maintenance,2018 and newer.

 

My Prius is a 2011 4 (I think). It's fully loaded with moon roof and solar panels on the roof that I love because I can turn the AC on remotely even when the car is off. It's my favorite car and has made me a Prius driver for the rest of my life.

 

Yeah... I've almost never met a 2010-2015 Prius owner who didn't truly love their Prius, but truth is despite Toyota almost always building cars that go to 300K miles without issue... I only know one Gen3 owner that's accomplished that because Toyota massively failed in multiple ways on Gen3 engine design... Headgasket fail by 200K miles... High MPG piston rings fail by 250K miles... And the EGR system constantly clogs, which exacerbates previous mentioned problems. And don't even get me started on their absurdly incompetent oil filter design and need for oil catch can.

 

Hey it’s my “main suspect”, for the head gasket fiasco.

it’s a sand pounder, and Toyota doesn’t care to own up.

 

All depends on your budget. If money is no option. Buy 1 year old used with less than 10K miles. If on a budget Buy a Gen 2 and have $6,000 to replace the traction battery, ABS Brake actuator, Invertor coolant pump, MDF repair, and all new plastic dash pieces, TMPS Sensors, Suspension and anti sway links. This is what I did over time....and I plan on keeping her until she runs into the ground. Pay more up front or pay as you go.

 

Meanwhile the guy in Oklahoma who used to do $1500 Gen4 engine swaps into Gen3 has gotten fed up with so called "low mileage" JDM Gen4 engines and took a gen3 engine and head and put Gen4 cams, pistons, connecting rods and crankshaft in it as his new solution for finally fixing all that's wrong with Gen3:

 

My 2010 Prius has many flaws; the brake repair- $4000; hybrid battery- $3500; EGR and PCV issues; I might have a blown head gasket; water leaks into the trunk and many problems not yet found (car not on the road, yet) such as the water pump. It has 229,000 miles. My other Toyotas and Hondas lasted much longer with only minor repairs.

 

While I agree that Gen3 Prius are the worst Prius... What's even worse than that is the mechanic you're paying you is a huge rip-off...

Priuschat can walk you or a friend or family member through all the repairs at a fraction of the cost. You really need a shade tree mechanic who doesn't specialize in ripping people off, but fixing your car for the most reasonable price possible.

 

Why did you buy this Prius when it needed all the costly repairs? https://priuschat.com/index.php?posts/3436469

You should never buy a used Gen 3 Prius if it has more than 200k miles. You have no one but yourself to blame. You should have done your homework on Gen 3 Prius before you bought it.

 

I agree completely! 1) The body is in good condition. No rust. 2) I fell in love with the car (a no-no.) 3) The seller said that the fauly lights were intermittant. I figured a loose wire somewhere. 4) I did not do my homework. I can still do most of the labor to fix the car. Maybe I can break even if I do.

 

Sometimes you can just flip for what you paid, spin the wheel and try again.

 

2010 Prius update: I bought the new, improved brake booster pump and master cyclinder--$1200 and installed them. I read that to bleed the brakes, I need a 32 bit computer and Techstream. Geek Squad installed Windows 10 32 bit on my laptop and then I read that Techstream will work with 64 bit Windows. I am confused and also cannot find the ih8mud instructions for Techstream any more. I removed the traction battery and reconditioned it. (Needed one battery module) ($40). The engine burns oil. I cleaned the EGR valve and cooler but the valve seems to stick. I fixed water leaks around both tail lights. Now I need to replace the inverter coolant pump and fix the A.C. Worst car I ever had. My 2007 Corolla non-hybrid with same mileage (220K miles) has had no trouble except a noisy rear wheel bearing 3 years ago. Before buying the Prius, I put blind faith in the Toyota brand.

 

hopefully the op bought a non hybrid

 

Just pay a dealer an hours labor and fluid and get it initialized properly.

I would not call it the worse car I ever had. Probably the 57 Mercury Marauder takes that honor needing an engine and just about everything else at 50k miles.

However a Gen3 Prius can rob you over and over if you are not the original owner and was not able to bank $10k in gas savings the first 150k miles.

Except, in my case, the inverter stranding before that 150k milepost Toyota later covered (but not the rental car until much later when they lost a class action suit).

For used car buyers they are a repair shop’s best friend. Some buyers even finance old gen3s these days. Sad but true.

 

What are your thoughts about changing individual cells in the hybrid battery vs replacing the whole thing?