Time to move on from our 2011

I got rid of my 2012 last year, fearing the onset of costly repairs. I'm keen to gauge the costs of keeping a Prius for longer periods of time.

 

Own a 2010 V for 7 years at 275k. Sometimes, I think of selling and buying a 2018-9 Prius or a Camry hybrid. However, I like still driving it haha. 148k is nothing for that plus your awareness of maintenance things. Last year, Dr Prius showed % a 60-70 level for life expectancy. I never saw a bad sign for the traction battery. gets 40-45mgp at cold season and 45-50 at warm season. A few years ago, did a major service after an accident; intake cleaning, occ install, pcv, spark plugs, ignition coils, coolants and transmission drain/fill. I am only wondering about the condition of the hybrid battery fan. I know previous owner had pet but I plugged the new filter on the air vent after buying. Better to clean or wait until I get a sign? or is there a tool or vacuum like a drain snake we can go thru vent and suck it up?

 

I would open it up, clean it all. It could be overdue, overkill, somewhere in between. It's not that difficult, takes an hour or two. First time I found pulling the hatch floor panel off very difficult, due to all the tough fasteners. I left most of them off, for the next time.

Watch @NutzAboutBolts video:

Except, there's really no need to pull off the rear seat; more info:

HV Battery Fan Cleaning | PriusChat

 

Appreciated, saw the 12mm bolt under the rear seat, looks pretty easy to access

 

Yeah those guys are (or where) pro-mechanics, which seems doubly odd; I've always heard they will avoid unnecessary steps. Pulling that seat off is definetly more trouble, and the clips are prone to break.

 

I suppose in retrospect, if a car is worth keeping for many years, it should be a Prius. I got rid of my Gen 3 last year, and bought a Gen 5. My reasoning was that upcoming repairs might be terrifying, but based on conventional wisdom, the Prius is one the most reliable cars on the road, and I probably needn't have worried so much. A new battery might be due in a few years, but the replacement cost can be quite reasonable, as I understand.

But in retrospect, I have no regrets; the Gen 5 is replete with the latest technology, and I'm glad to have it. The driving assist features make me far less tired on long trips, and the other systems are well thought out and are very nice to have as well.

 

Preventive maintenance……. “preventive”, that’s the key.
You change the oil before it fails, you don’t wait for a failure, then change it.

It is NOT hard to move the seat out of the way, or move the stuff in the trunk.
You should remove the orange service plug, to be safe. Then the top battery cover.
You might find a bunch of fur across the batteries…

Clean everything out. Use filters. They are very inexpensive.

 

I always let the dealer do the regular maintenance. But when it came to oil changes, I tended to stretch them a bit, mostly on account that the engine had full synthetic oil and operated under fairly light strain most of the time. Of course, you can always stick to the recommended interval from an abundance of caution, but I didn't feel the need.

 

It’s your car….