100,000 Mile Club

First time Prius owner. Bought used 2006 with 92,000 miles. Had a brand new battery pack installed at purchase since it was still under warranty. Currently have 133,000 miles and runs great, only sticker shock was $300 to replace HID light and $200 to replace key fob, other than that $40 to change oil and rotate tires has been great, no engine problems at all, just trim pieces needing repair/replaced. Love the mileage. Average 45MPG in Los Angeles traffic and that's with the air blasting. Will probably trade up to the 2016 4th Gen when released. Didn't like Gen 3 because of the buttress console got in the way of my leg/knee.

 

WHOA!

Photo taken at 52 mph...

 

Purchased 5/20/08 2008 - Touring Prius - No major issues other than satisfying the recalls - Best car I have ever owned, with a lifetime mileage of 50.64 miles per gallon!

 

My 2004 Prius has just had 10 year anniversary and it also crossed 160k kilometres (100k miles) this year.
So far it rides with no problems, only inverter water pump was replaced at Toyota's cost a few years ago.
This is the least problematic and the most trouble free car I have had.
I will keep it as long as possible to see how long a Prius can last.

 

Purchased our first Prius a used 2004 with option package 9, on September 2012 with 80k miles. Just hit 101k miles this week. No real problems, routine oil changes, replaced ATF and coolant this past month. Keeping the tire pressure at 40 psi, averaging around lower 50ish mpg. Gets twice the mileage than our gas guzzling 1997 Accord! Love the gadgets the package 9 gives us like SKS and blue tooth.

 

We finally made it to 100K miles today! Almost exactly 8 years after purchasing our first Prius. This car has been rock solid. We've only replaced 2 sets of tires, 2 - 12v batteries, and a coolant control valve. It has also saved us over $16K in fuel compared to the SUV we sold for it.

 

Our Prius hit 100k a few days ago. We've put 14.5k miles on it since buying it June 2013. Combination meter was replaced about a year ago under the warranty extension. Other than that, the only service has been two oil changes. The tires are about due to be replaced and I'll be replacing the engine and inverter coolant as well as the transmission fluid as I get to it.

 

How far do you go between oil changes?

 

I think the first change was 5-6k miles (dealer did a change before they sold it) and the second was about 8k miles. I use Mobil1 0w-20 and on the last change I used a slightly longer Toyota filter. I'm shooting for 7-8k miles now that I know it has synthetic. I haven't noticed any oil use so far.

 

Just hit 100K this past week, Purchased a 2005 Silver Base Prius with 84000 miles back in Late January 2014 for 9200. So far so good. Just had the 100K service done. Coolant and brake flush. Best tank so far is 539 miles averaging 54.8 mpg. Love my Prius so much Im going to look at another 2005 I found at a dealership in Vermont that is a 1 owner trade in Clean Carfax with only 59500 miles. Will let you know how I make out after Saturday.

 

Finally made it
Celebrating by trying to move up the Gen 2 top 10 MPG list, 60.2mpg @ 409 miles!

Had it all planned out. Fueled up 10.8 gal at 99400, trying for my first 600 mile tank right as it hit 100,000. Was still >62mpg @150 miles, then hit the reset button while cleaning the screen

Can always try again when it hits 200,000 in another 10 yrs I suppose

 

I'm at about 135k miles now, I think.

2007 used first as a family car (before we had our 4th kid), and now as a commuter (for a somewhat lengthy commute).

I've never had to do anything to it but routine maintenance and changing the little starter battery (which was actually kind of a PITA to do myself, since they put it in the trunk under a body panel and an a big vent). I've never even had to change the brakes!

I average over 50 MPG real world.

 

2005 Prius with Nav. Ordered November 2004; took delivery March 7, 2005. Have 136,000 miles, all mine. Commute 60 miles per day 3 or 4 days each week (varies every week).
About to purchase 4th set of tires. Tried Michelins on first replacements, then Bridgestone Ecopia 422. Neither got more than 40K, but Ecopias had better wet and snow traction than originals or Michelins. Not sure what to buy next.
Had to replace inverter coolant pump before recall was announced (at ~85K miles) but my extended warranty covered all but $50. Use synthetic Mobil One oil since new. Doesn't burn oil. Replaced plugs and front brakes once.
Biggest complaint: horrible static in AM radio. Dealer never resolved even after 3 attempts, replaced antenna assy. and entire radio. Toyota refused to help any further because it went out of 36K mile warranty. Also I don't like the temperature control system. I prefer a continuously variable analog knob, the digital control is too slow to respond since day 1. Also since new steering is very stiff in hot summer, on days over 95 degrees you can turn it either way and it stays there until you turn it back.
Car was lightly hit in rear corner once and have hit both road debris (fell off truck in front) and large raccoon while driving on two occasions, both breaking the very-vulnerable lower grille, a weal design element.
Still, all this hasn't caused me to get rid of the car. I continue to use it as my daily driver. I wish I could get a current (2014) update for the Nav maps. They are woefully obsolete in so many areas where we drive.

 

If you want to do something about that now, maybe a local stereo shop could help. Is the problem that the Prius electronics are generating an abnormal amount of noise, or is the problem with the antenna?

You can determine the former by using a portable AM radio, making the Prius READY, and seeing whether the radio background noise level (when not tuned to a station) increases. If that is the issue, then use the portable to determine where the noise is coming from (the inverter is one likely area). Once it is determined what is the source of the noise, it may be possible to reduce the noise level by using bypass capacitors and other filtering, using wire braid to ground the hood to the body more effectively, etc.

If the problem is that the Prius antenna is not picking up radio signals well enough, perhaps the local shop could install an antenna with a longer element so it would be more effective on AM. Of course, this will mean that your car will now have a long whip sticking out of the roof, but you could put a little flag on it, much like a dune buggy has so others can see it as the vehicle goes up and down sand dunes...

 

Deleted duplicate post.

 

Thanks Patrick but I've "been there & done (much of) that". No one, not Toyota, not the dealer, not two local high end car stereo shops, have been able to solve the problem. I have spent too much time (and $$$$) trying to resolve. Life is too short. You can't fix inherently bad engineering. I just haven't been able to find anyone who can locate exactly where the design was flawed. I concluded that Toyota doesn't really care because they aren't getting enough complaints to warrant any action. And that's probably because Prius owners who listen to talk radio are few are far between.
My main point is the car is still good enough that all those problems aren't enough to persuade me to get rid of it. It's nearing 10 years old and heading for 150K miles with no good reason to trade it.

 

Hey there everyone, I haven't posted to Priuschat in quite a while it seems. I hope everyone is doing well. I see that the site has grown a bit! That's awesome!

I'm still driving the same '08 I purchased back in '07. It is fast approaching the 160,000 mile mark, as a matter of fact I will probably cross that bridge in a couple of days. My commute to work is now 98 miles round trip. The car is riding on Yokohama Avid Envigors, which I had in storage and had to pull out early last winter when Curry Toyota in Cortlandt NY scolded me for having the wrong size Blizzaks on the wheels. They needed to be tossed anyway as they were old and worn. Anyway, the commute is 98% highway to NYC, and I am averaging over 50 mpg by keeping the CC at 57 mph.

The car was also due for an inspection this week. I brought it in and before it would pass it needed a brake job. It needed new front brakes. The right one was metal on metal, the left one was nearly there. The rear drums needed to be cleaned as well. I also had them check the 12 volt battery because on Saturday night the car would not start after work. It started after a jump, and incidentally, I discovered a language problem in the manual. "Open and close the doors after 5 minutes of charging", means unlock and lock the doors after 5 minutes of charging. DUH! Yes I walked around the car opening and closing every door and trying to start the car, until I found out I was the fool. Toyota charged the battery while the car was in for inspection and told me I would probably need a new one soon.

All in all I think nearly 7 years and 150+K on the same brakes and same 12v battery is pretty darned great. Right? Cosmetically the car is taking a beating. My bumpers are all scraped up, and last winter salt pellets took out both of my fog lamps and part of my grill. I also got backed into by a teenager, but the body shop fixed that.

 

That's great, especially for the battery! Those typically aren't quite so long-lived. I'd recommend replacing it soon, or it's likely to strand you again. If you've read around here often, our Prii like to start acting very strange indeed when the 12V batteries start to go.

 

I own a 2005 Prius and am the second owner. I currently have 139,000 miles on the car. Yesterday, I started the car and all of the caution lights came on and would not go off. I took the car to the mechanic this morning and the diagnostics came back with the worst news: Hybrid Battery Replace. After calling around town (Los Angeles), I finally took my car to the dealership and found out that the battery is still covered under warranty. In the state of California, hybrid batteries have a required 10 year/150,000 mile warranty. The battery will be replaced tomorrow free of charge.

 

How wrong size? I find many people freak about minor variations in size and spout misinformation. Just wondering the outer diameter or RPM of those tires (the rim size or the width of the tires doesn't matter in most cases).