Gen3 with 50k miles vs Gen4 with 100k miles?

I'd probably go for gen 4, most of the issues have been resolved.
Not that gen 3 is bad, my 360,000 mile gen 3 is running great... Yes I've had a head gasket at 350,000 but it only cost a £1000 at a garage and that's it, maintenance is important on any car and both my gen 3 don't burn any oil and haven't given me any issues.

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I do not believe the 2ZZ engine in Prius has been resolved at all It just now starting to pop up You see people with gen 4s that are having some problems The liner BS and all this kind of stuff. Is bunk Don't fall for it A lot of this Toyota business is Toyota USA that should tell you right there there's an issue but buy whatever makes you happy either of those two I would not be fooling with personally I have a pretty good condition 2009 that I don't want to have to get out of until 6:66k it's like driving for free I don't have any Jones's to keep up with or any of that so if it's a little old and a little faded nobody really cares and then I don't have to care much about the vehicle so every scratch that gets on it or piece of plastic that falls off of it it's not even worth a discussion and the car still getting close to 45 miles per gallon it's like free driving Why would I want to change that to keep up with the Joneses or get something newer because I think and think in overthink that things are going to get more expensive. You think the guy that's been driving around in a 66 Nova that's an almost perfect condition for the last 50 years is losing money driving his 66 Nova No He hasn't had a car payment or problems most of his life other than the gas and oil changes he's got nothing going on an alternator every so often come on guys think.

 

it depends on how long you want to keep it. yes, gen 3 has issues, but we only see the bad stuff here,
at 50k, you can clean the egr and do oil changes at 5k intervals.
gen 4 is better in many ways, but we don't have 13 years of experience.
you may also see more gen 2's because prius sales dropped way off in the teens, and gen 2 was a beast.
a test drive will help too

 

@donbright the gen 3 with 50K miles "could" be a good buy, if you're capable/willing to DIY some preventative cleaning maintenance.of the EGR components.

Toyota is not acknowledging the issues, and dealerships typically will not clean, only replace components, that the parts alone will be about a grand, plus maybe $500 for labour.

DIY cleaning will take about a day, costs next to nothing. Not doing this, the head gaskets are reliably blowing, around 150K.

I'd recommend first such cleaning by 100K miles at the latest, then 50K thereafter

I'd also recommend the following (undocumented by toyota USA) maintnenace items:

transaxle fluid change
brake fluid change
High Voltage battery fan cleaning
Oil Catch Can install
Inspection of underbody, for rust (and rustproofing application as needed), underpanel damage and so on

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While I would lean towards a Gen 4 under most circumstances, in this situation I would first like to know which years you are considering. The Gen 4 had significant advances over the 3rd generation, but a later model 4 with that mileage would only interest me if the true maintenance records show a very well maintained vehicle. For example a 2020 with that many miles could potentially have been one of those that fell under “screw it, I won’t be around to deal with the problem” type maintenance. But then again, 2010 Gen 3 with that few of miles could be a snowbird car that sat for months out of the year, etc.

 

One 4th gen Achilles Heel, maybe not as critical as 3rd gen foibles, but worth noting: the exhaust heat recovery system (a component in the exhaust system) has been prone to leak coolant. It's compounded by dealerships misdiagnosing, and a lack of replacement components. There is a bypass workaround. Typically I don't think dealerships will do the workaround though.

There is a Technical Service Bulletin on this, not sure if it's been nailed down to specific years, or VIN range.

Also, at least for 2016 model year, gen 4's sold in the states wouldn't display km on speedo.

 

Heat exchanger: 2016-2019. New design after that. Problem may or may not be in newer ones, depending upon whether the person performing the maintenance can read the footnotes in the maintenance schedule and follow the instructions. ie: check the actual condition of the coolant.

Which, again takes us back to which years are we considering?

As early Gen 4’s only displaying mpg when sold in the states: Now there would be a deal breaker! The Gen 4’s sold in the states also allow you to turn off the Day Time Running Lights, (maybe another potential deal breaker .

 

The Plug-In part makes a HUGE difference. You get one less seat in the Gen4 Prime (this might be a dealbreaker for you) but more range (roughly 25 miles vs 15 for Gen3).

 

I would get the gen 3 and set aside extra time and money for egr cleaning and head gasket replacement. It wouldn’t be fun to drive a 4th gen wibthiut any issues to fix.

 

With the gen 3 plugin, the engine is the same, so nothing really changes, except the battery which should be fine and you can check it.
The only thing is, the engine runs every 124 miles to burn fuel and I think this may have caused egr clogging in my car after only 30k on the engine.

 

In that case I would go with the Gen 3

 

We have the same 2012 Plug-In and so far I have only replaced the 12v battery last week and no other repairs after 112k miles. How many miles on yours?

 

86,000, but less than 30k is hv. i suspect the short cycling of the engine every 124 miles, plus all the times it came on in the last mile of my trip when ev ran out, has caused egr or intake manifold clogging.
just a guess, but plugs/coils/etc. seem less likely at 30k, and i always use mobil gas

 

@bisco, a little foray, check condition of the EGR pipe between EGR valve and intake manifold.?

 

thanks mendel, unfortunately, i have a bad back, and would wind up in the hospital if i tried to lean over the engine bay.
i'll talk to my mechanic and see if he will take a look.
if the pipe is clean, everything else is?

 

Condition of pipe tends to be a little better than the rest, but it’s relatively easy access.

 

the dipstick is easy to access