Good bye Prius 2010-2017

There's no hard feelings, however; I don't think you understand what I wrote. I do (and have done) all standard routine maintenance on my car at the dealer. When checking the oil every week is as regular as filling up my car with gas that's where I'm drawing the line. I have own (and others I know) who don't have this issue with higher miles. I just checked my brother's Toyota Highlander that's 10 yrs old and has over 100,000 miles. His car was last serviced for an oil change 4,000 so he is due for another one in 1,000. His oil levels are correct without and shortage. Same with another relatives Corolla.

According to what I have read and what is agreed upon, his car with 4,000 mile should be short a few quarts already if it were a Prius. Instead he has a Highlander that's 3 years older than my Prius with no oil consumption. That's what I want, I'm not looking to fill any oil.

If you are OK with topping off oil every week between oil changes more power to you, this car is a better fit for you than me. Not to mention unlike a fuel tank that automatically cuts off when it's fuel, you'll have to eyeball how much oil you put in then siphon it out if it is too much.

Btw, which reminds me......I better keep this issue hush hush. Last time I had a conversation with someone here in California, I mentioned I liked the Prius and better gas mileage, but I wasn't a tree hugger or really cared about environmental issues. The person looked at me like I was Charles Manson.

If someone knew my Prius was secretly emitting more pollution via burnt oil, it could be a very scary thing.

 

I've always done my oil at 10,000 miles, sometimes earlier. My car has issues and it's at 107,000. Toyota has engineers who presumably know more about the technical aspects than I do and they say every 10,000 miles which I did with 100% synthetic and change the filter. There's no recall and probably most 2010 vehicles are around the 60-70k mark so I suppose if it is a common problem it will manifest itself in several years.

 

I have made up my mind. I was looking at cars today and test driving several. Tomorrow I'm buying a Honda Civic, nothing fancy just a standard civic. Mazda 3 looked good on reviews, but in person it's uglier than Rosie O'Donnell and it feels sluggish and underpowered. I found one with less than 20 miles, and I'm going to tomorrow morning to buy it, I'm just wiring cash as I will be paying in full.

I did not see any smoke (visible) while driving the car. I also did not check to see if oil was dripping on a portion of the engine or not, it's possible there was a leak with just dripping on a hot surface and burning. I'm not sure what a PCV is.

Also, I do drive over 65mph. Everyday, I drive roughly 50 miles total around 75-80mph. Here in California everyone drives a minimum of 80mph and it's generally a long commute for about 80% of the population who lives in this location.

Hopefully things work out better for everyone else here. Engine problems are more than I bargain for at the year/mileage so I'm calling it a day. The Prius is as good as gone (tomorrow).

 

Also I checked on several sites the value of my car. 2010 107k miles leather interior. Version:II

I got a quote between $4-8k. That's wide but very low compared to what I'd expect for Toyota holding their value. I was expecting more. Only takes a few more expensive repairs to make that a wash.

 

Oh OK. Yeah honestly I have no idea. Outside of basic stuff like changing a tire, changing filters, battery, bulbs etc I'm not sure. Ideally I'd take it for a second look but I'm just too busy. Hopefully it finds a good owner. I took care of it to the best of my ability.

 

Not 107k total miles on the engine, but the way it was driven the ICE was on most of the time. In 2014, the Prius had around 70,000 miles.

The first 70,000 were not heavy highway miles, although the car was in the Midwest and subjected to normal winters there, etc, etc.

In 2014, I moved to SoCal. After that from 70,000 miles to 107,000 I'd say 85% of all those miles were high speed California highway miles.


I agree, the newest Prius (is it the Gen 4 ?) anyways look absolutely ugly. I'm not sure what's going on with the rear, but the rear of the vehicle looks atrocious.

The Gen 3, 2010-2013 ? Or whichever ones that look similar to the Gen 3 look good. I did like the design of my Prius, the previous Gen 2 was ok. Not that sporty, but that's not a problem. I'm just also not liking the newest ones, they look terrible, in my opinion of course......

 

I'd say it was mainly ICE which removes the need for the hybrid system. Hitting the highways here in California, there's very little non ICE use unless you are jammed in a ridiculous traffic which does happen.


Here's also my breakdown:

My 2017 Honda Civic which I just bought under $20,000 gets 40 mpg on the highway which is what it is rated.

The new Prius which I saw listed gets 50mpg highway, and costs around $30k MSRP. You may be able to negotiate this down to $25k if you are pretty aggressive....maybe $26k.


So for 10mpg extra you will spend another $5-6k. For me, I'll pass, but others may pay up for that. It's personal preference, but I'd rather forgo it.

Go from there, do the math and the overall breakdown. Plus all my driving is mainly highway which removed the need for the hybrid system. It came in handy when you are jammed in the highway with a wreck, but 99% it was burning fuel and the engine was running like a Corolla on the highway.

 

I'm sure they have improved since my 2010 (7 years). I personally do not like how they look. Not knocking anyone's vehicle, it's all personal preference, but the rear in particular looks incredibly strange.

I may have just had a bad experience, but when it comes to expensive purchases like this usually a bad one is more than enough to lose a customer for good. I'm sure businesses know this, they are professionals, but I'm not buying another Toyota again.

This is just me speaking, but I feel like Toyota has lost it's way over the years. They were the benchmark in quality in the early 90s, and just earned this reputation for reliability. Then eventually, all they wanted to do is go toe to toe with the American automakers which Honda did not do.

If you look at Toyota they have like 10 different trucks to play games with GM and Ford. I don't know why you need so many trucks. Honda just has one: The Ridgeline.

Anyways, Toyota just wanted to go toe to toe with the American automakers and probably overtime over expanded their automotive portfolio too much.