I regret buying a prius

If you had it insured for enough, maybe you could have had the whole thing stolen and made a profit .... adding the cost of having a stolen catalytic converter stolen to the cost of the car would need to be added to the cost of the Corolla wouldn't it, or don't they steal their converters over there?
I haven't ever heard of a catalytic converter being stolen in Australia, but I had my Gen 2 cat replaced for around $150 when it blocked up after 720,000 kms. Would you get that sort of mileage out of the Corolla?

T1 Terry

 

But isn't a 5K still a good price anyways? And you have used it for about 3 years. Doesn't a 1k in 3 years sound like a normal maintenance for a car if you can't do the work yourself? Wouldn't a Corolla have about a same? Catalytic converter stolen and expensive isn't really car's fault.

 

That general myth was displeased years ago but you take a gamble with any high mileage car. A similar Corolla would be more likely to need an engine replacement.

My son drove his 2005 Prius all across the eastern US to various dog shows for 10 years on the original hybrid battery before trading it i on his 2015 Prius v. He replaced the 12 volt battery at 8 years just as a precautionary measure. During that time, other than tires &foil changes, etc. he replaced the HID headlamps. He would have likely done a coolant change but that was done as part of a recall.

Any car you buy that is past it's designed life is a maintenance gamble. I was reading the other day about somebody working on getting a 1933 Farmall F12 tractor operational. Such people usually do much of the work themselves. If you cannot do that you need a newer, low mileage vehicle.

 

Buying a car with 175,000 miles on the odometer "to save money" is an interesting concept - even if you live where they yoke you with crazy high gas taxes, and the car in question gets 40 mpg.

As mentioned above, you've driven the car for 3 years/30K and only put about $4,000 into it.
I don't count the thou you put into the catalytic converter, because that's a tax that people pay to drive Priuses in California.
The same repair on free soil would have cost you $150.....and besides.....if you only paid $900 for a catalytic converter for a G2 in California then they probably cut it out of somebody else's G2 Prius - hopefully when that car went out of service.

I'm thinking that $4,000 is not a bad return on your money, especially when you consider that 30,000 California miles is the equivalent of 50,000 miles in flyover country because we do not spend 40 percent of our time behind the wheel stuck in traffic.
A car is not an "investment" unless you happen to have a 1970 AAR 'Cuda tucked away in your garage that you paid $5,000 for in '73.
They're an expense, and it sounds like three years worth of reliable transportation for less than $1500/year ain't bad.....even in flyover country.

A $4,000 Corolla bought in 2017 may or may not have been a better investment.
It IS quite true that if you HAD bought a Corolla then you would not have to worry about things like regenerative brakes, inverters, power splitters, and the traction battery - IN ADDITION to all of the usual things that can go wrong on a teenage car with lunar mileage.

...HOWEVER (comma!) a 2008 Prius is an exceptionally reliable car, that was usually adult driven while a 2008 Corolla was mostly reliable car usually purchased by college kids.
When you're dealing with geriatric cars this can matter somewhat.
Priuses were about $10,000 more expensive back in 2008 than Corollas were, and some of this extra money may have actually gone into engineering a better car.

 

couldn't agree more. that's pretty much the advice most people get here.

 

How many miles have you driven in that time? What is your cost per mile?

Then, compare that cost per mile to something newer. They have maintenance costs too, along with much greater depreciation.

 

Getting stuff stolen isn't really the Prius' fault. And the maintenance on a Corolla vs. Prius, the Prius will be less not to mention they aren't even close to being similar in size, amenities, or functionality. It's like saying "I could have saved money by not buying this Porsche and buying the Beetle instead". Yeah you could have saved money, but they aren't the same thing at all.

A used car that has gone 70%+ to the moon in miles is never going to be problem free. And if you didn't have those butt-in-seat miles, you don't know what happened to it.

 

i do not know, gen 2 cat is just begging to be stolen, and anyone can repair a corolla

 

And his experience is exactly why we all give it. There was another thread a while ago asking why we don’t advice buying an old Prius you don’t know much about with no budget for repairs...this is the reason.

 

I would guess that most of us have purchased a bad car. We all learned from it. Yes, it was an expensive lesson, but we all learned from it.
My prior bad car experiences is the reason why I purchased my Prius 2015 new. 5 years later I'm glad with the choice. I could tell you about some bad car choices I have made. I will say this, whenever I bought a car at what seemed to be the deal of the century, I wound up spending more. Good luck to you as you move forward.

 

It could be worse. I had one car I bought and prepared fir a long trip. The engine ended up locking up and I finished the trip by bus. Fortunately I still had my old cat at.

 

I agree with Thorn. It is a ticking 85 lb time bomb not everyone can pull that battery out and replace modules and on and on and on. If you cant your stuck with a whacker and that really sucks. I'd sell the car before i went through that.

Not to mention if you dont have techtream or dr prius you have no idea whats wrong with it and most mechanics don't know much about the battery and are scared of it.

It can be a difficult little car in its elderly life. Now there all 200+K miles and cheap and oh its a deal and they have heard what a great car it is and oh great mileage...One nice repair bill blows all your mileage out the window..

If you have great electronic skills at a level of rebuilding pcb's knowledge and have lots of car rebuilding experience and 2 stand up tool boxes in your garage then c'mon your the guy.

If your a single mom or a millennial that has never replaced a 12 volt battery before the car is a death sentence to your sanity.

 

Isn't most of this true with any old car? Even with the reliable Corolla?

And is it really so that gen 2 Prius isn't worth replacing the entire battery pack? That way you wouldn't have to do it again.

 

the biggest difference is the cost of parts/systems, and finding a hybrid mechanic

 

This is a very interesting coincidence. I bought my 2007 with 175K miles back in July 2017 for $3,400, it now has 229K miles. Original traction battery. I have replaced spark plugs, front brakes, transmission fluid (back in 2017), 12V battery, tires and oil/filter (every 5K). Also windshield wipers and cabin air filter, etc. Basic consumables. My average fuel economy since I bought this car is displayed in real time in my signature (as of now it's just south of 45mpg). I basically spent almost nothing on this car since I bought it and considering it so far the best car I have ever owned. And I owned cars since 1980. It is reliable, comfortable, economical, quiet, very spacious for passengers as well as home improvement store runs.

At the risk of putting words in your mouth I think what you regret is that you live in California and do not know how to DIY basic car maintenance and repair. The choice of car has underlined this.

 

Again for the sweet love of god not everyone can deal with the battery in the trunk. Its heavy, most people have no idea its function, its intimidating, cant find a mechanic who knows anything about it. Its expensive. And Its confusing as hell on this site.

Most people cant even figure out the GD 12 volt battery.

Is it impossible for you to understand that other people may not have your skills?

If your buying a used G2 you will have to deal with that battery its a 100% guarantee.