Would you buy a Prius with 100,000+ miles?

People tend not to prepare for the unexpected even when told to do so.
If you can afford the new battery, yes, buy the used Prius. Over the course of the next few years, more of these batteries will fail, that's a certainty.

Not everyone can.

 

Even assuming your sources are unbiased, that's just the failure rate now
.... what's the cumulative failure rate in 2015 ?

That's the stat relevant to the OP.

There's a huge difference between the Prius and the other cars and especially the old Toyota econobox.
The lack of long term history beyond 10 yrs.

Unlike other drivetrains, Prius HSD was brand new 10yrs ago.

Wow, now that claim tops it all.

 

I guess we'll have to wait another four years to find out that answer. Until then, I'm perfectly happy driving my Prius with 120K miles. :car:

 

TPfun, we are enjoying savings every day. With them we can afford a few things. Not VW TDI repairs, but still significant. I'll take a .1% chance of failure over a money pit VW any day.

 

So tp what do you drive? I'm interested in reading about your super car. We had a 2000 Beetle and those repairs were costly. It was over $300 just to change the HL bulbs cause stealership had to lower the engine block

 

Yes, in the distant past my wife owned a 1999 VW New Beetle GLS and that car had problems that I would never have expected. The RR plastic fender liner tore loose and shot like a cannon ball out of the wheel well when she was driving at 70 mph on the freeway, the heater temp knob got stuck, the side mirror remote control knob broke off, etc. A lemon by today's standards.

Back to Prius. What I find really sad is to read the occasional post from an owner who is living on a tight budget and is used to the concept that a car might run, although in a degraded state, with a mechanical failure.

For example, an automatic transmission failure might mean the loss of low gear or maybe high gear, but the car can still run on the remaining gears. Yes, the performance and mpg will be worse than normal, but at least you don't have to walk, bike, or take the bus.

However, with Prius, every powertrain component and ECU must be functioning or the car will be dead in the water. Further, any failure is typically electronic in nature which means that there is no warning between the car being great one day, and no-start the next. That is a concept which is difficult for some owners and prospective owners to understand.

Hence, my judgment that an old Prius is not the best choice for a prospective owner with limited funds. Better for them to buy a Corolla, Yaris, or other similar low-tech, low cost, and high reliability vehicle. A simple design results in high reliability as well as a low cost to repair when the occasional failure happens.

 

I agree with most of what you have said, Patrick.

But a Prius with 100K miles is not old.

I have owned a few Hondas and Toyotas the past 20 years. They are very reliable vehicles. All of them went well past 100K miles without serious trouble. My Camry died only when squashed between two cars at a stoplight accident. Is the Gen II Prius reliability any different? Not that I can tell - so far.

Would you buy a Prius with 100,000+ miles?

I did (a 2005 with 134K miles).

Should you?

That depends. Cars are not an investment. They are a money pit no matter which you buy. Deciding on one versus another is partly emotional, partly economic, and partly social status related. Some cars are lemons while others are pearls. Cars can be like a box of assorted chocolates - you just never know what you're going to get.

Buy a Gen II Prius with 100K+ miles only if you have deep pockets, a spare car, and the technical ability and tools to repair vehicles, even the Prius - I can claim all three.

 

+1

 

"Buy a Gen II Prius with 100K+ miles only if you have deep pockets, a spare car, and the technical ability and tools to repair vehicles, even the Prius - I can claim all three."

I've replaced my wiper blades, done my oil changes, changed my tires, & made sure any recalls were done. 122k miles, never had to change a battery or any other major part. Deep pockets?

 

What if a major failure happened? Are your pockets sufficiently deep to take care of that, without your having to eat cat food for the next month?

If yes, then no problem. If no, then you are depending upon remaining lucky which is not always a good way to live.

 

Wow. I own a house, drive my car, & even fly in airplanes too.

 

Then you don't fit into the category of an owner who can't afford a Prius.

 

I meant that if anything major went wrong with my house, if I got into a car accident, or died on a plane, I'd really be in trouble. Try to predict the future & not live today?

 

You can buy insurance (life, auto liability and homeowners) to soften the financial impact of bad things happening in those areas.

 

Yes, dying is somewhat problematic

What motivated you to sell your '05 with 122K miles and replace it with another '05 with 18K miles?

 

A very good question. That action appears to be a "no" vote to the question raised by the OP.

 

Is less than 2 still plural?

The INSTALLED price of the ReInVolt battery is $1800, it is under $1500 as a part.
http://stores.ebay.com/Re-Involt-Te...mit=Search&_sop=2&_fsub=1&_sc=1&_sid=68664581

 

Would you sell a Prius with 100000 miles?

Encouraging thread.

I just hit 100000 km, and my 2004's extended warranty is up. I thought about selling the thing, but now I'm thinking I should just keep it until at least 2015. By then I may have hit that 100000 mile milestone. If it's still running great then, maybe I'll keep it even longer.

P.S. I stupidly bought the extended warranty thinking it would cover the multi-function display. It didn't, despite the claim from the sales guy, and the MFD died last year. Luckily I was able to do get that repaired by Autobeyours in Indiana for $325, and was able to install it myself.

The $1800 installed price for the hybrid battery seems like quite a reasonable deal too. I wonder if anyone does that in Toronto. Mine's working fine though. The battery I'm really wondering about replacing is the 12 V, just because, even though it's fine too. However, I haven't actually tested its voltage.

 

Toyota's have a better reliability reputation overall than VW. But the Prii are costly compared to the generic Toyota econobox.

All dealerships, Toyota is no exception, will rip you off. The Prius has lots of dealership only components.
I drive an Accord Gen VII.

 

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...ou-buy-prius-100-000-miles-4.html#post1281600

Just checked the SH to NorCal ... $381

Based on the ebay listing, I would read the terms of sales carefully first before putting down that amount of cash. Here's a snippet.
quote: Your pack must be packaged properly to avoid damage during transit. These battery cases are very flimsy and are prone to end damage if not bolted down to a supporting structure. Any damage will be deducted from the core deposit. We will not accept cores that have been sitting in your garage or a salvage yard for extended periods of time without being charged. We also can't accept cores that have had the cells swapped out with shorted or damaged cells. These batteries are being sold with the exchange of your old pack. There will be a 400.00 core charge added to the winning auction price if we do not receive your old battery before we ship your new unit. The core must include all parts that were included with the replacement.