YOUR EXPERIENCE: COMMON GEN3 PROBLEMS

Bought mine with cash, one time payment so I owe no one payments. Owing money means debt to me, cant fall into that.

Only issue I have is getting oil change at my own leisure or place, finding an oil change shop on that will allow me to bring my own oil and filter.

 

mine is fine at 66,000 miles, but i have read that the egr clogging is a problem, along with inverter and brake actuator.

 

You spelled “owing” twice so I didn’t see it as “owning.”

 

No problems with mine at 102750 miles, except a disintegrated window seal and clogged taillight drain. I read all the horror stories on this site, though.

 

Our brake booster has been making a noise, off and on. As far as I know the warranty extension deadline on it is November 2020, so that's in back of mind to get checked out.

 

They are extremely reliable cars.

We have videos here which show all of the maintenance tasks which can prevent early failure.

A few have had head gasket failures at 150,000 miles, and many have reached 300,000 miles or more without difficulty. I don’t think we’ve seen a specific, common failure, although we see that if the EGR/PCV isn’t cleaned, it will clog the intake and may lead to early failure. There are two water pumps, but it’s not clear that they fail early.

 

Mine has the p0a1a code the car has not had the "software fix" yet and most likely it has a failed inverter but i have yet to confirm awaiting tis

 

Engine rumbles on startup which a lot claim is related to the EGR. For me, rear brake wear problems.

 

On my 2011, I've had the EGR clogging issue at around 70,000. Currently at 95,000 miles and I think I'm having the wheel bearing issue (car in shop today). The car is also starting to lose oil, albeit slowly, so I'm preparing for head gasket. I'm realizing that with all the money I saved on gas with this car, I'm spending on these issues that I've never had in any other vehicle, especially with mileage under 100k.

 

Not with mine.

You’re asking for “common problems”. Every car eventually fails. Toyota Prius is widely believed to be one of the most highly reliable cars made.

If you’re buying one used, in Nigeria, the most important thing is to understand how to inspect its condition. I would prefer to get a right hand drive model from Japan, and not a left hand drive model which was used in the US. But I don’t know if used cars from Japan get to Nigeria.

A particular concern of any used car from the US is that it may have been water damaged from one of America’s many hurricanes. The other item to look for is collision repairs.

 

Only problem I had with my 2010 was a noisy right rear wheel bearing I had replaced at about 60k miles. Now have 116k on it and it runs great with ~ 50 mpg during the summer. Less during winter.