Hi everyone. A few days ago i took delivery of a 2005 Prius package 5 with 106,000 miles for $9400. Initially i started my prius life with a new 2008 but ultimately had to get rid of it due to money situations. This prius looks immaculate in its condition, interior looks hardly used and the exterior looks brand new. The car test drove fine, operation felt exactly the way my new one did, so i jumped and bought it, no warranty. Now i have been searching around here and am starting to get a little anxiety about my purchase. i asked for service records of the car prior to my purchase, i was advised that all the records that were available were the oil changes, which were done at least every 3 months, 3000 miles, some times sooner. They were able to dig up that the 60K and 90K services were completed, and the last service done on it was a coolant service for both the ICE and the inverter. So the more i read around here, the more i'm seeing 100k miles is about the turning point for things to start going terribly wrong. The only recommendation in most of the threads i saw was to check for the 12v battery and also watch for wildly fluctuating traction battery state of charges. Both of these appear ok, the car seems to operate in EV mode similarly to the way my new one did, with the charge dropping and rising as it did on the new one. My worries now is the likelihood that the transaxle oil has not been changed in 106k miles. The dealership here (and the only place that works on hybrids as far as i know) sticks to their guns that this oil is life time and the unit is sealed. They say they've never replaced the oil before because toyota says its life time. The second worry i have now is that it seems the more i drive it and get used to its feelings, the ice motor tends to shut down rather roughly most of the time. As i recall from my first prius, the first few shut downs were noticeable, and then after that they were fairly smooth. This one doesn't seem as smooth, possibly a difference of the 05 vs the 08, the ICE powers up without issues when taking off, but the operation just doesn't seem as smooth. All this being said, are either of these 2 things something i need to worry about? Obviously the car was cared for, as it wasn't sitting in a garage the last 5 years, it was being driven, rather frequently as the miles would suggest, and while still maintaining this level of physical condition/appearance, should i be as worried as some of the threads here on 100K+ prii are exhibiting? I'll be the first to admit i know basically nothing about cars, so any advice or insight would be great. Thanks!
:welcome: back to PRIUSchat. :cheer2: Congratulations on your new-to-you ride. :rockon: The good news is that on what scant info you have, the car appears to have been regularly serviced, and more frequently than the 5K mile recommended interval. On the face of it, there is nothing yet that suggests that the car wont go to 200K miles and beyond You are correct that at around 100K miles there a a number of maintenance items that finally come due that will cost some money. Here are two threads that will give you an idea of what you should consider having done as good measures for your peace of mind: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...70-what-services-you-need-what-you-don-t.html http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...77-common-2g-problems-what-do-about-them.html Since you have no evidence that is has been done in the recent past, you should certainly consider having the converter coolant pump replaced. Despite what you have been told, the transaxle lubricant can be changed -- I don't know where the "sealed unit" idea comes from? -- and should be considered. The 12V battery has a typical service life of ~4 years which is shortened by service in very hot or cold temps, or ever having been "jump started" from being deeply disharged. The condition of your battery can be determined only by measuring voltage after the car has sat unused for a goodly period, overnight as a good example. As to the rough ICE shut downs, it all depends on whether the ICE reached the 157 degF threshold, the catalytic converted is warmed up, and the vehicle has gone faster than 35 MPH. Is your daily route the same as with the first car? Just how many miles is it now? Any chance you current route is shorter than before and the car isn't getting fully warmed up?
Thanks for the reply Rokeby, My daily commute to work is about 1 mile, so understandably the car hasn't warmed up yet and the shut downs are rough, i will not reach above probably 27 or 28 MPH on this drive. Though i do like driving for the fun of it! and i have driven it on 20-35 minute drives and notice that while it gets less rough, its still noticeable at stop lights most of the time. My 2008 prius seemed when warmed up that the ice would usually be shut off before i got completely stopped, where as some times this one will run for 2-5 seconds after being stopped before shutting off. it doesn't seem to effect the operation, just something i noticed that seemed different. The 12v battery i'm not super worried about because the < $300 tag to replace this wouldn't be a huge deal, but a 4000 transaxle or HV battery would. I guess what worries me most is that all of the threads that have failures seem to go "i was just driving along and..." without any warning it just stops working. I work in the technology field so i'm aware of how solid state components can be functioning fine one second and completely dead the next. I guess i'm most worried that everything is functioning 100% fine, but am i hanging on by a thread? did i make a mistake trading my 05 matrix with 70k miles for this? Maybe thats a question only time can answer...
Driving for such a short distance highlights your situation as a special case. When you start up the car and start moving, the car draws heavily on the HV battery to move the car as the engine warms up. So the computers run the engine to keep the HV battery charged up to the preferred level, which is 5-6 blue bars. This, in addition to your short drive, could explain why the engine isn't shutting down as soon as you remember it doing. Once a week or so, you really need to be driving for 30 minutes or so, maybe 20 miles, to give the batteries a chance to be fully charged and stabilized. $300 for a new Toyota supplied OEM replacement battery would be a complete rip-off. It should be more like $200 installed. There are other, better/cheaper options for Do-It-Yourselfers, but that doesn't seem to apply in your case. Nothing you've said indicates impending problems in the transaxle or HV battery. If you don't trust your current service folks, dealer or independent, to help you get to a condition where you feel confident, then it's time to look/go elsewhere. Well, given your daily driving regime, you aren't able to really take advantage of the Prius excellent fuel economy potential, you're probably only getting ~30 MPG at best. The Matrix may do about as well. But there are other reasons/justifications for driving a Prius. Only you can know/say which car will make you happy over the long run. As an afterthought, with such a short commute, why aren't you walking/riding a bike?
The drive to work is my typical daily commute. I drive a lot more than this for recreational purposes, but not as consistantly as the short trip to work Right now its about 55 degrees and I'm getting about 49 mpg, which from what I have read seems to be normal and indicates a normally functioning system. I do make 100 mile trips to a near by city usually every 2 weeks. So I think the car will have plenty of opportunities to charge up, etc I just hope it does it for a long time And I do actually a lot of walking in the spring and summer, but at 630 in the morning its starting to get awfully cold! DROID2 ?
Also I read that letting the ice warm up right when you start the car early in the morning, and letting it run until it shuts off then going, so the motor does shut down, it just seems more rough than I would think. Maybe just characteristic of this motor? DROID2 ?
