I'm a newbie in the Kingdom of Hybrid and considering a purchase of a used Prius as my daily driver. At the moment, I'm not sure I can get use to the driving dynamics, so purchasing a used Prius to get my feet wet is the objective. Is buying a used Prius with 100k+ miles even a good idea? I would like your advice on what I should know about the weaknesses of this generation. What assessments can I make about the health of the ICE powertrain, Hybrid drive and the CVT? And how do I go about pricing it fairly? Another question is hill climb performance. I do several camping/backing trips every year to the mountains at elevations of 4,000-to-8,000 ft, mostly in the Sierra-Nevada. How's the hill-climbing with 2-3 persons and ~200 lbs of gear in the Prius? Vehicle: 2005 MY, ~109,xxx miles, location SoCal, 1-owner, maintained by dealer, original HV battery, options Sound and Navi. Your advice/input are appreciated.
Cadenza welcome to PC. I will answer the question about the hybrid drive system first. This in California is guaranteed for 150,000 miles or ten years providing certain conditions are met, this includes things such as the traction battery, the transmission, inverter, and cat converter. The Prius is one of the most reliable vehicles on the road. However that said some cars exhibit some oil use at 100,000 + miles and no car can be guaranteed not to have an expensive failure at extended millage. The 12 volt battery is perhaps considered the week link, but this is mainly because it is not used to start the car in the conventional way via a starter motor. When it is getting to the end of it's life there is no tell tail slow cranking engine. A 2005 on the original 12 volt battery is past it's sell by date. Hill climbing is not a problem in the Prius but do not expect to race up a long clime at high speed, but rather a steady 50 mph leaving some power to spare. I have climbed hills steeper than 1 in 3 in the UK with 4 large adults, and luggage without problem even stopping and restarting on such a hill again without problems. Hope this is of some help. John (Britprius)
75 views and only 1 reply. I was hoping Prii owners would descend upon this thread with how-to modify a Prius into Optimus Prime. Come on folks. Convert me. Thanks John. I will ask the owner about oil consumption and 12v battery.
I never was one to recommend any car over 100K. However there are quite a few stories here on Prius Chat about owners who have reached 100K, as well as 200K. There is even a 300K area on the forum now. With that said, a Prius is a well built machine. But like all machines man made sooner or later something will break. If one is interested in buying a Prius with high mileage, it would be a good idea to have some money stashed away in the case of a failure in one of the expensive components. Price will vary by location. I would shop around and compare. Check all of the local resources you have there for comparison shopping. Above all, ask someone you know or trust to check out any used car before you buy it. As with all used cars, they are a gamble. A lot of times you win, on other occasions you lose. Same thing with a new car, but when you lose at least there is usually a warranty to fall back on. Don't be afraid of the Prius. It is a great car and will surprise you in more than one way. Best of luck to you and "Welcome to Prius Chat!"
Here is a recent post that is similar to your original post. You might want to take the time to read through it. That might help to answer some of your questions, plus give you a feel of what other's have said about their "used" Prius purchase. http://priuschat.com/threads/high-mileage-prius-should-i-be-concerned.88600/ Best of luck to you!
I just bought a 2007 Touring with 112K on it. Based on what read here and on sites like truedelta.com (reliability site) i expect my Prius to go another 100K with few problems. Of course it may not, but reports would indicate that the odds are on my side. I'm not sure about where you are, but I'd guess about $9K-$10K is a reasonable price. Ours was from a dealer and was $9,990. A dealer means more expensive, but inspected. My car had new brakes, wipers and tires put on by the dealer. We've had it about a month and are very happy so far.
Is it possible to test/inspect the condition of the HV battery. I read on Art's Automotive that the State of Change (SOC) can be measured. Anyone?
