Will My 2013 Prius Make it to 200,000 miles Without Major Repairs?

I'd skip the oil analysis, it's not likely there will be anything wrong with the engine.....and if there were, it won't be a warranty issue and you can't do anything about it.

I think 200k is easy for a Prius

 

You can track it out of curiosity, but it won't do you any good. But if you have $20 to burn, why not

 

can you make it? yes. will you make it? i hope so!

 

Well the 2001 is 3/4 of the way to 200,000 miles. (I also have a 2010 that is 1/3 the way there.) I would not plan on an inverter or water pump change but the spark plugs might be worth changing at 100k if you want to avoid a lot of check engine lights. The transaxle change is a must do. I've done it twice on the 2001. The first change showed a lot of particulate in the pan while the second change showed far less. Also be ready to replace the 12V battery at some point. The Prius gets really squirrelly as the 12V battery reaches the end of life. Specifically, it sometimes does not start up at all followed by starting up perfectly until it misbehaves again.

 

Much depends on what you define as a "major repair."

In my experience, after 100K, on most vehicles, most everything short of the engine losing compression and the transmission failing tends to happen.

Simple wear and tear. Now, a lot of the Prius has integrated components (no starter motor or alternator as a separate component). I suppose the A/C could fail, but normally it just needs service and monitoring for any possible leaks. Coolant system/radiator can fail from dried hoses or damage to the radiator. Brakes and drivetrain issues can manifest from wear and tear, but how much any of these are to repair if they happen normally don't mandate replacing the vehicle.

If you religiously do the fluid changes with quality replacement chems and don't abuse it, odds are you can go well past 200K with no super expensive issues.

Where the traction battery is concerned, I'd not sweat over it. I was concerned about that pre-purchase, and while they are pricey, non-Toyota-made replacements are available and at a lower price. If it was a $6,000 part that never came down in price, I'd have walked on buying the Prius absent a lifetime battery pack warranty. For $6,000, I could put that towards a new car.

 

I always thought the type of miles you put on your car is more important than the actual miles. If it's highway miles at 50-60MPH, your Prius might exceed all expectations. It's that city driving, start and stop, that can take it's toll. And maybe freeway driving at 75MPH might cause some issues. The Prius might be different, but I doubt it.

Mike

 

Highway miles are much easier on the battery; many less cycles per mile. OTOH, time is a factor for battery life too.

 

It definitely is a lot less than 10%. If it were that high it would be one of the biggest topics on Priuschat. The bigger problem is so very few people fully utilize a car to 200,000 miles with proper maintenance. Once the warranty period expires is when many get a new vehicle. On the three Prii I have bought (2001, 2007, 2010), only the 2001 has shown any big issues (one battery replacement under warranty due to an initial production defect of inadequate terminal sealing). In the hands of a reasonable driver and reasonable maintainer, the odds of a battery failure have to be extremely low. I expect the thermal cycling of the battery would be a big factor and Florida rarely freezes a battery and the high temperatures are not the crazy high number of the Southwest in the summer. I would point out that previous Toyota's I have owned (mostly Camrys) did not last long past 120,000 miles (~13 years) due to small but troubling internal engine oil leaks, so the 2001 Prius is far better than those conventional cars.

 

Also, keep an eye on your "trade" or "sale" value of your vehicle. I have some vehicles I know I'd get more from an insurance loss than I could hope to get in a sale. At that point, if I keep it, I don't put any money into it other than keeping it running. Once a repair pops up that matches or exceeds the value of the vehicle, I question if it's just time to dump it.

The Prius is no exception. Once you reach that point, it's really the only metric you have to go by. Hence the "drive it until the wheels fall off" strategy on older vehicles.

 

I use the same approach for known expensive repairs. The more nagging issue is seeing small issues on a older vehicle. For example, is the check engine light coming on repeatedly a sign of a big failure coming or the result of doing nothing waiting for the wheels to fall off? In my case, replacing old gas caps and replacing spark plugs completely solved those issues. So the recommendation to the OP was to continue to take some reasonable preventative measures like he had already planned with transaxle fluid. My two bits was to include spark plug replacements and 12V battery replacements.

 

Just dumped one like you describe. Had 434K on odometer. Nothing really wrong, just needed new tires, alignment and timing belt.