2014 Prius V want to avoid head gasket problems

It's a gen3 and too soon to tell. You gotta remember that people jump on this site to rant about what went wrong and how to fix it cheaply. While the gen3 is probably the worst reliable Prius line when compared to the other generations - the bar was already set very high.
I would drive it and see; but if someone wants to give you a decent offer - I'd probably take it.

 

It’s already had the inverter recall done

The battery is in good health

Yeah, the brake booster is a $1200 part but can “fail” for years before actually needing to replace it from what I’ve read.

I’ve already put so much into the car (brakes, tires, EGR/intake cleaning, coolant, spark plugs, windshield, struts, alignment, etc etc) and I’ve only had it a month.

Every car is going to have repairs, they’re mechanical and it’s a 2013 with 166k miles. I’m not surprised that work has had to be done. I just don’t want to jump ship just to acquire another vehicle with someone else’s problems again.

 

OK.............. I'm out of here aparently you know more about this than me............... Start saving $$$$$$$$$ for the real pain

 

I'd hang on. You've done the EGR clean, which is not trivial. And you're aware of the possible pending issues. There's head gasket links in my signature, which'll give some idea what you'd be in for, if and when. Even if you opt to use professionals, it's good to know the process.

 

All these breakdowns will directly depend on where the car was operated and where it will be operated. If it has been used in city traffic for all its years, then it is better to get rid of it, since the problems begin at 140-160k miles. If it was operated on US routes and free ways, these problems will start around 200k, and even then, the problem would begin with a head gasket and a water pump; ABS assembly may last a longer time.
It's better to restore the battery's capacity at 100-150k miles, before it's too late.
You preach your bad experience to others without understanding the reasons for that experience.

 

Gen3s are the worst Toyota Prius by far when it comes to expensive repairs and the frequency of those flaws. If you own one from new you get a large savings for the first 150k-200k which can compensate for the $2.5k head gasket, the $5k engine, the $2.5k brake booster, and or the $2.5k hv battery. Those prices are reasonable but not available everywhere. The buyer of a high mile 13 year old gen3 is taking a financial and reliability risk.

I would not buy a used one with a steam cleaned piston UNLESS the seller documented new pistons, rings and head gasket had been installed (items Toyota admitted were flawed and revised). Better yet would be a documented replacement engine from Hybrid Pit in southern California.

 

Welp, I guess you live and you learn haha. I thought I had done my due diligence and anything outside of a 2010 and 2011 was a solid option, and got the thumbs up from my mechanic, but I guess not.

Oh well, I’m not expecting it to be a lifetime vehicle anyways. Will just be an expensive experience for a while and lots of DIY along the way to offset that cost.

I suppose it’s just life making up for how lucky I was with my first car 2004 Camry for $2000 bought in 2018 and I only had to do minimal repairs over its lifespan.

Aside from other typical car maintenance it sounds like I’ll need to budget about the following at some point in the future:

$500 - head gasket parts (not sure what all I *need* especially since I’ve already done the water pump and thermostat)
$1500-2500 - battery - reman or upgraded?
$1200-1800 - ABS/brake booster

Given the avg maintenance cost is $1500-2000 a year in the US (probably more in the Midwest like where I’m at due to rust and extreme weather). I wouldn’t be mad at those prices if it basically brings the car to a reliable state, especially already having done a lot of the smaller things myself so far.

Sure, it’s not the ideal Toyota maintenance cost I had expected, but compared to a Chevy or Ford I think that sounds pretty comparable to the issues they often face with unreliable engine, timing chain, transmission issues, etc etc.

 

My brother has a 2002 Camry he bought about 15 years ago cheap and it still runs great. I have borrowed it when my 2012v was broken down with a bad brake booster and again when I was stranded with a no warning inverter fail (something people don't complain about since the repair is still free from Toyota).

Burn oil? Yes indeed. 2010-2014 had poorly designed pistons and rings (commonly known as the low tension ring issue) and gen3s were the first years Toyota gave 2 free oil change at 10k mile intervals, another contributing factor.

Toyota changed pistons and rings free for 5 years 60k miles. Thousands got them.

Egr clogging? True clogging years after the oil burning started. It coded, it was fixed at my expense. Later they revised the egr valve and ecm software at my expense. No egr issues since.

Head gaskets? Those were revised as well. My independent hard working immigrant shop changes at least one gen3 Prius a week. For years. Mostly with JDM engines he checks first at the local JDM distributor. Almost no failures when they are low mile and don't burn oil.

Echo chamber of complainers? I don't think so; realistic experience and observations.

Does it mean your engine is sure to cost thousands next year? No but creating a repair fund makes sense.

If it's not broke don't fix it!

 

You have described the worst nightmare that an ordinary g3 prius buyer can face, but there are g3 prius owners who have had no problems for 200+ miles, and they say that this is the best car that can be owned. This terrible picture looks completely different if the owner is a DIY person.

 

Presumably you're budgeting just for the two components (I won't attempt to name them properly). That, if it comes to it, is something I might just let dealership do, for various reasons:

1. The part no's are tricky.
2. The swap is tricky.
3. Bleeding the hydraulic system after is ultra tricky, requires Techstream or high-end aftermarket tool, and the latter may be dicey.
4. If you just hand it over to dealership, there's no subsequent finger-pointing, if anything goes awry. Hopefully.

Dealerships charge around $3K USD IIRC.

@ASRDogman was well over 300k miles before his head gasket let go. He'd cleaned the EGR multiple times. AFAIK he's yet to disclose when the first cleaning happened, so if it was belated...

 

As long as I’m able to get the right part numbers I think the install and bleeding seems doable from the videos I’ve seen. I have a few different scan tools that are bidirectional that should be able to do the ABS Bleed and sensor calibration functions, so I would hope to be able to complete that repair myself if possible. But you do make a good point about finger pointing. I think if it doesn’t go for a long time, I may just pay to have it done, but if it decides to go sooner rather than later then I may try myself since I have the tools needed.

Depends how far out I am from everything else if the time comes that it fully fails on me.

I am planning on doing a bleed with the scan tool soon anyways when I replace the rear calipers that are sticking /boots torn. And I will see at that point how the bleeding process is I suppose.

Seems pretty straightforward, it walks you through each step from the videos I’ve watched. Just gotta have a battery charger on the 12v is my understanding.

But again, good points for sure and I really do appreciate your insight into all of these things it helps me create a rounded understanding and picture in my mind.