Hi All, I'm looking at buying a 2008 prius with 81k miles. It has a good service history-oil changed at the dealer every 5k miles since new, only one owner. On a 9 mile test drive it started with the battery one bar below full, discharged to two bars, and recharged to 4 bars by the end of the drive. We only averaged 31 MPG on city roads-45 MPH speed limit, some stoplights mixed in. Is this considered normal mileage for this situation, or does it indicate something wrong with the Traction battery?
Hi- Problem is your probably not a Prius hybrid battery expert so your at the mercy at whatever the salesman or the owner tells you. I can tell you its the main reason I think most people sell there Prius the battery is showing diminished power. Bottom line is it may fail real soon after you buy it. Whats your expectations and finances to fix it? Its expensive and time consuming and possible tow's if you don't have any technical skills and a place to rebuild the battery. Try this go to toyota.com/owners and join the forum. Your going to need the VIN on the car to check it. Using that vin join the forum and it will tell you the records of every time its seen a authorized toyota dealer and what was reported. Don't be surprised to find the dealer has condemned the battery. Seen many posts here of just failed hybrid battery's on bought recently used Prius. Everyone is highly attracted to the mileage savings but one good repair will blow those savings out the window. There's a good prius reseller in Lutz Florida how far away are you from Tampa? He sells alot of Prius with new battery's or professionally rebuilt battery's. This guy: Home - Tampa Hybrids Inc. Todd is a good guy alot of us on this forum have bought cars or parts from him. Good Luck!
I will add that low mileage 2nd gens are often not a good buy. The hybrid battery in these likes to be driven every day and will reduce capacity more quickly if it's not. Often lower mileage examples sat in someone's driveway without getting driven for a lot of their life. However if there's good evidence the previous owners drove the car short distances every day, it may be worth the risk. For 2nd gens, I think between 125k to 175k are generally better values for the money.
So I'll tell you my n=1. I bought my prius from my mother-in-law 2008 Prius with around 85000mi last year. She was the only owner, serviced it timely with Toyota Dealership like clockwork Everything was working well until about 14 months later when my battery failed and I got the red triangle of death. I ended up needing a new HV battery (got a refurbished one for $1550) and the car is back to smooth sailing I had the same concerns as you initially, but everyone says these HV batteries last up to at least 150K mi. I guess I'm just one of the unlucky ones And this was a car from my mother-in-law who I know and love. If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone I knew the risks of buying an older car with the original HV battery and was ready for the consequences (don't think my wallet was) Good luck (edit: I just re-read your post and 31mpg sounds terrible. In retrospect my MPG went from 43 to 35 after a little over a year before the battery failed)
This is a really good post. When people buy a Prius the concern about the battery is justified, it’s a major cost. I feel if you factor in the cost of a $2500 battery to the cost that you’re paying for the car then you can understand whatever value you can get out of buying a used Prius. I’ve driven my 2005 PRIUS 537,000 miles I repaired everything from the trans axle and the engine to the taillights. The battery has become my best friend. I think of it as a flashlight, rather, a rechargeable flashlight with 26 batteries and if any one of those batteries go bad the entire system goes down. Initially, I was intimidated by this flashlight that had 26 batteries in it, then, when I took it apart, it became my friend. So don’t be afraid to buy the Prius, savings in gas will be about half what you would have spent on any other car. Enjoy those benefits until your first battery goes out and then invest in replacing the cells of the battery that have gone bad. I can tell you driving a 2005 Prius with over 500,000 miles on it, it’s a great ride. iPhone ?
Wow that’s amazing. How long have you had the Prius? What is the type of oil brand (synthetic or conventional), and how often do you change the oil. I’m hoping to hit 500k on my car. It’s kind of a badge of honor I think to have a extremely high mileage car.
