So I have had the air condenser crack on my 2007 prius it is costing me $1600 to replace. The same place fixing it (taxi place) has ex taxi's for $5000 so they will trade in mine for about $2500. an extra $900 to get a 2011 Gen3 vs my 2007 Gen2. Gen2 2007 280,000 km with the HV replaced with official Toyota one at 200,000 Gen3 2011 480,000 km with the HV replaced twice with reconditioned ones (he is getting back to me when it was last replaced) Reasons I would do it, bluetooth no chance of the air conditioner issue happening again in the gen3. cheaper parts fresh spray job so looks new vs my cracked and faded 2007 Reasons I wouldn't do it: My car I know has not been in any accidents and has had very little replaced on it. it was one owner before me. I don't know what to do. What would you guys and gals do? Thanks Chris
I would repair the old one ...or find some used other gen3. I know a prius lasts a long time but they WILL wear out eventually and you're at risk now for HV battery, ICE and transmission...and who knows what else? I would not buy ANY used car with that many miles (kilometers) and especially not pay anything along with the trade to get a car with almost twice the mileage. Here in the US you can find a decent G3 with mid 100's miles for 5-7K us dollars. Use the extra money they want to trade and have yours painted if looks matter to you. I had an 06 and bought a 2015 for 5k difference but the 2015 had 24k miles on it and the 06 had 90k. Good luck, whatever you decide!
Cheaper to keep her. Yours has a fresh traction battery, much fewer miles, and a known history. There is no way that I would make that trade.
before moving to gen 3, do your due diligence on the inverter recall and subsequent problems, the brake actuator and the egr circuit/head gasket issue.
I was struggling with that: the light bulb finally went on. You mean the air conditioning condenser, the big radiator at the front.
update: I ended up keeping the 2 series as the guys advised it was an awesome car and now with the AC working its awesome to drive again they even fixed a bunch of niggly things which annoyed me
