2010 prius with 194000km. Any issues to look for?

Dealership, independent or private seller? If the latter, ask them about Exhaust Gas Recirculation and intake manifold cleaning, watch their reaction. Third gen has a new EGR system, to reduce emissions and moderate the combustion process, that’s proven prone to clog, and “rumoured” to lead to head gasket failure. 194k kms is roughly 120k miles, which is just getting into EGR problematic zone, so it would be timely to clean it ASAP. The simplest way to assess clogging is inspecting the pipe between egr valve and intake manifold. The procedure is explained in @NutzAboutBolts video #16 here:

Nutz About Bolts Prius Maintenance Videos | PriusChat

more info:

Bad Flywheel | PriusChat

There’s also an excessive oil consumption issue, from 2010 to partway through 2014 model years: Toyota use of low tension piston rings may be a factor. They subsequently switched rings (and pistons), and that seems to be the fix. They have a Technical Service Bulletin that tests oil consumption and indicates piston/ring swap as the solution. Oil consumption in a used car is hard to test. I’d suggest to just check the dipstick, and if happens to be low walk away. Again, doesn’t hurt to ask.

another possible issue is deterioration of one or both of the two brake components mounted on the firewall. I won’t attempt to name or ID them, @ChapmanF may weigh in with more info. Symptoms of pending failure may include odd sounds as you just come to a stop, and very frequent cycling of the brake pressurizing system, say once a minute or more. You can hear the distinctive sound often when you open drivers door after car has sat a while. If repair is needed it’s in the thousands.

another possible issue is hybrid battery deterioration. Best you can do during a test drive is just keep an eye on charge indicator in the dash; is it pretty steady? There will be ups and downs, but should be gradual; no wild fluctuations. Also, a failing battery might prevent engine turn off, make the vehicle sluggish. I’d guesstimate a replacement battery in Canada would be at least $3500. There are alternatives, including New Prius Batteries:

Prius Battery Replacement (GenII) Like you've never seen - NEW Cylindrical Cells | PriusChat

all that said, seems a good price for a 2010, depending on the exterior/interior condition. Look everything over carefully, look underneath for dangling plastic panels, excessive rust on the suspension components. Underside of front “bumper” tends to take a beating.

 

without test driving and reading the helpful post #2, it’s a fair price but just keep a few more grand in the rainy fund for “expected” high mileage repairs. Saving gas cost a lot of money.

 

Probably the worst Prius made based on design flaws as Mendel detailed. Also the inverter fails. Egr work by a dealer $800 US and up. They need to clean up the intake as it will be full of oil. Brake Booster $2200 and up. Inverter $2,000 and up. Hybrid battery $1,600 diy new to $2,250 new installed and up. Head gasket $1500 all the way to a blown engine, $3,500 and up.

Oil consumption is usually not repaired by itself on these engines because of the cost, unless its handled when replacing a blown engine. There are people who have done all items. Toyota admitted the brake booster, inverter and oil consumption issues but the extended warranty periods on a 2010 has expired.

If the major maintenance potential was not bad enough, used cars in general are artificially high right now and are subject to a market correction when new car manufacturing gets back to normal. Its possible you could buy a 2010 Prius for a couple of months and resell in the current market without incurring one of the major expense items.

If it were me, a short term car would be a Camry (exclude 2007-2009 for oil consumption), Corolla or Civic. The three C's.

 

Dr Prius App with an OBD Bluetooth adapter (Carista is a good one) can give a quick assessment of the hybrid battery health.

 

let me guess, person said all highway miles also.

 

Yeah check Auto Trader prices. Seems lowish? Maybe trying to ditch it after getting some bad news? You never know, but with those kms things might be going. Which is pathetic, but that’s 3rd gen.

 

scared straight after reading your post

 

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