in about 2010 we purchased a 2005 Prius that my husband's co-worker had traded in, so we were comfortable with its history. I am appreciative of this forum as reading here helped me be comfortable with the idea of purchasing a Prius. We traded in a 2005 Pontiac Vibe for about 5K difference. It far exceeded my expectations for what a great car it was. Last Wednesday my husband hit a deer on the way to work. It had a messed up hood, radiator, and some of the mounts in the engine compartment were bent. He decided not to fix it and turned it over to the tow company. So we are on the search for a new vehicle. Thankfully we still have 2 vehicles here to use. I am not opposed to getting another Gen2 Pri, preferably a 2009. We are also looking at other hybrids, possibly a Gen 3. Not thrilled with the head gasket issues they are prone to, but they seem like a solid choice otherwise. Most that we see available have 200K plus miles. I would be prepared for a battery replacement and a head gasket job on a gen 3. Oh, and the 2005 Prius had approximately 399,800 miles on it, and I would have loved to see it hit at least 400K. It had its hybrid battery replaced at aroun 200K. No other major fixes. Husband replaced the multifunction display and fixed the 299,999 limit mileage issue with the replacement; he had careful calculations for the mileage and was able to have it programmed to those miles.
I agree. There are haters of it but to me, it's the best car I ever had . . . . and believe me, I started driving in 1962 and I've had a lot.
Given your stated wants...look for a low mile 2015 Prius. GEN IIs had a few problems and so did the GEN IIIs, but both GENs resolved "most" of their issues by the last year of said run. Good luck.
The gen 3 solved one of its problems partway through model year 2014, revising the pistons/rings to ones less prone to develop bad oil consumption. Regardless of model year the 3rd gen EGR and brake booster issues were not resolved.
Check out a Chevy Volt the first generation what's it 2012 to 15 You can almost get them for nothing and they are pretty stupid reliable just kind of weird. I would generally never recommend a Chevrolet to my arch nemesis seriously I've driven Toyota for 48 years now but after the 2010 fiasco I still have four generation twos and I have a Chevy Volt and there's another one in my family that's catching up in mileage to one of my lower mileage generation twos the volt goes like stink has a big air conditioning system and it's pretty cool for an American car seriously You can swipe for like 3500. They are very cool they go like stink and they get Prius mileage more or less we're having a good time with this one here and like I say another family member has the same one with double the mileage and still going like crazy The 16 to 19 like the 2010 Toyotas and newer got really cheap interiors fall apart and all of that The 12 to 15 not so much. My 2012 is getting almost as old as some of my Prius and sad to say the Chevrolet looks damn good to be comparing it to a generation two. Won't be giving up any of my Prius but.
I drove one of those before deciding to get the Prius. On paper the Volt was nearly exactly what I wanted. In person, less so. Once inside I felt like I was sitting in a deep bath tub. Also, while the A pillar on the Prius is too wide for my taste, the one on the Volt was just ridiculous. At one point while we were sitting in the front seat waiting for the salesman to return for a test drive I asked my wife if she could see him. She said he's there, and pointed. He was maybe 20 feet away, every bit of him obscured by the driver's side A pillar. I also thought the hatch area was too narrow, with too much volume walled off on each side and unusable. On the plus side, the driving experience was decent - other than the ginormous blind spot from the A pillar. If the Volt had lived up to my expectations and we had bought one I would probably now be regretting it. The packs are aging out and GM has not been reliably making new replacements. Perhaps there are specialty hybrid shops who can source new modules from who knows where. Greentec sells "newer" packs for around $10K: So used parts, just newer ones.
I bought my 2006 Prius brand new and has been a great reliable car for over 200k miles. However there are some known limitations with Gen 2. Considering these cars worth $3000 there is a risk of couple of repairs that are prohibitive in 2025. The Hybrid battery could be inexpensively repaired in the past for $500-$600 or even could get a new OEM for $1600-$1800. Now there are no good modules anymore available after so many years and rebuilds at $1200 won’t last more than a couple of years. The new OEM HV batteries are unavailable but if found you will need $2700-$3500 in 2025. The brake actuator is a complicated repair with at least $1000 labor and no used parts anymore. Only option is a new actuator at $1500. Or risk redoing the job with a remanufactured or used actuator throwing codes immediately. There are some alternatives like newer Toyota or Lexus with slightly higher prices and less headaches.
My problem with this, at least in my region, is that a decent late 2015 Gen 3 is no cheaper, and often times more expensive, than a 2016 Gen 4... Which is just a much more modern feeling vehicle in virtually all aspects
Mixed, just like all the other refurbs. At the end of the day, you're relying on old refurbed modules. The only differentiator between pretty much any of the rebuild/refurb battery sellers (IMHO) is their warranty. GreenBean or GreenTec used to offer a lifetime warranty as long as you had the car, which made it one of the only attractive rebuilt pack companies (imho).
We ended up getting a 2015 Prius 2 with around 180K miles a few weeks ago. My husband ordered the parts for the EGR and will look at what else it might need done maintenance wise. I was looking at Gen 2s but wasn't really finding anything I felt good about. I realized my husband would be happiest with another Prius so he could see the 50+ MPG commuting every day, and this one delivers. We can save the money saved on gas for any large repairs that come about.
