Trying to figure out my first car soon... Gen 2 or Gen 3?

Hate to say it but if your budget is that low don't get a Prius. Cars aren't investments, they are liabilities. Your dad got his brand new and thus got all the good miles, and his care for it plus some luck is why he didn't get into trouble. You just plain don't get that out of a used car, especially not a used Prius.

Corollas, Civics and Elantras are the good safe buy for that price range.

 

would you be diy'ing major repairs like hybrid battery, brake actuator and head gasket/engine replacement? or would you be at the mercy of mercenaries?
it's great that your dad had good luck with his, and they are/were great cars, but you have to plan for the worst and hope for the best imo.

 

It has more to do with the age of the cars, but price has a strong corellation so it works out about the same.

In California it's hard to go wrong with a 10-year old Corolla.

 

with that budget get a BMW repairs will be the same.

 

I've had my 2nd gen since 2011, bought it with low miles. Put 140K on it. I've put a hybrid battery in it at 80K, and it just went out again last month. If you run the numbers on fuel savings though it's worth it.

The 3rd gen gets 5mpg better than the 2nd but it has the ABS and head gasket problems. Search "real MPG" don't go by manufacture specs. You can find 3rd gens with the ABS, head gasket and sometimes even the hybrid battery already replaced.

You should look for something with less than 100K miles, and don't be afraid of salvage cars if it was just cosmetic damage. (get a used car inspection) Insurance companies total cars just based on bad paint.

Do a Vin search at stat.vin to get the history, it's just like carfax but more affordable

 

Other than the stupid front bumper covers, which have an incredibly fragile attachment to the fender. I see them driving around all the time with one or both sides of the bumper cover poking out. My daughter in law had a 2011 and we kept having to fix that. The plastic piece that bolts to the fender that the cover mounts on would snap. Replace it and 6 months later it would be broken again. They eventually sold that car. Later models are better but still have problems at that spot:



That said, it just looks bad. The car will still run fine.

 

This is worth considering- but even with California gasoline prices it takes quite a lot of driving for a Prius to save much vs. a Corolla. And then you have to decide what that's really worth as an offset against the failure risks in an old hybrid.

 

finding an honest (or dishonest) hybrid tech is also a factor

 

As a Father and career Mechanic I'm going to also recommend a Corolla or Civic with your budget.

 

I mean that's great, but consider the fact that he was saying that about one bought new and aged-into-gracefully. IMO that is the one good way to deal with an old hybrid: Buy it new and age it yourself.

I kind of doubt he'd be saying the same about one plucked from used car listings. The majority of Prius drivers keep the good ones for themselves and trade in their problems. That means you aren't really set up to succeed in buying a used one, and you still need to whip the thing for what, 25-30k miles per year to make it a good deal vs. a simple car like a Civic or a Corolla. If you aren't going to be earning good income by driving that much then there just isn't a lot of point in an old hybrid.

 

Repairing a Prius can be thousands at a time with limited repair shop options. Repairing a Corolla, Camry of Civic can be hundreds and any shop in town will tackle it.

There are more things you and a friend can do on a conventional car which is a big plus to gain some diy skills. Parts at every auto supply versus just Toyota or a junkyard.

 

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There's more competition for them, but there are also many more of them. Sorta balances out.

 

Corollas and civics are not that much different in complexity, repair costs. Wishful thinking?

suspect our 2010, purchased new and currently around 65k miles, is our sunset car. If the back bumper doesn’t fall off.

 

Here it is as a math problem.

Very rough spreadsheet sketch of annual fuel cost. Annual miles driven on the left column, car MPG across the top. I plugged in $3.70 as a fuel price because that's close to reality in California today.



The absolute best case for savings is when you compare a 45mpg hybrid to a regular car that only gives 25mpg. Almost $1,700 per year in savings- but you have to drive 25,000 miles per year to capture those savings, and that many miles is going to wear down any car. You'll need those savings.

But lots of young drivers drive much, much less than that. When you look at the top rows the savings are pretty small.

I encourage you to make your own spreadsheet with your own numbers.