Prius Prime--Expected Longevity

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by ClemsonSteve, Apr 18, 2018.

  1. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    11,024
    8,977
    0
    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    Other Electric Vehicle
    Model:
    N/A
    Probably was not a regular scheduled maintenance item for Honda either. Spark plugs/valve adjustment is just like water pump/timing belt for my other Toyota. They like to tack on additional items.:(
     
  2. GustoGuy

    GustoGuy Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2017
    78
    55
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    I just bought a 2018 prius Prime. Hopefully if you charge you battery each and evey night you can do most of your driving on electric only. No engine wear in electric only. I have a 2010 Prius level 5 trim that just popped it's headgasket on its second engine at 431,000 miles. Rather than installing another JDM engine in a car with that many miles I replaced it with a Gen 4 Prius Prime. The EGR was redesigned in the Gen 4 and the EGR gas enters the intake manifold behind the throttle body instead of a tube with 4 rather tiny passages on each cylinder which tend to clog up and overheat cylinder 1 especially and lead to headgasket failure. I say hopefully it will last longer than the infamous headgasket blowing Gen 3. Other improvements in gen 4 1.8 liter are higher tension piston rings which reduces blow by which clogs up the intake manifold and blowby causes oil burning so hopefully your Prius Prime will longer than the Gen 3 Prius which is now not recommended to buy because known headgasket issues by several mechanics
     
    #22 GustoGuy, Jun 27, 2026 at 6:12 PM
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2026 at 7:26 PM
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    115,201
    52,713
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    congrats! how many miles on her?
     
  4. douglasjre

    douglasjre Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2008
    2,241
    749
    0
    Location:
    Null, NL
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    4th gen should last 400k miles unless u damage it somehow
     
  5. Andy2

    Andy2 Member

    Joined:
    May 9, 2022
    76
    51
    0
    Location:
    Victoria, B.C.
    Vehicle:
    2022 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Technology
    Any sense of how long the Prime traction battery may last even if overall driving miles remain low? Can a PHEV last 20 or 25 years without replacing traction battery? Or is it more likely to last only 15 years or so even if miles are low? If so, this would seem a significant downside to the vehicle, in my view.
     
  6. GustoGuy

    GustoGuy Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2017
    78
    55
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    Only 32500 miles on my 2018 Gen 4 Prius Prime. I am a Pharmacist and I get paid to drive. It's been just under 1 month since I bought my car and it had 29600 miles when I bought it. I only have about 7 more years before I plan to retire and my 2010 Gen 3 Prius had 130,000 miles on it when I bought it in November of 2017 and last month I noticed it started idling a bit rough at times (Death rattle) then it smooths out. I removed and cleaned the intake manifold and cleaned the EGR valve and EGR cooler at first and it didn't seem to help so I brought it in and it was diagnosis with a head gasket failure and Techstream detected a historic sporadic missfire on cylinder 1. They didn't do a bore-scope camera inspection and since the car had 431,000 miles on it and it was already on it's second engine ( replaced original engine in 2021 with JDM engine) so I decided to retire it. The coolant level reservoir was also a bit low too so it was diagnosis as failed head gasket cylinder 1. Ironically the engine was still at full on oil and since the engine swap I never needed to add oil between oil changes. I was hoping it would make 500,000 miles but Gen 3 Prius tend to blow headgaskets after 200,000 thousand + miles
     
    #26 GustoGuy, Jun 28, 2026 at 5:49 AM
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2026 at 6:07 AM