I'm looking at buying a 2002 Prius with 167,000 miles on it, no problems, all scheduled maintenances met, originally battery. I know some folks talk about getting 250,000 and up on these guys, butt, realistically, how long can i expect to drive a car with this many miles before needing some $$ repairs? I live in Portland, Oregon as far as climate goes. Thanks for your help!
It's hard to say how much more usage you can get before the car needs a major repair. Some of the major Classic trouble areas that are costly to repair (four digits each) include: - traction battery - transaxle - inverter - catalytic converter with HCAC (hydrocarbon absorption chamber) - front struts and rear shocks - touch-sensitive multifunction display unit - engine ECU, if not the current part number If you can DIY and obtain salvage parts where appropriate, then cost of repairs can be relatively low. If you must depend upon your local Toyota dealer then prepare to pay big $$$$ when your car experiences one or more of the above failures. Good luck with your decision.
For reasons Patrick cited and because I'm not a DIY-type guy except for routine maintenance, I probably would avoid it unless I could get an especially good deal on it. Another issue for me would be whether a reasonably priced independent shop in my area is competent and experienced with hybrid repairs. In my area, I know of no shop other than the dealer who is willing to tackle something like an inverter or hybrid battery replacement. (They might exist, I just haven't heard of any. They certainly don't market themselves.)
Welcome new poster. I would like to know if the candidate vehicle had the HV battery resealing, EPS (steering) assembly replacement, engine knock sensor, new HV ECu under TSB EG011-03, HC adsorber valve (forgot that TSB #), or anything else 'special' done. At least, we'd like to know that you have a new 12 volt battery and some previous history of transaxle fluid replacements (with clean juice in there now). I may be the odd man out here because I think this group of cars (Prius NHW11) can have a very long service life with the right maint history and a little bit of luck. Very long.
If you have a second, backup vehicle and the ability to do it yourself, you can have a lot of fun. If this is to be your only or primary commuting vehicle, you are rolling the dice on a used, high mileage car. If you were talking about any other car with 160k miles, I would be offering exactly the same advice. But there is one problem with the NHW11 Prius. Only 54, 000 were ever sold in the USA. This means there are salvage parts but they are few and far between. So you're likely to have to get Toyota parts and that is likely to be expensive. Bob Wilson
With 24k miles per year, it must be mostly highway miles. This means it was easy on the HV battery. I expect up to 300k or even 600k miles with very careful use.
