Hi all, my first post here and I'm from Finland, northern europe. Here the prius v is called prius+ but I think they are mostly the same. I am just able to stretch my budget to get a facelift model, currently looking at a 2015 model which has its first registration in january. So what I'm looking for is if I can safely buy a facelift model and be sure that it has the revised piston rings, or are there some early facelifts with the old rings. Does anyone know better when the change exactly took place?
The change occurred in the pre-facelift 2014 models. Being in Europe, the American vin decode method may not apply. With that said, it is not clear that European or especially Japanese 2012-14 models actually came with the problematic low tension rings and corresponding pistons. For one thing the legitimate used in Japan “JDM” engines imported to the US generally have a good reputation when it comes to oil consumption. Second, we don’t hear about a lot of European equivalents burning oil or blowing head gaskets.
Thank you very much for your thorough reply. I ended up buying a 2015 facelift model so I hope all the piston ring and also head gasket issues are fixed already when this one has rolled from factory.
It'll have the revised piston and rings. But head gasket is still prone to failure. What's the miles on it? To prevent head gasket failure, I'd recommend to periodically clean the carbon out of the EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) system, including the EGR passages in intake manifold. Every 50K miles or 80K kms would be optimum. Delaying the first cleaning to no later than 100K miles or 160K kms. Any later than that, get on it right away, and keep your fingers crossed. For more info see top two links in my signature. (on a phone turn it landscape to see signatures)
