Okay. My 2005 has just hit 100k miles. Plenty of good posts on recommended maintenance, etc. Clearly lots of folks are at 200k and beyond. My question is a bit different: What are people seeing in "big ticket" repairs post 100k miles. I'm contemplating a trade while this one's still got some value, but am not sure which is most cost effective: trade or just incur maintenance as it comes. Thoughts? Thanks, Doug 2005 Prius 2010 Non-Hybrid Highlander
Which are you asking about repair costs or maintenance costs? Those are two totally separate items in my book. One can incur repair costs due to parts failing/going bad or in some cases lack of maintenance.
What have your maintenance and repair costs been so far? In my opinion you are not facing a high probability of expensive surprises between now and 200k. Are there other factors weighing on your mind about this?
Well, my biggest concern is that I has a fender bender in the Prius last year. The right back fender and door were pretty messed up, but remarkably they didn't replace or feel that they needed to fix the batteries. Car's not been bad since, but I wonder with all of the technology which resides back there, will things start to go? I've been dilligent on maintenance and its otherwise been affordable, etc. Starting to get weird repairs like the connection between the front wheel and the engine was leaking something which racked up something like $400 in repairs. I worry about other surprise leaky things in the future. Thoughts? -Doug
Did they check the venting system for the HV battery (which is located on the right side) and find it OK?
Rule of thumb (any car) is drive it into the ground and replace with pre-owned to get the most value out of the vehicle. Repair or big ticket maintenance items won't compare to car payments in terms of monthly cash flow impact. Can't say as I've ever followed that advice just yet tho! - D
Hi Doug, Are you referring to a leaky transaxle oil seal? That's fairly typical for any high-mileage vehicle. I think it would be cost-effective to keep the car until it has a transaxle, inverter, or traction battery failure. At that time, if you can find an independent to install a salvage part or DIY, then the repair will be relatively inexpensive. If you must rely upon Toyota dealer service post-warranty, then when you have an expensive failure, it probably would make more sense to have the car towed to the salvage yard rather than put big $$$$ into a car with low market value.
