Prius.

tom_tarbucket

Hi

Looking at buying a Prius around 2010.

I hear they can have inverter problems and a few more issues.

How widespread are these issues?

Soarer

Not very.

Probably one of the most reliable cars on the road.

tom_tarbucket

Soarer wrote: »

Not very.

Probably one of the most reliable cars on the road.

Thanks.
So a Prius from around this time should generally be ok

duploelabs

There's a recall recently on those models, check if that recall has been done

tom_tarbucket

duploelabs wrote: »

There's a recall recently on those models, check if that recall has been done

Ah ok. Do you know what the recall was for?

duploelabs

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

Ah ok. Do you know what the recall was for?

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/motors/toyota-recalls-700-prius-hybrids-in-ireland-1.1688847

tom_tarbucket

duploelabs wrote: »

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/motors/toyota-recalls-700-prius-hybrids-in-ireland-1.1688847

Thanks. This article is from 2014 though. 5 and a half years old at this stage.

duploelabs

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

Thanks. This article is from 2014 though. 5 and a half years old at this stage.

TBH It's herself's car, and she lost the document that was attached and I can't recall the exact issue. Have to wait for 6 weeks until they do the works

tom_tarbucket

so overall, there should be no major concerns with reliability with a Prius from around 2010

colm_mcm

Nope. The biggest issue is the car’s past. A lot of very high mileage uk ones out there, lots of Japanese imports and taxis.

Zenith74

Not too familiar with the Prius, can anybody comment on what life might be left in the battery at this stage? Cannot imagine there’s much at nearly 10 years old, which would make me wonder if OP would be better off just buying an efficient petrol, vs the risk of having all the Prius electrics in there that may offer little other than risk of failure?

There are gen II Taxis with over 400,000 miles with 0 issues in the U.S and Canada,

Like all cars there can be issues, the battery can have issues from 10 years + and it's 2500 new fitted in toyota or one can be got reconditioned in the U.K, usually just a few cells go weak and need to be replaced in the whole pack, it's not a big job but as usual, can't be done in Ireland, fitting the battery isn't too difficult and any competent mechanic good with electrics should be able to fit it, as it's about 384 volts it can cause death if safety isn't taken seriously.

Prius's in daily use seem to fair much better.

Go to the priuschat forum in the U.S and ask around there, this is the place for any question you may have.

https://priuschat.com/forum/

It's there they recommend changing the transaxle oil, basically the gearbox oil every 160,000 Kms, this isn't part of the schedule but well advised based on independent tests carried out over at priuschat, at least for the GEN II.

If considering a Prius , consider fully electric if you haven't already.

Prius is a good spacious car and being Automatic is definitely a +

Zenith74

Is there any way to see the state of health of the battery, similar to how you might in a Leaf or Ioniq or something?

At 256,000km (160,000 miles), the two Honda Civic vehicles had 68% capacity, the Insight had 85% and the Prius had 39%. The capacity fade did not affect the fuel efficiency by much.
Source: FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program

Much lower degradation than you might expect, some of the reasons explained here - https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/hybrid_electric_vehicles_and_the_battery

bidiots

A 2010 could still get a hybrid check through a Toyota garage, gets a one year warranty too

tom_tarbucket

bidiots wrote: »

A 2010 could still get a hybrid check through a Toyota garage, gets a one year warranty too

Good call.

zilog_jones

Deleted User wrote: »

Like all cars there can be issues, the battery can have issues from 10 years + and it's 2500 new fitted in toyota or one can be got reconditioned in the U.K, usually just a few cells go weak and need to be replaced in the whole pack, it's not a big job but as usual, can't be done in Ireland...

There are a few hybrid/EV specialists in Ireland now, at least in Dublin and Cork.

The traction batteries tend to only last around 12-13 years in the US, but I think our temperate climate is a bit more forgiving.

unkel

zilog_jones wrote: »

There are a few hybrid/EV specialists in Ireland now, at least in Dublin and Cork.

The traction batteries tend to only last around 12-13 years in the US, but I think our temperate climate is a bit more forgiving.

I've seen a YT video of a dude in the US replacing the pack DIY. Didn't look like a particularly daunting job to me. The guy bought Priuses with knackered batteries for next to nothing, then spend a few hundred on a reconditioned pack, fitted it in an hour or so and then sold the cars on for thousands more iirc

zilog_jones

I've heard cases of "reconditioned" traction batteries in the US only lasting 2-3 years or so before they start causing trouble again. I guess it depends on a lot of factors though, and experience with working on the batteries is constantly improving.

tom_tarbucket

Lets say you had a 2010 gen 3 Prius. Used it to do a school run in morning 4km away. In that 4km , you never get above 30km per hour.

Would the journey be done purely on electric power OR is the petrol needed to get the car started and going etc?

Soarer

possibly, but I'd doubt it.

I'd imagine you'd hardly get half that.

tom_tarbucket

Soarer wrote: »

possibly, but I'd doubt it.

I'd imagine you'd hardly get half that.

Right, so only 2km on electric.
What’s the ‘magic’ speed before the petrol engine kicks in? I think it is 30kph is it

Charlie-Bravo

The Toyota hybrid (non plugin versions) have an EV mode but it's not for driving any distance. It's best used when repositioning the car in a garage or somewhere when you don't want the engine firing up.

For best battery health, it's recommended to drive in any of the eco/normal/power modes as the computer will determine what's best for the car and will get you best economy (if trying to save a few quid too).

I tend to drive in eco mode all the time as I have a heavy foot. Eco mode just softens the heavy foot

kanuseeme

it would depend on the state of charge of the battery, if its low, the engine might kick in when you start moving,

Had 2 hybrids, insight and a Lexus always got around 60 mpg from them.

It depends on your commutes, but for me, a phev, suits me down to the ground on 200 mpg at the moment.

tom_tarbucket

kanuseeme wrote: »

it would depend on the state of charge of the battery, if its low, the engine might kick in when you start moving,

Had 2 hybrids, insight and a Lexus always got around 60 mpg from them.

It depends on your commutes, but for me, a phev, suits me down to the ground on 200 mpg at the moment.

Good to know.
How does this 200mpg work. The bulk of your driving is powered by electric and then petrol kicks in and you take an average. Or the electric just aids/helps the petrol engine all the time.

kanuseeme

Yes most of my driving is done with in range of the battery around 45 km, how you use that range is up to you, I try to drive mostly in electric, and use petrol when i can get the best use from it, e.g going up a hill or motor way.

Most importantly is to charge, plug in as much as you can, when the battery is used up, it reverts to a hybrid.

Not a type of car for every one, there is a sweet range, where it will return equal economy to that of a hybrid or diesel.

on one trip of around 100km I got 82 mpg, I have ordered a obd ii and can give better figures when it comes.

kanuseeme

I should say my phev is an outlander, and the economy I was comparing to was a prius or a diesel car doing 60 mpg.

zilog_jones

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

Lets say you had a 2010 gen 3 Prius. Used it to do a school run in morning 4km away. In that 4km , you never get above 30km per hour.

Would the journey be done purely on electric power OR is the petrol needed to get the car started and going etc?

With a cold start, the engine is always going to start and go through its warmup cycle which may take around 1-2 minutes. And if you want heat, the engine is required for that too (though it doesn't need to run all the time).

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

Right, so only 2km on electric.
What’s the ‘magic’ speed before the petrol engine kicks in? I think it is 30kph is it

A gen 3 Prius can go up to around 72 km/h without the ICE running. But it also depends on throttle position, as the ICE will kick in for anything but very light acceleration. If the battery is not low, you could accelerate (using the ICE) to around 50-60 km/h then cruise at that speed for maybe 3-4 km in electric only on a flat road.

If you want to be able to start the car (from cold) and complete a journey with no petrol usage, you need to go for a PHEV. My 2012 Prius Plug-in starts in EV mode by default if there is enough charge, and it'll do around 16-18 km.

denismc

One of the guys at work just had his catalytic converter stolen from his Prius, apparently it has something to with the price of Palladium at the moment, I didn't know that this was a thing!
This was done in broad daylight in a carpark belonging to a large multinational, passers-by just assumed they were mechanics working on the car, has anyone else heard of this happening elswhere?

Old diesel

zilog_jones wrote: »

I've heard cases of "reconditioned" traction batteries in the US only lasting 2-3 years or so before they start causing trouble again. I guess it depends on a lot of factors though, and experience with working on the batteries is constantly improving.

What the aim should be is to establish the typical cause of early failure so that future refurbs address that failure point.

zilog_jones

denismc wrote: »

One of the guys at work just had his catalytic converter stolen from his Prius, apparently it has something to with the price of Palladium at the moment, I didn't know that this was a thing!
This was done in broad daylight in a carpark belonging to a large multinational, passers-by just assumed they were mechanics working on the car, has anyone else heard of this happening elswhere?

Yes, it's happening all over the world unfortunately. Do you know what year Prius it was? The 2nd generation (2003-2009) seems to be the most common target due to ease of access. Toyota GB are selling security devices for the cats now, I've asked Toyota Ireland about this but no response yet. Also part of the reason why I installed a dashcam over the weekend...

Old diesel wrote: »

What the aim should be is to establish the typical cause of early failure so that future refurbs address that failure point.

I think reconditioned batteries usually consist of replacing bad cells with other good ones, and balancing the cells. I think the lifespan of these will be limited anyway due to age, but new batteries ain't cheap.

from_atozinc

On a 40km motorway trip at 120km an hour, what mpg could I expect in the Prius? (Just standard driving without the pulse and glide etc)

zilog_jones

In a 3rd gen? Around 50-55 MPG.

from_atozinc

zilog_jones wrote: »

In a 3rd gen? Around 50-55 MPG.

Yeah. That’s decent in fairness.

zilog_jones

At 100 km/h it'll be closer to 60 MPG.

Pulse and glide isn't effective at higher speeds anyway, as with the gen 3 the ICE is always on at speeds over about 74 km/h. I just use cruise control, which can be fitted easily if it doesn't have it (just need to install the stalk).