Gen 2 vs Gen 3 Prius?

The One Doctor

Hi all,

I have a 2005 Prius and want to upgrade to a Gen 3 in the next while. Has anyone done the same upgrade from Gen 2 to 3? I love my Prius but it's getting on with 210,000 miles on the clock. Probably will have €6000 to spend.

Opinions?
ToD

jmreire

The One Doctor wrote: »

Hi all,

I have a 2005 Prius and want to upgrade to a Gen 3 in the next while. Has anyone done the same upgrade from Gen 2 to 3? I love my Prius but it's getting on with 210,000 miles on the clock. Probably will have €6000 to spend. I'd love an electric as I don't do long journeys but we rent so it's not really an option plus they're expensive.

Opinions?
ToD

Sorry I can't answer your question one way or another... no experience with the Prius, but your one had done 210'000 Miles??? Not KLMS? Thats some mileage for sure !! And any major problems with it?

The One Doctor

jmreire wrote: »

Sorry I can't answer your question one way or another... no experience with the Prius, but your one had done 210'000 Miles??? Not KLMS? Thats some mileage for sure !! And any major problems with it?

That's quite low for a 2005 Prius, there have been cars with a million miles on them. No major problems, just a few rotor replacements due to lack of brake use, exhaust replacements, the usual. Great car, gets no servicing of any kind except some oil now and then as it burns it like a tramp steamer.

from_atozinc

The One Doctor wrote: »

That's quite low for a 2005 Prius, there have been cars with a million miles on them. No major problems, just a few rotor replacements due to lack of brake use, exhaust replacements, the usual. Great car, gets no servicing of any kind except some oil now and then as it burns it like a tramp steamer.

How much oil was it using? A litre every couple of thousand miles?

The One Doctor

from_atozinc wrote: »

How much oil was it using? A litre every couple of thousand miles?

About a litre per 1000 miles, but it's an old car and I have no intention of fixing the problem. It's not like the NCT tests emissions on hybrids or anything.

jmreire

The One Doctor wrote: »

About a litre per 1000 miles, but it's an old car and I have no intention of fixing the problem. It's not like the NCT tests emissions on hybrids or anything.

There are car manufacturers out there, and they would consider 1 ltr / 1000 Miles normal....

The One Doctor

Not to be direct or anything, does anyone have an answer to my original question on the Gen 3 Prius? Thanks.

zilog_jones

I never had a gen 2, but the gen 3 is an improvement in pretty much every way: Performance, efficiency, refinement, ride and handling, safety, comfort, styling... anything else?

Some people don't like the centre console (kinda like a buttress thing) and some of the interior plastics feel a bit flimsy.

They still can suffer from oil consumption with high mileage due to flawed piston rings up until around 2014-2015 (though I hear more about that in the US than anywhere else), and blocked EGR coolers can potentially lead to head gasket failure (some suggest cleaning/replacing every 100k miles or so) but that's rare.

Not servicing it isn't exactly going to do you any favours even if it's burning oil - the oil filter still needs changing and the sump is probably full of sludge. Moving to a thicker grade oil like 10W-30 or 15W-40 would help a lot. Some yanks report piston soaking can make the piston rings perform better again.

from_atozinc

Hi. I know the gen 3 Prius came out around 2009. I know some early gen 3’s had inverter issues.

Did the gen 3 get a facelift?
If so when...and is it possible to identify? (Different interior etc)
Did the facelift fix the inverter issue? (I think I’ve heard mentioned it may have been sorted in 2014)

n97 mini

The One Doctor wrote: »

About a litre per 1000 miles, but it's an old car and I have no intention of fixing the problem. It's not like the NCT tests emissions on hybrids or anything.

The old skool solution to burning oil was to move to thicker oil. So if you're using 0w20 try 10w40, or something in between.

from_atozinc

from_atozinc wrote: »

Hi. I know the gen 3 Prius came out around 2009. I know some early gen 3’s had inverter issues.

Did the gen 3 get a facelift?
If so when...and is it possible to identify? (Different interior etc)
Did the facelift fix the inverter issue? (I think I’ve heard mentioned it may have been sorted in 2014)

Bump

zilog_jones

from_atozinc wrote: »

Did the gen 3 get a facelift?
If so when...and is it possible to identify? (Different interior etc)

2012, December 2011 in Japan.
Grille, front bumper and tail lights are different.

Did the facelift fix the inverter issue? (I think I’ve heard mentioned it may have been sorted in 2014)

I have only heard of inverter failures with early examples, from around 2009-2010, and even then it's rare. If you have the annual Hybrid Health Check then the hybrid system warranty can be extended up to 15 years - this includes the inverter. Warranty is not applicable to Japanese imports.

from_atozinc

What kind of litres per 100km would one get on a gen 3 Prius at 120kph?

September1

from_atozinc wrote: »

What kind of litres per 100km would one get on a gen 3 Prius at 120kph?

Around 6l and around 6.8l at 140-150 km/h

from_atozinc

September1 wrote: »

Around 6l and around 6.8l at 140-150 km/h

Thanks. Nothing great really to be honest. Thought it would be better. Seems like a modern diesel will do the job better.

September1

from_atozinc wrote: »

Thanks. Nothing great really to be honest. Thought it would be better. Seems like a modern diesel will do the job better.

I'm not sure about that, I used to think like that but then when using modern diesels I found they are not better at motorway speeds. In fact they would often have real world consumption to be twice as high as rated one.



Anyway where Prius would shine is city traffic and older roads, where consumption can really drop to 3.5l/100km.


If you want to save money and have fun driving then EV route is optimal one.

graememk

Yeah your not gonna get any advantage with a hybrid on a motorway

In whatever you drive, at them speeds you gotta pay the energy cost of the air resistance, drag etc etc.

from_atozinc

graememk wrote: »

Yeah your not gonna get any advantage with a hybrid on a motorway

In whatever you drive, at them speeds you gotta pay the energy cost of the air resistance, drag etc etc.

True. So generally speaking a diesel is beat for motorway type speeds.

zilog_jones

I get around 5.6 l/100km on long motorway journeys stuck at 120 km/h (130 km/h indicated). And that's with a Prius that was a new model in 2009. The current hybrids are more efficient again - a current Prius will do more like 4.6-4.8 at those speeds.

from_atozinc

zilog_jones wrote: »

I get around 5.6 l/100km on long motorway journeys stuck at 120 km/h (130 km/h indicated). And that's with a Prius that was a new model in 2009. The current hybrids are more efficient again - a current Prius will do more like 4.6-4.8 at those speeds.

What’s the combines figures for the latest Prius - 4l/100km?

The One Doctor

I'm fed up with the Prius now anyway, made my mind up to change to a 1l Vitz.

zilog_jones

What don't you like about it?