Advice

[Claire r]

Hi,

I'm thinking of getting a Prius and I need some advice?

What should I look for when searching? What mileage is too high for 2007 or 2005?

When do the batteries need changing, I've heard it's after 3 years?

How do prii perform in the snow?

What sort of special care and attention do they need? Do I need to re-learn how to drive? ( I've never driven an automatic.)

I don't want to waste sales peoples time so I'm probably wasting yours instead but please help?

Also, what is the difference between generations?

Thank you, thank you, thank you in advance!!

:-)

[Grumpy Cabbie]

The Prius is, and drives pretty much like any other petrol car. To answer your questions I'd say that lower miles AND full Toyota service history is a must. The big HV (High Voltage) Battery should last the life of the car and that means 10-15 years with ease. There are stories of cabs in America with 500,000+ miles on the orignal HV Battery. There is also a smaller 12v Battery (similar to that found in all cars) which is used to power things like the lights and radio when the car isn't running. This 12v battery has a life of about 4 years (in keeping with most non hybrid cars) and costs about £100 fitted from a Toyota dealers.

The Prius performs quite well in the snow but the traction control (the thing that stops the wheels spinning) was overly keen on the older models of Prius from about 2004-5. Apparantly the make and type of tyre makes a big difference to the performance in snow - but again this applies to all cars.

Does the Prius need special care? Not really, in fact it's so simple to use and very easy to drive - one of the reasons I drive one 10 hours a day as a taxi. Personally I would probably recommend you get your Prius serviced by a trusted main dealer as some 'back street' garages might not know what they're doing with them. Toyota dealers are pretty good (with the odd exception) and are trained on how to look after the Prius.

To find the differences in Prius models check out the following; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prius and; http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110125/bc_olsen_prius_reliability_110125/20110125?hub=BritishColumbiaHome

Hope this helps but don't be afraid to ask more questions. Also, go take a test drive at your local dealers to really appreciate how easy and smooth the Prius is to drive. It's an ideal city/commuter vehicle.

[capnbirdseye]

As Grumpy says above , the Prius is extremely easy to drive and the automatic transmission is probably the smoothest ever invented and apart from selecting forward or backwards it needs no further attention really and you will probably never want to go back to the antiquated clutch and gear stick that's incredibly still with us after over 100 years of shoving in one lever with your foot whilst shoving another with your hand.

What is a high mileage? well you probably need to avoid anything on a 2005/6/07 that approaches 90,000 miles or more because it's 8 year hybrid train warranty will expire at 100,000 miles.

There were a surprising number of ex company owned Prius with very high mileage around when I was looking to buy last year but they're so reliable that it's not really a problem but I'd limit myself to 50,000 max if I were you and if you can afford it get one from a Toyota dealers approved stock with a proper warranty or if you buy from a private seller makes sure that it's service book has been properly stamped to validate the 8 year warranty.

The T.Spirit is the model with all the extras on the later models but you need to decide whether you need bluetooth and satnav, voice activation etc.

Also as Grumpy says, don't worry about asking questions, that's what forums like this are for!

[Claire r]

Thank you both. Theres two in my area. They are quite rare north of the border. :-(

Top end of my budget, 2007 t3, full Toyota service history, 37000 miles

Nicely in budget, 2005 t4 I'm calling in the morning about service history, 59000 miles.

Think I will try and get the top one, it's private so I will have to flog my car after, somehow!! Second one is at a dealer but not Toyota.

[Ancient Nerd]

Don't forget that if the mileage is below 100,000 you can get a two year unlimited mileage extended warranty from Mr.T, and renew until it is 7 years old.

As I have the Toyota Weasel Warranty supplied with the early Gen III, I shall be taking one of these later this year, plus the rip-off Battery warranty, and claiming the cost back from Mr.T (unfortunately via the dealer - who really isn't at fault) via the small claims court.

FWIW. My previous (08 reg) Prius is still in the family. It has now done around 85,000 miles. No trouble whatsoever, apart from one new set of tyres and a few Wiper Blades. It's hybrid system warranty will probably still be active after the one for my Gen III has expired.

[cootuk]

Pretty similar questions to when we bought ours.

2006 56 models are the facelifted GenII which apparently have the traction control tweaked a bit to make them better in slippery conditions.

Depending on your mileage I would be looking for one with maybe max 60k miles so you have the hybrid train warranty still valid for a few yesrs.

Snow - stock tyres are ok, but for real bad weather you either need tyre socks or a set of winter tyres. Depends how well your roads are cleared. Quite a few threads about these.

The small 12v Battery is an odd size so probably let Mr Toyota swap that out every few years.

A failing 12v Battery can cause a few gremlins.

No need to learn to rederive for automatic. We find it so much easier.

For the first few trips your left foot will go for the clutch and you will panic a little, and you will feel like you've stalled at junctions with the stop/start, but you quickly adjust. Let the car do it's thing and you're fine.

As for specs, T3 is the base model.

T4 adds better music and foglights.

TSpirit adds goodies like reversing camera, sat nav etc, but these were customer selected items.

I would take a test drive locally, then look wider afield to buy the actual car. No point limiting yourself to local ones, especially if you can afford Toyota Approved. Toyota also do good owner breakdown cover.

[Red diesel]

Hi,

I'm thinking of getting a Prius and I need some advice?

What should I look for when searching? What mileage is too high for 2007 or 2005?

When do the batteries need changing, I've heard it's after 3 years?

How do prii perform in the snow?

What sort of special care and attention do they need? Do I need to re-learn how to drive? ( I've never driven an automatic.)

I don't want to waste sales peoples time so I'm probably wasting yours instead but please help?

Also, what is the difference between generations?

Thank you, thank you, thank you in advance!!

:-)

Don't worry about wasting salespeoples time - you are a genuine potential buyer who is genuinely thinking of buying a Prius. So they should have no problem

in answering all your queries. Its their job in my view to sell you a car and part of that is answering customer queries about the car, if they don't answer

your queries then go to another dealer where the dealer will treat you better.

The reality is that the Prius is new technology to many people - so a salesman selling one of these should be prepared to answer a lot of queries about the car

if not - then he doesn't deserve the business.

Best of luck

Red diesel

[capnbirdseye]

Just be prepared to find that the average salesman including at Toyota dealers knows very little about the Prius and if they don't actually know the answer to a question they will often bluff that they do. The people on this forum drive the vehicles daily and probably peruse other forums as well so most of the answers you get here will be from experience

I still can't believe the Toyota bloke who went out on a short test drive drive with me & advised me to put it into B mode every time I am approaching to stop at traffic lights etc because it will charge the Battery twice as fast

[dwilson]

Just be prepared to find that the average salesman including at Toyota dealers knows very little about the Prius and if they don't actually know the answer to a question they will often bluff that they do. The people on this forum drive the vehicles daily and probably peruse other forums as well so most of the answers you get here will be from experience

I still can't believe the Toyota bloke who went out on a short test drive drive with me & advised me to put it into B mode every time I am approaching to stop at traffic lights etc because it will charge the battery twice as fast

Indeed I was sold my Prius by a complete muppet employed by a main dealer, but salesperson was "let go" shortly after I collected the car. I think I ended up with a good deal but not impressed with the dealer who employed this guy :censor:

[cootuk]

West Riding Toyota in Bradford were very clued up as the small team, between them, have good knowledge of the whole range. The first salesperson didn't know the Prius too well, so passed us onto the person that did.

They took us for a long (time wise) test drive until we were happy with swapping from a manual to an automatic.

There are good dealers out there, and it is worth travelling to get the right car.

[Peter Sale]

The salesman I dealt with was very good and knew the Prius well, explained everything and had an excellent test route which gave a good variety of driving - open country and town traffic. Ok he told me the road tax was £15 which is no near that I wasn't bothered.

BUT then at the end he told me that the key charged up while it was in the slot !!

I still expect the Battery life to be better than my smart entry Yaris where I was lucky to get more than 6 months out of a fob Battery.

Back to the main subject - excellent car, joy to drive. Just remember to press the brake - and not just to stop !

Peter