First Time/intro

[gen2]

hi to everyone,

this is my first time here in the forum so just finding my way round.I have gained a lot from the forum members who have helped me to purchase my first ever hybrid/prius with confidence.I bought my gen2 prius t spirit July last yeakr.it was 08 plate with 34k on the clock,paid £9,200 plus £250 for warranty.test drive it for a short time and was happy with how it drove.agreed the price and drove it home.was very happy driving it home,so easy to drive with cvt auto.had my first service with local Toyota dealer it was a 40k mile so bit expensive,involved,oil,change,brake fluid change,etc.and mot.anyway around may this year I started getting some whirling noise coming from front.got louder as time went on so took it to dealer,who said it was front bearing so left it there for diagnostic.I was told both front bearings had gone and quoted me about £460-I thought bit high so took it to private garage who found front left bearing had gone,I asked how much,he told me about £140 part and labour.I thought very reasonable,so let them do it.after that noise gone back to silence,and very happy.by the way the private warrant I purchased was useless as they don't cover wheel bearings,as they are wear and tear.don't know what you think. Thanks.

[Awebb180]

where was the car and warranty from? was it from a Toyota dealer? seen it plenty of time with aftermarket warranties they they dont cover a lot of things

Alex

[gen2]

the car was from a small independent garage in oxfordshire and it was their warranty

[johalareewi]

Wheel bearing gone after 40000 miles

[timberwolf]

I read somewhere that driving a car in flood water up to the wheel bearings can push the grease out of the bearing, and then it will fail earlier than expected. How long do you reckon a wheel bearing should last? (It isn't a trick question, I've never had one replaced in any car that I've owned but I've never owned a car with more than 60-70,000 miles on the clock).

[Surv1v0r]

I am led to believe that speed calming humps are pretty damaging for wheel bearings. Massive pot-holes in the road can't help either :(

[johalareewi]

How long do you reckon a wheel bearing should last? (It isn't a trick question, I've never had one replaced in any car that I've owned but I've never owned a car with more than 60-70,000 miles on the clock).

Over the many years and miles I have been driving, I have rarely had to replace a wheel bearing. So I would expect 100,000 miles easily. Most of my cars do over 100,000 miles before they are replaced.

[Chippy01]

The front wheel bearings of my '07 Gen II went south at around 64,000 miles.

It's a common enough failure (apparantly), but not enough fail for Toyota to issue a recall.

[timberwolf]

Ta.

I always thought that Toyota's cars were supposed to be reliable.

Wheel bearings, brake discs, engine water pump (not to be confused with the Hybrid coolant pump), 12V Battery and steering problems seem to spoil the reliability.

I'm a bit depressed because my car has just had the dual VOSA recall done (Steering and Hybrid coolant pump were both replaced) - although I should be happy that they've been replaced and therefore in theory I shouldn't suffer a breakdown it does knock my faith in Toyota's reliability. I've never owned a car that has been subject to potentially so many recalls before.

[Chris Fisher]

Better to have a recall and get the potential problem sorted than for Toyota to bury their heads in the sand and deny there is anything wrong. If anything, a very occasional recall increases my faith in a company.

[timberwolf]

I guess it depends on what you consider an occasional recall.

[Joseph D]

Better to have a recall and get the potential problem sorted than for Toyota to bury their heads in the sand and deny there is anything wrong. If anything, a very occasional recall increases my faith in a company.

I agree, too. Plus it gets fixed at my convenience to prevent a potential problem which no doubt, if it were to occur, it would be at the worst possible time. :)

[johalareewi]

Over the many years and miles I have been driving, I have rarely had to replace a wheel bearing. So I would expect 100,000 miles easily. Most of my cars do over 100,000 miles before they are replaced.

Would you believe it. At 95,000 miles, my OSR wheel bearing has started to make a noise. Took it in to MrT to check out and was very pleased to discover they can replace it under the extended warranty. :)

[Grumpy Cabbie]

One of mine is making a slight groaning noise at start up every now and then. Only does it for a few miles and not every time. Hmmm. I'm with the old warranty and didn't extend it but I'm over 80k hard miles so it's expected.

Done well to get this far I think. The suspension has taken a clobbering and is holding up nicely still maybe with a little more body roll than when new but no knocking or clattering.

[PeteB]

I had one on my Gen 1 Prius after almost 160,000 miles.

My first Yaris (bought new in 2000) had 2 replaced at 16k, but a side impact that pushed the car sideways across two lanes and then spun it and/or driving through a deep flood may have contributed.

A 1968 British Leyland 1300 needed two by 60k (and may have been replaced once already by a previous owner, which was normal in those days!

[Grumpy Cabbie]

A 1968 British Leyland 1300 needed two by 60k (and may have been replaced once already by a previous owner, which was normal in those days!

I think people forget just how crap cars once were. My first car was the old family car given to me when I passed my test at 17. The car was only 7 years old which nowadays seems like quite a gift. But it was a 7 year old Datsun and was rotten in a way only a Datsun could be. Every panel was rusty, the sills were rusted out etc and it was only 7 years old! It had about one more year of life in it, possibly two. I managed to keep it a further 3 years but it needed lots and lots of welding. Pretty it wasn't.

To put that in context today, it's like a 57 plate car being ready for the scrap heap with few cars much older. Cars last so much longer now and people expect at least 10 years out of their car and I'd expect my Prius to be around until it's about 15. My Prius is nearly 5 years old and when polished it looks almost like new. And it wasn't just body work that got them. Engines, bearings, gearboxes were all nothing compared to today. Haines made a fortune printing repair manuals that you really needed to own just to keep the thing running.

Happy days? Mmmm no.