Possible 2Nd Generation Purchase...tips Please

[toby2449]

Hi all,

new to the site, & to be honest if I buy a Prius I'll be new to Toyota!

I'm thinking about buying a 2nd generation Prius (its either that or a diesel!), 2005-2006 depending on budget. Now I know that Toyota's in general are reliable, but ofcourse the Prius isn't your average Toyota & is a little bit special (to put it mildly!).

So I'd love any tips on what to look for, are there known weak areas, & my biggest concern is the Battery pack - hugely expensive to replace if it goes wrong - but do they go wrong??

Any help at all guys would be really appreciated.

[timberwolf]

It is one of the urban myths, the big Battery does not fail that often, and it is not hugely expensive no worse than a transmission on a regular automatic, the last time I saw the suggested cost of the Traction/HV (High Voltage) Battery it was roughly a £1500-£1700 part. There are I believe other equally expensive components you could worry about, for example the MFD (Multi-function Display) in the centre of the dash, or the Hybrid Transaxle.

2006-onwards would be better than a 2004-2005 model as it had the updated MFD (early 2004-2005 were more prone to failure due to dry solder joints) and the permanent Traction Control was improved.

Try a few searches for common failures.

[cootuk]

2006 was a facelift year too, so also a better traction control response in snow (allegedly).

8 year/100,000 mile warranty on the hybrid side, so a 2006 model should still have some warrant left just in case.

I would check:

Tyres - by now it should have had tyres replaced, so check they are eco rather than cheap rubbish

Brakes - check for corrosion and wear as probably about due for a change

Exhaust - check back box and connecting flange to back box for corrosion

12V Battery - probably due to be changed if not already

Some GenII are due a steering column recall that's only come out recently.

[toby2449]

Thanks very much indeed guys for the help. I've looked through my figures & I reckon my budget will go to a 2006, are there ways of spotting a facelifted Prius?

[timberwolf]

As you are doing sums, what are you hoping to achieve mpg wise?

[toby2449]

Well I've had a think about MPG also, I live in rural Ireland, between me & my drive to work (5 miles) there's no traffic lights, no congestion, so if i do buy a Prius she'll be driving on quiet country back roads so i'd like to get maybe 50-55mpg - I'm a careful driver, no racing around from me!

[cootuk]

iirc the facelift version has a hybrid decal above the side indicators on the front wings.. thats the easiest thing to see

[timberwolf]

That is a short distance, but I think 50-55 mpg is achievable as an annual average, but you'd most likely experience a low 45 mpg when it is freezing and maybe 55-58 mpg when it is hot.

[Cyker]

For a 'commute' like that, might be worth getting a plug-in mod done then you'll never need to refuel it!

[toby2449]

cheers guys. i know the actual drive to work isn't much, but my thinking behind driving a Prius is the following....

• Its not diesel!
• I suspect the kind of people who buy a Prius actually look after the thing & don't trash it.
• Its not diesel!
• If the wife or I need to go anywhere at weekends then we're looking at a min 20 mile drive to shops etc (we literally do live in the middle of nowhere!)
• its not diesel!
• Its a Toyota so its bound to be reliable!
• Its different! I've always owned Fiats & Alfas as they're a little bit different, but they're just so hard to sell on that I feel they're just not worth it anymore (hard for me to say as i've owned 11 in total)

[Carltona123]

I'd insist on a fully stamped-up Toyota service history.

If you like slightly quirky stuff then the Prius is definitely for you.

I was talking to a long term Toyota mechanic the other day and he said the big Battery just isn't an issue.

I'm a little wary of company cars - are they loved?

Good luck!

[toby2449]

Thanks for the info. I'm finding the people on this forum extremely helpful! I have a bit of a background with Toyotas as i used to work in the accounts department for a Toyota dealership, & when I did the bank runs I'd take a Prius if one was available, I remember the first time i drove the 2nd generation model & i put the parking braking on at a set of traffic lights - had to phone one of the sales guys to tell me how to take it off!! The Prius was the only Toyota I didn't mind driving!

I was wondering about service costs etc, by your post Carltrona123 I assume Prius shouldn't be serviced just anywhere, a Toyota dealer should always do the job?

[cootuk]

Fixed price servicing, £129 intermediate, £199 full, plus fluids like brake fluid.

Other than that, we've had a new exhaust at 7 years old £180 for back box, £300 for front section including cat and silencer.

We had a rear driver side lock sticking on deadlock which was £50 off eBay.

Apart from tyres that's all the wear/tear items we've had.

[timberwolf]

A private buyer might look after their car - no guarantee they will though.

This might be more the case for the 3rd Gen Prius than the 2nd Gen, but I think you will probably see fleet owned ones where the driver may have only gone for one for the tax benefits but otherwise thrashed it up and down the motorway, taxis get a hard life, and then you've got ones bought perhaps by local councils where the workers have a chip on their shoulders about driving a "milk float", etc.

The dealers I've been to were charging extra for a brake fluid change as it wasn't part of the service.

Brake fluid priced at £39 recommended every two years.

An Air filter I think was also £39 unless I misread it! I think that one was suggested at 40,000 miles/4 years.

Under EU rules, I think the theory is any competent garage is supposed to be able to service the car, but I'm guessing that the car manufacturers have probably managed to wriggle their away around this by providing as little technical information as they can get away with? Can independents do the recalls??

My impression is that the independent garages are probably going to be unfamiliar with the Toyota Hybrids, even if the maintenance on the mechanical side is straight forward - an oil and filter change is apparently not difficult but you'd have to be confident that the mechanic knew enough about the car to know if the petrol engine was about to start. You can probably find a horror story about an oil change going wrong because the petrol engine started up after the mechanic had drained the oil.

[Carltona123]

Hi Toby

Yep - the conventional wisdom is that it's best left to Toyota for servicing and tbh their fixed price costs do seem pretty reasonable. My Toyota garage has started making noises about my front brake discs needing replacing because they are "corroded" but they look fine to me so I intend to leave them. In fairness the service receptionist did say that they were obliged to report but there was no rush. I live in Birmingham and have noticed that lots of the private hire guys are now starting to run 55/06 plate gen 2's. I was chatting to one the other day and he told me that he'd needed new pads and discs and that an independent guy had done them at a fraction of what Toyota were asking. He gave me his number and I might think about using him. If only I lived in California - there's a really well established non-franchise network of service centres there!

[toby2449]

cheers guys. Throughout the years of car ownership I'd sometimes services my own cars, but if they needed things like timings belts etc I'd leave them down to a small local garage beside me, don't think he'd be up for a Prius though, thankfully we do have a Toyota dealership about 25 miles away. Well from chatting to you guys I think the Prius is a go. I did have my concerns but they have all been taken care of, Now all i need to do is get my finances sorted, convince the wife & get shopping!

Just like to say I've not come across a forum as helpful as this since i was on an Alfa Romeo owners forum, so thank you to one & all for all the comments & advice. At this stage of the year its better for me to wait till 2014 to go used car shopping as a huge amount of used cars come onto the market in January as trade ins.