My oldest son just bought his first car, got a 2005 Prius with around 140k miles on it.
I didn't know that much about them, but it's looking like we dodged some potential issues. The date code on the HV battery is 2017 and the Dr. Prius test shows 85%+ capacity. So that looks good for potential long life. Here's hoping. I know there are still a few other potential problem spots (AC compressor, brake actuator) but these are supposed to be overall reliable cars and they did make a ton of them.
For myself, I was always curious about hybrids but the math didn't ever seem like it worked out -- it would take a lot of miles to recoup the few thousand I could save buying an equivalent 4-cyl gas car. And any big repairs would make the savings evaporate.
I've never owned a Toyota, and I have to say I kind of like this car and might end up trying to pick one up for myself, although I think I'd want to try grabbing a cheap dead one and putting in a new battery. It's cool to see some of the design decisions that Toyota made, has a very 90s feel to the interior in my opinion. Really weird to me to have no physical A/C controls or display on the radio and only the minimal HUD in front of you.
How about you? Any experience with an old hybrid? Heck, the Chevrolet Volts are starting to look affordable (although a battery replacement in one of them would be BIG bucks)
I didn't know that much about them, but it's looking like we dodged some potential issues. The date code on the HV battery is 2017 and the Dr. Prius test shows 85%+ capacity. So that looks good for potential long life. Here's hoping. I know there are still a few other potential problem spots (AC compressor, brake actuator) but these are supposed to be overall reliable cars and they did make a ton of them.
For myself, I was always curious about hybrids but the math didn't ever seem like it worked out -- it would take a lot of miles to recoup the few thousand I could save buying an equivalent 4-cyl gas car. And any big repairs would make the savings evaporate.
I've never owned a Toyota, and I have to say I kind of like this car and might end up trying to pick one up for myself, although I think I'd want to try grabbing a cheap dead one and putting in a new battery. It's cool to see some of the design decisions that Toyota made, has a very 90s feel to the interior in my opinion. Really weird to me to have no physical A/C controls or display on the radio and only the minimal HUD in front of you.
How about you? Any experience with an old hybrid? Heck, the Chevrolet Volts are starting to look affordable (although a battery replacement in one of them would be BIG bucks)