Toyota Prius 1.8

getoffgrid

Considering a used Prius with the 1.8 engine and just wondering if any owners have information or experiences they'd like to share? I've viewed some at a dealers, but not had a test drive yet.

ratrace

look on the auto trader website under the reviews and what owners of the car are saying

i have seen a lot of people drive them only thing id say look in to the battery side of things as far as im aware they can be very expensive to replace if stop working for whatever reason

is it brand new or a few years old if old what sort of mileage are you looking at?

cootuk

Depends what year you are looking at:-

The warranties changed on early GenIII.

Gen II...2003-2008, hybrid side 8years or 100,000 mile
Gen III...2009-2010, hybrid side 5years or 60,000 miles
Gen III june 2010- hybrid side 5yrs or 100,000miles, but battery 8years

People generally look on the early GenIII warranty as being a bit naff, especially as many fairly bulletproff components from the GenII were "upgraded". A lot of people buy late model GenII rather than an early GenIII.

Toyota now do a hybrid battery warranty check (£39 or free with service) that increases battery warranty by a year up to 11 years old, limited to 10k a year.

Expect the smaller 12V battery to last around 5years (about £100 replacement).

As an aside, just look round at all the taxi drivers now running them. They're not idiots in terms of running costs.

forgotmyname

A couple of reviews said a Ford Focus, VW Golf or Honda Civic would be a cheaper alternative for most people.

sh0597

Hybrids get a bit of a bad rep from purists but from what I understand, the batteries have proven more reliable than expected. Whether they make sense or not depends on your usage.

getoffgrid

ratrace wrote: »

look on the auto trader website under the reviews and what owners of the car are saying

i have seen a lot of people drive them only thing id say look in to the battery side of things as far as im aware they can be very expensive to replace if stop working for whatever reason

is it brand new or a few years old if old what sort of mileage are you looking at?

Thanks. Looking at 2010 or later, maybe around 50-60K?

getoffgrid

forgotmyname wrote: »

A couple of reviews said a Ford Focus, VW Golf or Honda Civic would be a cheaper alternative for most people.

I started looking for a car with good cabin space, boot space to carry family luggage, auto transmission, and good mpg, and that's how I arrived at the Prius. I'd look at the cars you suggested if they match the requirements as well overall.

macman

Most comparably sized turbodiesels will give better mpg than a Prius. Whether a diesel is suitable for you I don't know without knowing your annual mileage.
Auto trans is probably the issue with a turbodiesel, with relatively few around, but you might find a 2.0 tdi DSG model of the Golf/Octavia/Leon.

cootuk

If it's mainly motorway work, then I guess a diesel is a good option as you can keep the DPF clean.
If it's lots of urban driving then I would love to see an auto Golf get 50+mpg like the Prius. That's why loads of taxi drivers are changing from diesel Vectras to Prius.

getoffgrid

cootuk wrote: »

If it's mainly motorway work, then I guess a diesel is a good option as you can keep the DPF clean.
If it's lots of urban driving then I would love to see an auto Golf get 50+mpg like the Prius. That's why loads of taxi drivers are changing from diesel Vectras to Prius.

The rationalisation of the Prius above hides the fact other half would like a BMW with auto box. I looked at the 2.0d which is nice, but our annual mileage is around 9K. Only way that will change is if I need to commute for work, which I'm not expecting.

getoffgrid

One more question, where might be the best place to buy a used Prius between private, car supermarkets, used car dealers, etc.? I've had a look in some supermarkets at ex-lease cars and their prices are not very attractive.