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Should You Buy a Second-Hand Prius?

Maintenance costs may outstrip fuel savings

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

April 4, 2008

With sales of new hybrids increasing by almost 30 percent a year and gasoline prices following at a faster pace, a second-hand hybrid can appear to be a smart alternative in a tight economy.

But because of the car's relatively new design, there is little information available to help consumers judge the reliability of a used Prius other than reports from previous Prius owners.

Consumer beware. The risks may be higher than you think.

Battery blues

Doris in Smithville, Tennessee bought a used Prius in July 2006.

“Trying to inform myself prior to buying the car, I asked about the battery and was told never had they seen the whole battery fail, only a cell at a time to the tune of $200 per cell,” she was told. “I did not want to spend the money on a brand-new Prius. I wanted to test the waters on a used one first.”

The decision to buy a second had hybrid was costly.

The 2006 Prius had 73,200 miles on the odometer leaving 26,800 remaining on the hybrid battery warranty. “I bought it and thought I was living the dream, but only for a moment,” Doris told ConsumerAffairs.com.

When the weather turned cold her Prius would have no power. The engine was difficult to start. “Finally it went totally down,” she said. “No power!”

The Toyota dealer told Doris at first that she must have over-filled the gas tank and may have ruined the Prius computer system. The repair cost would be $1,900.

One year later the Prius lost all power while driving at 65 mph on an Interstate highway. "I was scared to death,” Doris wrote. The Prius was towed to a dealer and Doris was told “the main battery was down it would be $6,890 to fix it.”

Remember, the first dealer told her the battery never failed completely and the replacement cost would be roughly $2,000.

Doris was lucky as things turned out.

“They called tech support and found it was a leaf sucked up in a filter which in turn prevented gas and air from going to the battery and drained it." Doris spent $225 to tow the Prius to the dealer and $276 to charge the main battery plus tax, a lot less than the original $6,890 repair estimate but still $549.85.

But not all the repair news was good. "They told me it could happen again. So I'm stuck with what I feel is a defective product. I'm Toyota's rolling gunea pig,” she said. “I cannot trade the car because they tell I'm $5,500 up side down," she said. “I have to buy a new car to roll this amount with it. I can't afford a new car with a $425 per month payment.”

Transmission troubles

In Loomis, California, Sam tells the tale of expensive repairs with his 2003 Prius.

After a series of problems with the Prius engine, Toyota informed Sam that he needed to have the transmission replaced. The estimate for repairs was around $7,000, almost the value of the entire vehicle, according to Sam.

“Naturally the vehicle was no longer covered by the warranty,” he said.

The Prius had 116,289 miles on the odometer when the car began to malfunction. The check-engine light came on and the engine quickly shut down. The dealership informed Sam that the gasoline engine quit because the battery ran out of juice. The dealership checked the spark plugs and coils, detected slight misfire until warm but could not reproduce the problem. The cost of the service was $123.77.

The repair bill seemed too good to be true. And it was.

When the problem occurred a second time, the Toyota dealership said that the “problem was not really the spark plugs but that the sophisticated hybrid transmission needed to be replaced. The estimate for the parts and labor for this repair would be approximately $2,000.” The estimate was quickly revised to $7,000 with parts and labor. The “cost of the new transmission alone was $5,000,” Sam reported.

Early adopter

In Sunnyvale, California, Matt was one of the original 2001 Prius hybrid owners.

“Now, after 130,000 miles of driving the main battery is dead. The Toyota dealer is telling me the life of the main battery was 100,000 for my car, although the new Prius comes with a 150,000-mile warranty,” he said.

Matt said that the dealer told him he was the third Prius owner to require a main battery replacement.

“Labor and parts, plus tax was $4,500. Unfortunately, there is no third-party service provider who knows how to fix Prius,” he said.

Matt warns consumers interested in a second hand Prius to be prepared to pay $4,500 for the main battery before 150,000 miles have been recorded on the odometer.”

Complexity

That is not all.

“The car is loaded with electronics and solid state controllers. Be prepared to pay outrageous prices for diagnostics and repair. Very rarely you will walk out with a bill costing under $300,” Matt said.

“You will pay nearly $150 for having a duplicate key made to your Prius. That is because the key apparently has an anti-theft chip which has to be programmed by Toyota,” he said.

There's no doubt the Prius gets good gas mileage (though perhaps not as good as many buyers expect). But whether the total cost of ownership is reasonable is another question indeed.

Consumers who need reliable, inexpensive transportation are still better off with a simple, straightforward economy car -- a Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic or something similar with a four-cylinder engine and a manual transmission are likely to provide trouble-free, economic transportation for hundreds of thousands of miles.

Here are some of the reports we've received from other Prius owners:

Tom of Anaheim, CA August 12, 2009

After 144,000 miles driving my 2001 Prius, the transmission, inverter and the batteries had to be replaced. Until then, it was the best car I had ever owned. Since then it is still the best but I spent 10,000 to replace everything and they even forgave me over 3,000. They just found it impossible to diagnose the complete problem at first or I would have junked it. I have car pool stickers so I thought it was better for me to fix it. I don't use the sticker benefit much. They told me (later) that if the trans goes out the others go out most of the time too. They also told me it was worth getting it fixed. I doubt if I will break even on the sell. It should be good for another 100K miles now but I am selling it. I'll never again drive a hybrid car this long, even with a sticker benefit. Many problematic things were replaced under warranty so this is my first high expense. Steering, gas tank, computers, and more. The fuel pedal sensor was bad but it fixed itself somehow. Should have gotten rid of it a long time ago.

Jesus of Santa Cruz, CA August 9, 2009

2008 Toyota Prius, rapid tire wear, wear pattern shows underflation, both dhoulders are wearing rapidly. T about 25,000 miles they were reccommended at the dealership when servicing the vehicle, can't believe that Toyota would install such cheap tires on an almost 30.000 car.

Leo of Reno, NV July 28, 2009

2008 Toyota Prius: When we first purchased this car a year ago we were getting really close to the EPA estimates. Over the last 6-8 months the mileage has dropped and continues to drop more each month.

Our local dealer in Reno, NV is claiming that there is nothing wrong with this vehicle, but has no explanation for the steady drop in mileage. Very frustrating! We are now getting 35-36 mpg and that is not what we paid for. A Civic does that well without the Hybrid price tag.

If this is what we have to live with then I will sell this car and never recommend to anyone.

Ben of Stockton, CA July 24, 2009

My 2008 Toyota Prius, with only 23,000 miles on it caught on fire and is totaled. The car did something weird when I turned a residential corner and the warning lights came on (Master Warning, Vehicle Stability control and Hybrid System). A couple minutes later smoke started coming out of the vents of the passenger side seats and before I knew it a flame was in the corner of the back passenger side seat and the car burnt in no time.

Barbara of Columbus, OH July 8, 2009

We own a 2005 Prius with only 38,000 miles and were very happy with it until several months ago. Since that time we have had to have it jumped six times when it wouldn't start after driving to and parking at a location. Last week, after the third episode, we took it to be checked out at Toyota West, and they could find nothing wrong. But when my husband made a stop on the way home, it happened again! When we called to complain, they said to have it towed the next time it wouldn't start so they could better assess the problem.

It happened again yesterday, so I called AAA to have it towed. When the driver arrived, he could not even put the car in neutral to get it on the truck. Consequently, we were forced to jump it again and drive it to Toyota West. They have checked it out and again say they can find nothing wrong. They have advised us to drive it every day and for at least 45 consecutive minutes once a week to keep the battery charged. We told them no one had told us to do that when we bought the car there, and they replied that this information is part of all salesmen's training. Is it no wonder they don't share this information? Who would buy a Prius if they knew of these requirements? I would like this information made public so no one else is deceived and disappointed. It's interesting to note that almost every time the car wouldn't start, it was after turning it on to put down the windows and immediately turning it off to wait in the car. We have shared this information with the service department since it seems like important information that might lead to the solution to the problem, but they insist it shouldn't have anything to do with the car not starting. We are extremely disappointed as we were hoping to drive this car for many years. I don't see how this is going to be possible when it's so unreliable.

steve of santa barbara, CA July 7, 2009

I own a 2001 Toyota Prius. Recently a warning light came on and the dealer (after four separate attempts to diagnose the problem) ultimately recommended replacing the auxiliary battery, the Electronic Control Unit AND the primary battery. It is worth noting that the first time I brought the car in to Toyota of Santa Barbara the car was still under the warranty period for the Hybrid drive system. The 3rd through 4th diagnosis attempts were made 5 months after the 8 year warranty period.

It seemed virtually impossible that all three items would fail simultaneously and unrelated to one another so I contacted Toyota Corporation and it took them TWO WEEKS get back to me with their answer. They said that yes, all three can fail together and offered to pay for ½ of the cost for the ECU and the primary battery. One the one hand I appreciate the offer to offset about 1200.00 of my total expenses of almost 3,000, but at the end of the day I’m spending ¾ of the resale value of the car after only 45,000 miles to keep it on the road. This is not what one should expect from a Toyota. Toyota is you’re listening: I have owned 5 Toyotas in a row and my next car will be a VW Golf TDI. You have lost a loyal customer

Sharon of Wilmington, MA June 30, 2009

My 2007 Prius has 50K miles and I am experiencing problems with the driver's side headlight. Intermittently coming on and going off. And then the bright lights did not work at all. I was quoted 750 to replace the computer and the headlight. I really have no leverage to argue--I need my car at night and I need it now.

John of Princeton, KY June 23, 2009

Had warning lights come on at 139000 and took car to Madisonville Hudson Toyota, my 2001 Prius was diagnosed as needing new computer, relay, new fuel pump and gas tank bladder. paid 1750. after these were installed I was told now need HV battery 2650.00. Asked Hudson Toyota to save replaced parts. After long hunt they found two parts reputed to be mine. Left with car and took to Hopkinsville Toyota. Yes they said I need battery. Installed 2650. Battery.

Drove 1200 miles and warning lights came on. Said I needed new inverter and water pump. Left without installing inverter. Drove 1200 miles and lights came on. Disconnected battery drove 1200 miles and Warning lights came on. Also the lights seem to come on when brakes applied. Strange, it indicates service is not understood by either dealer, or hybrid is peace of junk after 140,000 miles.

Drove another 1200 miles and light came on. Disconnected Battery, reset computer and am driving again. Why can I drive 1200 miles and everything is working well. Noticed that battery post hotter than should be when I reset computer. Is it possible to get relief on this situation? Please advise. 4300.00

Michael of East Point, GA June 21, 2009

2007 Prius. having a problem with the transmission slipping out of DRIVE into NEUTRAL all by itself, and the engine completely shutting off while driving at speed. Mileage: 37,000, regular recommended maintenance done. Very strange.

Bob of Chula Vista, CA June 19, 2009

Yesterday I was out approx. 750 to replace a burned-out headlamp on my 2006 Prius. Is that a reasonable charge?

I'm not criticizing the Toyota rep . He seemed as perplexed as I was when he quoted the cost to me for my okay to continue with the work. Here's the breakdown: 343 for the headlamp + about 400 labor because the bumper had to be removed. If that's an accurate expense, isn't it a bit unfair to the customer to have to pay for removing a bumper to replace a headlamp?

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