Buying a 2005 Prius with 140K

"Chuckybas" (Chuckybas) 08/20/2018 at 15:07 • Filed to: toyota prius battery hybrid cary grant carygrant isetta question owner

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Mostly for commuting about 75 miles a day. Lots of Freeway. Should I watch out for anything? Are these battery packs known to start failing at a certain point? Would that even be an issue? What kind of MPG are you all seeing in your cars?

Cary Grant in an Isetta for your time.

Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast > Chuckybas 08/20/2018 at 15:43

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I would also like to know the answers to these questions.

I’m not sure my soul could handle daily driving a Prius , but I do 50+miles a day, about 75% @ freeway speeds, and sometimes it makes too much sense to rule them out .

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast 08/20/2018 at 16:12

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TDI would be a better bet for mostly highway mileage IMO.

Older VW Diesel’s had no issue cracking 55+mpg on the hwy.

WilliamsSW > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness 08/20/2018 at 16:34

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^^^^  TDI for best highway mileage, Prius for city driving.

atfsgeoff > WilliamsSW 08/20/2018 at 16:38

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Yep, the Prius’ party piece is that it gets better city mileage than highway, due to very efficient regenerative braking. If you’re doing mostly highway, you’ll yield better results from a small displacement turbodiesel car.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Chuckybas 08/20/2018 at 16:43

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40-45 mpg for a prius on the HWY. Way better in the city. I know nothing of their battery packs other than they won’t come to much use with steady state highway driving.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Chuckybas 08/20/2018 at 16:44

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They’re pretty stout. Sometimes the leads that connect the batteries die out, i f you’re decent with a soldering iron it’s an easy fix. Other than that, just normal maintenance. Check to see if the brakes have ever been changed, they’re known for doing 100k+ on the same set of rotors and pads.

If you’re doing almost exclusively freeway, a Volt, leaf (if you have a plug a t work) or TDI may be just as good for your $$.

HONDAD > Chuckybas 08/20/2018 at 16:47

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We had two Prisuses, one of which we drove up to 180,000 miles, with no problems. I think the other was driven to 150-ish with also no problems. As much as I didn’t enjoy the driving dynamics of these cars, they were more reliable and cheaper to maintain than my Honda Accords. I also have never heard about batteries crapping out on them (which was the big fear when hybrids were new). We frequently got 40-45mpg on the highway, so couple that with the amazing reliability , cheaper fu el cost than diesel, and cheaper repair costs than German, I’d say stick to this over a TDI.

Mid Engine > Chuckybas 08/20/2018 at 17:17

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Battery pack died @ 160,000 miles, cost $1400 for a reconditioned pack with a two year warranty

Motonator > Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast 08/20/2018 at 21:41

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My prius c doesn’t look like a prius, gets 40-50 hwy, and even better in city. Reason city is better is the gas engine can shutoff less than 42mph and when you have easy throttle inputs. Definitely not a wrx, but its dependable, stupid cheap and when you drive around town in all electric you will start to think its dumb that all cars cant handle the stop and go with the same efficiency.

I keep wanting to sell and get a sport car but today I clocked 411 miles on an empty rank which took 8.99 gallons to fill...makes me keep it. I’ve achieved over 80 mpg on commute home in stop and go traffic....just because I could. When I’m late for the airport and I’m pedal to the metal, I cannot get less than 30 mpg. I think I’ve hit 100mph but that was on a closed course (or course).

Prius C:

Pros: Does n’t look like a prius, cheap to buy, mo st gas station stops are for bathroom and drinks.

Cons: Ze ro bragging rights, everyone hates on it, public thinks you're a tree hugger.

Motonator > Motonator 08/20/2018 at 22:11

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Just realized I didn’t really answer y our questions. On test drive make sure you can get battery at least 90% full. Steering angle computers fail and cause cruise to not work due to ribbon in steering wheel (I never use cruise). I’ve seen more than one battery pack DIY repair that a savvy guy replaced just a few cells and was on his merry way again. FYI the lifetime average of % electric can reduce actual ICE running cycles so 100k engine with 13% electric only runtime is really 87k. Also forgot to elaborate, I’m extreme gearhead (RB26, SR20, 620, AW11, SW20, s13 etc etc etc) and I feel no shame rolling in the prius. It’s high tech YO!

Lovey Lissa > Chuckybas 08/20/2018 at 22:35

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Hi there!

I have a 2005 Prius with 200,000 miles. We bought it used 3 years ago.

Up until recently it was getting 40-44 mpg. It gets about 36-39 now, but I blame myself because I’ve been terrible with oil changes. As with any older car, frequent oil changes are key I guess.

Not sure if the electric battery had ever been changed, but it hasn’t given us any problems. Very recently it’s been showing up the red triangle (red triangle of death?) but it runs just fine.

I’m unbothered because I just bought a 2013 Prius V. We didn’t trade in our old Prius because it seems ok still (and it has a mashed front end; I t angled with a carport pole) . We will continue to drive it and love it until it dies.

If the price is a real steal, I’d say go for it! I’m really happy that I did. I drive about 75+ miles a day as well, driving for Uber and delivering for Instacart. Be aware, however, that the event of the battery failing is real possibility. With the year and mileage of your prospect Prius, you are beyond Toyota’s hybrid battery warranty.

Best of luck!

GLiddy > Chuckybas 08/20/2018 at 23:36

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The thing about a Prius is that it is usually better optioned than cars of similar size and mileage rating . (Many have upgraded stereos, leather seats, NAV, etc) There are videos on the internet showing how to do a quick battery test when you take a test drive. I almost bought one last year but the particular one I looked at had a couple issues.

I ended up with an ‘06 Corolla CE 5-speed. Bought it with 130K miles for a couple thousand less than the Prius. Not as nice, not as quiet, but it gets 32mpg on the highway and is more fun because of the stick shift. I have no problem driving at highway speeds in it. I’ve been up to 90 and it feels like it still has a bit more.

Got Jetta? > Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast 08/21/2018 at 00:34

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I questioned buying a Prius for my commute of 170 miles , but because of two reasons I chose not to after driving my wife’s barrowed Prius and a rented Nissan Sentra. 1) on my commute I have a couple of long 10-20 mile hill climbs that require enough power to get up, while maintaining highway speed of 75mph. All Prius’s I’ve encountered on my commute tend to struggle after 60 miles an hour. That can’t fly when I need to overtake a tractor or other slower moving car. 2) they are not comfortable for the long drives. Many people forget that comfort is very important when commuting long distances. A car can have great millage, but if you come out tired and sore from driving, than you won’t tolerate driving to work.

Skatefrench > Chuckybas 08/21/2018 at 01:08

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Pros-

Extremely reliable, comfortable, GREAT features (stereo, storage etc), great MPGs, durable.

Cons- not as cool I guess

We have 2 Prius, a 2006 and a 2007, both over 300k. Still have full confidence in them and gladly take them on long road trips. Both on original batteries. Interiors show virtually no signs of wear. I get 43 mpg average in mine around town. To me it’s the most comfortable and reliable car I’ve ever owned. And it still never ceases to amaze me how young the car feels even at 340k. I’ve owned other cars in the 200ks, and the interiors were deteriorating, the steering was loose, they periodically had mysterious engine problems. None of that with these cars.

 A Prius at 140k isn't even halfway through it's life yet. Id fully recommend getting it. 

Ohisee > Chuckybas 08/21/2018 at 02:33

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Do yourself a favor and try the Lexus ct200h before pulling the trigger on a prius. 

SynergyDryve > Chuckybas 08/21/2018 at 02:49

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I’ve averaged 73 .8 MPG on My Prius Plug-in with my 40 mile commute about 60% high way & charging both ways sometimes (I get ICEd  often then again its not really a charging spot )

But you going 05 so plug in aside i’ve had 0 battery problems and most people I know have the regular version never really had any trouble with it should probably be the least of your worries since even if it where to be bad it isn't terribly expensive to fix anymore.

Lloyd > Chuckybas 08/21/2018 at 06:03

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I’m still driving my 05 Prius with 231K miles on a daily basis . My commute changed in the last year from 95 miles daily to 50, but I still average 45mpg. I hate the look of the car, and hate more the way other drivers try to push you out of the left lane just because you’re in a Prius. But I’ve had only one part failure since I’ve owned the car (water pump) and only regular maintenance on it. I even stupidly forgot to change the oil for almost a year, and the little beast barely seemed to notice. It just keeps going. And i f the main battery goes bad you can replace it with a much cheaper remanufactured one rather than paying an arm and a leg for a new one. 

qf4dlQseF5PIRwFfWtQO > Chuckybas 08/21/2018 at 09:23

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If you are concerned with pollution, th e diesel cars mentioned in the other responses are worse for the environment than the Prius would be. Also diesels aren’t necessarily more efficient. First, the fuel has more energy per gallon so a 50 mpg diesel is less efficient than a 50 mpg gasoline engine . My Prius Prime Atkinson cycle engine (4 0% thermal efficiency!) achieves nearly 60 mpg going 70 mph, even better at lower speeds and in hills . Also, diesel fuel usually costs more. Keep all of these in mind along with the age of the battery packs.

Wayne > Chuckybas 08/21/2018 at 09:25

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This article just showed up in my new feed (thanks Google). We just retired our 2006 Prius with 294k miles on it. Never had a major issue with the car and probably will be one of the best cars we’ve ever owned. We consistently got between 43 mpg to 46 mpg weather dependent. This was with a 80 mile round trip daily commute to Boston. The car is now going to our nephew with the stipulation he get it over 300k.

At our last visit to our local mechanic for an oil change he said he met someone with a 2005 Prius with 675k miles on it. Changed the battery pack at 375 k and transmission at 400k.  The car is still going strong.

yensid > Got Jetta? 08/21/2018 at 09:30

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They struggle over 60? I regularly end up over 70 in my 2007 and haven't experienced that. Maybe you mean on an uphill? I haven't really tried that but could see how it would be an issue. 

yensid > Chuckybas 08/21/2018 at 09:38

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I have a 2007 Prius with over 200k on it. I did have to replace the battery pack at 170k, which I was repeatedly told was pretty early for those. In fact, Toyota corporate ended up cutting half off the price of a new pack replacement because of that. Otherwise, it's been totally reliable. 

One thing - the older ones like that don't get as amazing mileage as the newer ones, and winter is definitely worse. My range goes down about 25% in the Minnesota winters, though that's partly due to it having a bladder gas tank that can't expand as much in the winter - I end up putting about a gallon less in it. I get a bit over 400 miles on about 9 gallons per fill up in the summer, and just over 300 on an 8 gallon fill in the winter. 

Mountain Momma > Chuckybas 08/21/2018 at 10:01

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We have two Priuses, 2004 and 2012. The 2004 has 270, 000 miles, the 2012 165000 miles. We have been told by the Toyota maintenance person that as long as you drive the car, you won’t have an issue with the battery system. If you park the car and only drive it once or twice a week the batteries will fail. We also live in a very cold climate which runs the battery’s down, but they recharge quickly and again that hasn’t been an issue. Driving to the city for us means at least 120 miles round-trip. My commute to work used to be 100 miles per day.

Both cars average  great gas mileage, at least 50 MPG. I think the car is ugly and I bash the looks. My spouse loves the design of the car. It is comfortable to drive, and I would buy another one.

Sammyno55 > Motonator 08/21/2018 at 10:13

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+1 for the Prius C. My 2012 just rolled 176,000 miles. Coming from a mnual TDI , the TCO is MUCH lower on the Prius. In 6 years, I’ve changed oil and filters, cabin filters, air filters, plugs & tires. That’s it! No EGR bypass, or other craziness and no VW electronics... I get high 40's on the highway. I commute in Atlanta traffic and the stop and go is handled well by the “ Hybrid Synergy Drive”. The one down side is the tiny fuel tank. With the savings, I bought a fun used c ar to go with it.

Stankinaz > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness 08/21/2018 at 10:42

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Volkswagen lied! Their numbers are false! Look it up!

functionoverfashion > Mid Engine 08/21/2018 at 11:33

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You know, that’s not bad. Waaaaayy less than a transmission would be, for example.

Sanfam > Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast 08/21/2018 at 11:33

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I had this same dilem ma, bought a ‘13 volt. I plug in at home and commute 35-42 miles electric, the remaining 15-20 on gas. I average 110mpg combined electric/gas and could do better if I drove closer to the 45mph electric efficiency sweet spot. Once work gets a charger, 100% electric will be achieved.

It isn't soul crushing, nor is it unexciting.  Only regret with the volt is the lower Long haul mpg (seeing 38-40) on multi hundred miles road trips vs the prius' 45-50.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > Stankinaz 08/21/2018 at 12:10

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So did the EPA/CARB.

The point is moot when they will easily get 55 mpg hwy in real world use anyway.

Roscoe > Chuckybas 08/21/2018 at 12:16

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It depends on the Prius model. I have a fleet of 7. And the standard Prius work fantastic. I have the Prius C and I have had a Prius V. I would recommend against those two models I have had issues with both of thsm. The standard Prius are virtually maintenance free. I do the 100k service at the local dealer and have not had any major issues untill about 280 K. They avg. Around 44 mpg and we put about 200 miles a day on each. 

Tunercar > Chuckybas 08/21/2018 at 12:29

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Honestly I would try to get a 2008 and above, the kinks were resolved by then, first year cars are like the ginnnypig for manufactures, later years are much more reliable. 

Sanfam > Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast 08/21/2018 at 13:42

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I had this same dilemma, bought a ‘13 volt. I plug in at home and commute 35-42 miles electric, the remaining 15-20 on gas. I average 110mpg combined electric/gas and could do better if I drove closer to the 45mph electric efficiency sweet spot. Once work gets a charger, 100% electric will be achieved.

It isn’t soul crushing, nor is it unexciting. Only regret with the volt is the lower Long haul mpg (seeing 38-40) on multi hundred miles road trips vs the prius’ 45-50.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Chuckybas 08/21/2018 at 14:07

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Consider a CT200h if you want more comfort

Mid Engine > functionoverfashion 08/21/2018 at 14:16

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The OEM battery pack is $3k and has a one year warranty, reconditioned was half that with double the warranty

SirDrivesAlot (now with hybrid powerrrr) > Motonator 08/21/2018 at 20:42

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Ditto- I have been driving a C for about 6 months now. It has not been a soul-sucking as I was afraid it might be- but I am not the type to try to wring every possible MPG out of each tank- too much lead in the right foot for that. I have mostly debadged it as well- except for the “Hybrid” lettering on the fenders- Toyota decided to use huge locating pins on those, and the holes in the fender are irregularly shaped to boot.

bhtooefr > Mid Engine 08/22/2018 at 00:29

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Although you’re much more likely to use the warranty on the reconditioned packs, if you get my drift...

bhtooefr > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness 08/22/2018 at 00:35

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Eh, no, my ALH only got over 50 on a couple of highway tanks, and I do highway pretty slowly (5 over the speed limit is my norm).

The trick with the Prius is its very good aero does help on the freeway, and the hybrid system can help keep it closer to peak efficiency (using the battery to avoid the engine going into really inefficient modes of operation - it’s sometimes more efficient to charge the battery than run the engine at light load, and then use that stored energy later instead of running the engine at high load).

The engine isn’t diesel-good on thermal efficiency in a Gen 2, but it can at least stay closer to the peak. (The newer gens got better in this regard, my Gen 4 will get low to mid 50s on a freeway tank, versus my former Golf TDI ’s usual mid to high 40s on a freeway tank. )

Then when you consider diesel’s price premium, and if you care about it, increased carbon footprint per gallon (about 13% more) due to its increased energy density...

(That said, I’m not sure I’d pick a Gen 2 Prius for long freeway driving, but a lot of people do. A Gen 4, though? Not what the OP’s asking about, but I’m perfectly fine doing 500 miles in mine , let alone 50, in a day. )

Mid Engine > bhtooefr 08/22/2018 at 09:46

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I fixed it and sold the car...

bhtooefr > Mid Engine 08/22/2018 at 11:17

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Fair enough.

HaglebozVIII > Chuckybas 08/23/2018 at 15:38

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I’m not seeing any answers that really address your question. I still own a 2005 Prius with 228,000 miles that we purchased used in 2008. My daily commute is 86 miles round trip. My short answer is that it’s an awesome car for commuting if you are primarily worried about fuel economy (41-45 mpg) and ease of maintenance*. My positive rating comes with one distinct caveat as indicated by the asterisk, and it’s something which you’ve already addressed in your question.

Yes, the hybrid battery (traction battery) will fail, and will probably fail soon, for a Prius around 180,000 miles if the battery has not been well maintained (it probably hasn’t). I didn’t do any for mine despite being meticulous about the routine typical car maintenance because I had no idea that there was such a thing as battery maintance. My battery initially failed at 205,000 miles. You have two basic choices when it comes to dealing with a failed traction battery, if you want to keep the car. Replace it at great expense (more than the actual value of the car), $3,500 for a new battery from Toyota/ $2,600 for a new aftermarket battery from someone like Bumblebee Batteries, or learn how to replace the failed modules inside the battery yourself and be prepared to do so again probably on a yearly basis. Don’t buy a reconditioned battery from a third party, they won’t last. That is the one mistake I made before I learned how to really deal with the issue properly. Not wanting to buy a battery worth more than the car it sits in I ended up teaching myself how to identify and replace the failed/failing modules using the forums at Prius Chat and Youtube videos. Once you know how to do it (Meaning after your first complete go through) it’s a 2-3 hour/1 man job and you can do it for about $40 per module replaced (there are 28 total in the entire battery pack, [I’ve replaced 6]). It took me about 3 weeks to learn how to do it being someone who doesn’t have a lot of free time between work/commute/family. You do have to consider that you can potentially kill yourself as you are working with a high voltage system (although protecting yourself and doing the work is not rocket science).

Other than that the only thing I’ve ever had to replace in the car outside of routine maintenance is an internal fan for like $50. I’ve only replaced the front brakes once (at 180,000 miles!) due to the regenerative braking system. I did purchase the Prolong Battery Reconditioning Package to maintain the battery in the future to reduce the frequency of traction battery rebuilds and get the most out of the modules currently residing in the battery pack. It’s a 13 year old car so my current to do’s are to replace the hatchback’s hydraulics which are getting sticky, defog the front headlight plastic and redo the clear coat on the back end which has started peeling (It’s never been garaged). It is a very easy and cheap car to maintain, it can hold a ton of stuff for a car it’s size due to the hatchback and folding rear seats and as you’ve probably already discovered you can get them at a great price once they reach 150,000 to 180,000 miles because the traction battery issue is a huge bugaboo for most people. I’m honestly thinking about purchasing another Gen 2 Prius and fixing it up for a cheap third family car in the next year or so. Hope that helps.