If you haven't had the EGR system cleaned yet, should do it now. That should be done every 50k-70k miles. Only a matter of time until it blows a head gasket. I hear the hybrid battery pack fan/plumbing should be cleaned out every 30k miles too. Other than these extra maintenance items to keep the vehicle running probably a million a miles or more, it's solidly reliable from what I understand. It's just that these two things are extremely important!
finally one of the most realistic and best reviews! Thank you for putting it up, I am so tired of not enough long term realistic videos for normal folks! Thanks.
My 2010 gen 3 Prius had 280,000 miles on it and I was headed toward half a million till another driver ignored a stop sign and totaled it a few weeks ago. I bought it new and after 14 years it had original everything other than brakes, water pump and one wheel bearing. Wonderful car. I bought a 2012 Prius V last week to replace it. I’m liking it, but I’m still depressed about the wreck. And my broken sternum. P.S. Seatbelts save lives.
@@vickvega571 My head is now constantly on a swivel when I approach an intersection. Which is a good trick since the wreck damaged my neck as well as the broken breastbone. I’m old, but I plan to get a lot older.
@@DanFrizzellThank you for this valuable life lesson about intersections and I’m sorry that you had to deal with all of that. Like a beloved pet or family member, may your totaled Prius smile down upon you from the afterlife. Sounds silly but I kind of mean it with some level of genuineness.
I had to change an injector on my 2009 3rd gen today. Allready changed the battery and the head gasket but it's almost 400k miles and still drives great...
I think the Mirai influenced some weird design in the 4th gen prius. The 3rd really looks like a normal car, not weird and bubbly like the 2nd but not too angular like the 4th.
My 2011 is now at over 200k miles and I’m on the original battery still and original brakes. Tires last me about 80-85k thousand miles. I get mid 40’s for mpg with this many miles on the battery and my driving. Only thing I’ve had to replace somewhat major on it since 100,000 miles was the rear wheel assembly. The integrated speed sensor died and that was the only way to replace it. Get your hybrid battery cooling vents cleaned every few years or 30-50k miles! The battery is air cooled from the interior and the better the ventilation is kept clean, the longer the battery will last. That’s what “The Car Care Nut” Toyota master tech recommends, as well as the service manual.
My favorite Prius before the current model. I spent over 40k for this model with all the bells and whistles. I installed the Toyota TRD sports package on this. Changed out the headlight colors, added veilslide rear lights, and removed the shifter in place of a circle shifter from Stage10. My prius was an eye opener. Even took it the race track! I miss the Heads up Display from this Prius.
Here is the thing about zero to sixty…I live in a 30mph zone, then 45. Ten miles to a 55 mph zone and 15 miles to a 65 mph zone. Had a 2010 and now a 2022 Prius great cars adequate power.
Yes; I found power to be more than sufficient in my 2006 Prius. I've never had problems merging onto expressways, etc. The only "iffy" experience I had was one time passing on a 2-lane highway.
They have great power! I own a 2019 fusion hybrid which is very smooth but drive my 05 Prius for work. That car is very zippy on the highway. 0-60 isn't impressive but from a 30 roll? It moves. That's how hybrids are. Today I actually had a new amg Mercedes tailgating me. He goes to overtake and I merged behind him and he started doing 100 weaving in traffic and my Prius hustled him, kept right up! Lmao. I drive 60k miles a year and am a good driver. Wouldn't recommend others doing that 😂😂 never underestimate the Prius. I bet that Mercedes driver was shocked he couldn't pull away
@@AustinDasheshaha i know what you mean I love the Prius drivetrain. It has a power band somewhere in that ~30~ range. You floor it and it picks up. Even if I'm driving crazy I get 50 mpg like wah😮
@@VYBEKAT yeah!! I love the Prius man. I have a '19 fusion hybrid too which is just as smooth because it uses Toyota's hybrid tech with a Ford badge but my gen 2 Prius is a good time for what it is. I really like the gen 3 and how it looks. Might buy that next! I've seen people do a 8 second 0-60 in a Prius which is REALLY good for such an efficient car. That's plenty fast. And really, where they're surprisingly quick is on the highway too. If you drive bare foot and gently squeeze the gas you get the most out of the transmission for excellent acceleration! Takes a bit of skill
I used to get that sort of MPG out of my old Lexus CT200h, which I'm sure you know is basically a Prius underneath. I did a 100 or so mile round trip up and down the motorways today at 70MPH in my new NX350h and was still getting around 49MPG, not bad for a mid size SUV.
Great! Ok, here’s your chance to DOUBLE your money today! I’ve got $2,000 cash money for you, as long as the a/c works on that Gen 3 gem! 🤗 Seriously, I live in Central Florida, & the a/c on my tired ‘09 Touring Prius has a big leak. (And bald tires.) Heat index is over 100 degrees here, already, lately. 🥵 Getting desperate, now. So, where do you want to meet up? (I may sound like I’m kidding, but I’m not!) I can leave now.
We Mongolians love Prius 2nd, 3rd gens. They're all second hand from Japan, you can see hell of Priuses all over Mongolian steppe. No problem at all kind of roads.
For some reason, I assumed that Mongolians would've preferred 4x4/off-road focused vehicles due to the terrain (and the flexibility to support a more rural lifestyle). It never occured to me that a car like the Prius would be super popular, but it makes 100% sense in the urban/suburban areas.
My mother is from Mongolia and she gave me her 2010 Prius a few years ago. We live in the U.S. I love the car. Cool to know it’s popular in the Mongolian steppe!
I brought the base model of the 2012 Prius in late 2012 in Brisbane Australia. All I can say is I still absolutely love it. I’ve got nearly 280,000km and it’s still going great. 🎉🎉🎉 Really wish Toyota could bring the new Prius into Australia because I really want another one. 😅
I have a 2012 V station wagon, I bought it new. It's never had a light come on the dash, Only to the shop for oil changes, still has the original battery. I replaced the 12V battery twice, due for a third time soon. Its the best car I ever owned.
The trunk space is pretty generous on the 3rd gen… I still own two in the family. I fold down the 2nd row, and it hauls all my expo booth stuff pretty easily. 2x 42inch tv, 2 sets of tv stands, a folding table. And some other smaller stuff.. all fit in the trunk with 2nd row down
I had a 2015 Prius. I LOVED IT. But we sold it because we moved from California to Florida. It was such an incredibly EASY car to drive!!! Parking was sooooo convenient and easy. Whenever you had to go somewhere, it was so practical and convenient to just hop in and go somewhere. The mpg was superb and the maintenance was super low and economical. And with the new 5th gen Prius, I’m itching to get a Prius again. To me, the 4th gen was a mistake. I’ll pretend Toyota went from 3rd gen to 5th gen and there was never a 4th gen. 😆
I’ve a 2012 Camry hybrid , purchased used in 2014 with just 12K miles. 100K miles later it runs and drives great and averages ~36mpg. Great commuter car for Houston area traffic and a 45 mile daily round trip. Really looking forward to buying a 2023 Prius Prime XSE. Thanks for your video and impressions. 🙏🏼
I own 2x 2010 one 210 one 240k miles🎉🎉 Both holding up well crazy NY roads. Drive almost everyday around 3 hrs during summer wedding season😅😅 tried ct200h two times, esp just to aggressive for me so I prefer 15" stock alloys or 16 enkei rpf1 on prius so you can keep accelerating while turning, and prius is just a tad faster 0-60 specially filled with 93. Just replaced a head units in both, my daily with 240k has 11in android Head Unit with with all infinity speakers instead of stock jbl,plus 10" sub from nxp custom made for gen3pri with pioneer 500w subwoofer amplifier and sound deadening, and I love this car😂😂.
I agree on the looks being better than the next generation. I recall the dealer trying to entice me from my intent of a 2016 Prius C. I couldn't get past how ugly the full size prius was. It evidently wasn't doing well since they were willing to knock the price down to the C level. I still went with the C instead and drove it for 100K before trading in. It still looked nice and the new owner can drive it another 100 - 200K if they take care of it like I did. I fretted over keeping it as a second vehicle also. But the dealer made it worth my while to trade it with a very nice price.
My 2012 Prius with 17 inch wheels, leather seat and navigation just reached 200,000 miles with no major issues, love my Prius, great daily commuter and still running strong.
Awesome channel! Longtime Prius family here. I drive a 2012 white Prius Plug-in. My wife drives a silver 2014 Prius V. My son drives a red 2005 Prius; and my daughter drives a 2015 turquoise green Prius. Love the Prius (2nd and 3rd generation best), but not so crazy about the 4th gen too much.
I love Prius family , because it is so efficient and I love the game of getting best mileage and yet not block the road. Driving Prius Prime 2018, amazing car. The only thing I just discovered is leaking trunk hatch, not sure how to fix it.
use inertia and watch the road far ahead...you can go pretty fast. Aggressively fast hyper miling and still get 70 or 80 mpg sometimes 😂 almost always around 50 though
Excellent review. 59 mpg/70 mpg is very impressive. Believe it or not, my car, which is a 2012 Auris/Corrola Hybrid gets over 70 mpg UK, even in this cold weather. I even get an impressive 66 to 75 mpg on the highway/motorway. I think I'll hang on to it for quite a few more years. If I was to buy a new a new car tomorrow it would be the new Prius Prime for sure.
13:56 whenever I get to drive my Dad's 2012 Civic I like to play MPG Hunter too... I got like 39.5 mpg last time I had a chance to use it for a few days. Great review man, nice nice interior in that Prius. Dashboard styling is futuristic
I was impressed that Toyota reached out to me about my 2012 Prius' white pearl paint peeling problem. Evidently many Toyota models with white paint have this issue, and Toyota is paying for repainting bad body panels through its ZKG customer support program (technically not a recall). I don't think Toyota is doing this out of the kindness of its heart - it's probably to avoid lawsuits and bad press. I'm on my dealer's six-month long waitlist to have the two right doors repainted, otherwise I'd trade it in now for something new.
We had a 2004 Prius that we traded in on a new 2014, because the big battery was going bad. We still have the 2014, which still drives just fine. Other than oil changes an a set of tires after about 59,000 miles and a recent replacement for the 12 volt battery, the car has needed absolutely no other repairs. Even in the cold weather this winter we still were routinely getting over 50 mpg around town. We put down a deposit for a new Prius plug in just about this time last year. It never became available after the Prius lines were shut down last summer. We currently are sitting #12 in line for the XSE prime. So we will still be waiting for a large enough allocation to hit Utah. After buying my 2021 RAV4 XLE, we we just love all the safety features (some people claim we are rapidly becoming senior citizens) that the newer Toyotas have.
As a car mechanic, I can only recommend keeping this car as long as possible. The Gen5 is still too new to tell, but to date the Gen3 is the best Prius ever. More power than the Gen4, it has the best cockpit which you just have to love, and it looks best from outside. Here it Germany, although the Prius is pretty rare here because the people were diesel-crazy for 20 years before they realized they were shit, and drive more conventional looking hybrid cars like the Auris and Yaris Hybrid, most Gen3 and Gen4 are bought with the standard 17 inch wheels which fits the look of the Gen3 so much better than your 15 inch wheels (sorry) and I like the Gen3 ´s design best because I also care for looks. I love my 2011 Prius as much as I love my MR2 and Levin. I turned my standard 17 " wheels into winter wheels and got some even cooler wheels for summer, which are even half an inch wider, but also much lighter than the OEM ones. I just sent you pictures of it on IG, please check them out. I would even go as far as saying that everyone who doesn´t have to pull a trailer should have a Gen3 Prius as a daily, and the world would be a better place. As I said I love all my cars, but the Prius combines so many good characteristics (efficiency, practicality, room, enough power, easy to drive ) that make it the best car in general.
Prefer the P4 as a way better Prius. Not the P3. Drove the P3 round about 100.000km and now the P4 over more than 120.000km. The Prius is the best car in the world. But not for everyone. That's okay. The P5 is way to expensive, still overpriced and I want to drive a HEV, not a PHEV.
Proud owner of a 2012 Prius too. It still works as the first day, only chance to replace it would be for a new Prius PHEV but it won't arrive to my country (Spain) 🙈
I bought a used 2012 Prius in 2014. I don't have a sunroof, but I have OEM LED headlights and 17" rims. I have driven it up to 213000km. Car has been really reliable. There is a common problem with the car in which it rattles on startup and it has happened a few times over the years. I have a OEM Toyota homelink mirror that I always adjust to the top but sags down over time. I have had some uneven brake pad wear in the rear wheels. I have never changed the transmission fluid as per the manual. I find that the car accelerates really slow, but I don't mind. The car seats need improvement. It is a really solid car overall. I have had no unexpected repairs other than the rear brakes.
I'm still driving my 2012 Prius Plug-in. It's boring but practical, reliable, and inexpensive to drive. I'm planning on replacing it with a BEV this year.
Likewise… my 2014 Plug-in is still going strong; doesn’t burn a drop of oil after 213k KM (~133k miles). EV range has dropped a bit, I get about 15-16km these days (~2.4-2.5 KWh on my ChargePoint, where it used to draw ~2.7-2.8…)… we have a Leaf as well), which seems to be about a 10% reduction in capacity, which is decent for the age, IMO. On a wait list for a new Prime! 😊
@@jordanrosenberg9816 No argument here that BEVs will be much better in a couple years. I go back and forth on BEV v. PHEV. I've test driven a few BEVs plus the Niro PHEV (which I quite liked).
Man I'm just came in very late into this game I just got myself a 2011 Toyota Prius and I absolutely love it so much that I am thinking of switching all of my car to hybrid best purchase that I have ever made for $5,000 184,000 ML and it runs like a champ
I have a 2015 Prius Two, bought new that same year (final year of the 3rd gen.). About 100.5k miles on it. No major options, just standard equipment. Batteries still work fine. I average between 39-42 mpg; I check mpg by resetting the trip odo when I fill up, and then dividing the no. of miles on the trip odo by the no. of gallons it takes to fill the tank/make the pump nozzle click off the next time I fill up (for those unaware, you're NOT supposed to top off the tank, says so in the owner's manual). In any case, IMHO it's a more accurate way to measure your mpg vs. what the Prius' computer says.
I had a 2011. Got about 46-50mpg hand calculated depending on the time of year. Mostly highway driving. Very reliable car but very cheap interior. Noisey and suspension was cheap and jittery. I put 150k miles on it with zero issues.
I have a 2012 Prius. I'm short, like 5" 9 ' and I still bump my head when getting in the car. The newer roof line? No, thank you! I like the styling look of the new Prius but, I'll keep what I have.😊
Fuji I hate to see her go, but I love to watch her leave 👀 Got a pearl white ‘10. I’m about 15K miles away from 300,000 on the odometer. Good thing about a a plastic interior is that it looks the same after 14 years. Playing the MPG game is fun and something that only us Prius owners get.
I'm noticing in the comments relatively few complaints about the "well known" problem with the EGR system leading to clogged intakes, gummed-up piston rings, and eventually blown head gaskets. That's a very good thing! Car Care Nut's channel has an excellent video about the problem which has certainly affected my own 2012. Best of luck on your continued reliability!
As a Gen 3 Prius Owner / Driver, I can honestly say it's a great little car with bombproof reliability & super efficiency, even though it's over 13 years on the road! No problems, mine even looks dope, if not a Lil' "Gangsta," cuz it's fully murdered+out.. Heheh (exterior- Black on Black tinted w/ custom plasti-dipped wheel covers & badges - she's stealthy & clean!~)
I was looking to buy a hybrid back in 2020. I test drove a 2012 prius and tested a 2017 Ford Fusion Hybrid . I bought the Fusion because it looked and drove much better
I have a 2010 Prius bought new (white with the solar panel as well). I just was able to make a deposit on a 2023 Prius Prime. I think the dealer is lowballing me on the 2010 trade-in, but at least it covers all taxes and dealer fees (so not experiencing high mark up as I've heard reviewers say dealers can do with these low production cars). Before finding out about the 2023 Prime, I was thinking my next car would not be a Prius (as I thought gen 4 looked really ugly). Gen 3 (or even 2) looks more streamlined. What's nice with the Prime is it has enough electric range for city driving, and I can still use the pump when doing long distance highway driving. Looking forward to test driving the 2023 Prius Prime: assuming I'm going to let the deposit stand and buy it. As far as a quirk about breaking: I noticed my Prius doesn't break if you're going over a speed bump or rolling over a pothole . I've learn to double apply the breaks when that happens (think it is its ABS/anti-skid system).
I will be looking for a 3rd Gen soon, and yes, they still look great! I actually love all the hard touch interior plastic because they are all recycled materials and help our planet 😊🇦🇺
Impressive original brakes! Still rolling in original brakes on 2020 Accord Hybrid with 141k miles. Hybrid/ EV is game changer if you are coming from reg ice cars
not great... unless hes borrowing it for videos. he should just replace battery on his old prius. its not like we know that new priusis is much more crash safe
Currently driving a 2012 Highlander Hybrid. I love that I get the same mileage as a new Corolla, yet have tons of room. Also has the 3rd row that folds down. Just a fantastic vehicle. I've put in a pre-order for a '22 Prius Prime last May and have been moved to the '23 as my dealer was not going to receive any more of the '22s. Curious how long it will take for you to receive your Prime and what your real world mileage is.
@@adon8672 For sure. It actually gets better mileage in the heat with AC than in the cold with the heater running. In the cold it needs to keep the engine running a lot more often.
My new Corolla AWD routinely gets 4.8-5L/100km for me during the winter. It's starting to get warmer here in Canada, my best one is 2.8L/100km (84 MPG) on a 15km one way route.
I had a Blue 2010 Itech Prius in Australia. It was the top spec with Radar Cruise, Solar Roof, LED headlights, and headlight washers. Sold it with 160k km for $11k AUD 😢 in 2018
This is the best generation Prius among the others in terms of design and efficiency. The '23 model will continue it's legacy and go further and beyond.
I absolutely love my 2013 Prius that I named "Pearl" everyone I come in contact with, knows my Pearl. I bought her brand spanking new with only 5 miles on her. Here it is 2023 and It's still purring strong with 145K miles on her. My sister and my niece have gone through several cars to mine and they can't seem to understand that it's about quality and not beauty or what's trendy to have. I've Uber'd, with her and did all the food deliveries with her. Trunk space is phenomenal, so much room when you let the seats down. My plan is to finally trade her in next year but terrified I won't get the same quality as I do now. I however, will not get a new Prius. They are just ugly and too sporty looking
You have the best gen Prius in terms of design. With the very last one gen they sacrificed functionality : the windshield is tilted so much that the 'A' pillars are almost horizontal and create dead angles towards the front. The tailgate is made so narrow that it renders the cargo capacity of the trunk obsolete.
Doesn't Toyota know that there's a whole community of Prius drivers that like to upgrade their cars? And to keep them running as long as possible? "Outlanding" suspension lift kits, camper conversions, antiroll bars and braces, battery balancing chargers and PHEV kits. On board inverters to power air fryers and appliances. Anti theft Catalytic converter shields. ...
2010 Gen 3 original owner ... I am thinking of replacing my hybrid battery, not because mine has failed, but at 14 years of age, I am pretty confident the capacity has degraded. The cost to upgrade, looks to be less than $3K. The problem I have is deciding on what battery to use. Besides OEM, there are quite a number of aftermarket battery suppliers, each touting the benefits of their product with some also offering low cost at-home replacement. Decisions, decisions, ...
I think the 3rd gen is good looking, but too bland. The 4th gen pre-facelift weirdness is what got me into a Prius. I love the Zorro taillights. I have a 2017 three touring (bought in 2019) with 87k trouble free miles. I always drive it in power mode and still manage to get 480 miles to the tank ( I fill up as soon as gas lights on) and driving around 20k miles a year, this is an incredible low operating cost vehicle. I absolutely love it. I was really intrigued in the 5th gen especially with all that increased HP, but at 6’4, that lowered roofline and reduced cargo space is a dealbreaker for me not to mention the 19 inch standard wheels on the XLE. Toyota should have made those an option. I only like 19s on sports cars like the 2 mustang GTs I had before switching to Prius (yes I got married) In other words, I’m keeping my Prius until wheels fall off or market cools down for used Rav4 primes whichever comes first. Great review Kirk. Love your channel.
Great video, thanks for the info. I’m considering getting a 2012 myself but it’s a 2nd generation and I really like this one but the only downfall to it was the brake light and abs lights was on but it drove smoothly so do you have any suggestions?
It’s pretty wild, but in Orange County, CA the plug in hybrid variant is more expensive to drive even plugging in at the cheapest hours of utility. Electricity is expensive here. Unless you have solar and plug in during day, doesn’t make sense.
I also own a 2012 Prius and I love it but my MPG isn't high.. I get between 35-40 MPG.. I have 100 thousand miles on it and want to put new plugs in it..I see all these people getting 45-55 MPG and wonder how?
I have owned a 2004, 2016 (leased), and now a 2012 Toyota Prius Model 4 and absolutely love it!! MPG 55-61mpg!! I would like to say that I do not like the new 2023 Prius for many reasons. The dashboard for one is dead center instead of being off-center. Whatever made Toyota decide to change this? More disappointments: Reduced cargo space, lack of legroom for passengers in the rear as well as headroom. Maybe the engine is better since it is much larger. What about the new prices? What's your opinion? Let me know.
I had a 2012 Toyota Prius and over and over 3-year. And 176,000 mi my 2012 Toyota Prius V package 2 so base model averaged about 43 mi per gallon for the station wagon version of the car and I did not drive at any special way to try to extract any better fuel economy out of it. If anything, I drove it more aggressively than the normal person who owns a Toyota Prius would drive their car because I am a full-time rideshare driver, I'm not necessarily trying to Dilly dally around. I'm trying to get to my passengers pickup in a timely fashion and I'm not trying to cruise at 5 mph under the speed limit to try to get that slightly better fuel economy with my passengers in the car. I'm usually a few miles an hour over the speed limit and that one was 11 years old with 400,000, mi on it when it's factory. Hybrid battery finally died and then almost a year later other issues popped up on the car which made it too expensive to fix all those issues to keep it up and working for me. So I ended up trading it in for a 2021 Toyota Prius L Eco and on that car in just over 6,000 mi. I'm averaging 67 miles per gallon doing the same things I was doing in the 2012 Toyota Prius V so the 2021 Toyota Prius L Eco is averaging about 24 miles per gallon. Better fuel economy than the 2012 Toyota Prius and I'm pretty sure if I was not in the V and the regular 2012 Toyota Prius that fuel economy Gap would be a bit smaller. Probably more like only a 19 to 20 mile per gallon difference but I'm not sure.
In the past year, I've spent over $3,000 in various emergency repairs on my 2012 Prius V (wagon). Then there's the $5,000 inverter repair several years ago. Yes, at 175k miles it is a good car, worth maintaining, still yielding 35+mpg. No, a trouble free or new car it is not. The hype over maintenance free cars is a disservice to everyone involved.
Whats odd is I just bought a 2012 Camry Hybrid and I see the past maintenance record from a Toyota dealer changed the HV battery on warranty at 84k miles in 2019. Car currently has 125K. Dealer stated that the radio stopped working due to low voltage of the HV battery? Uh.. doesn't the radio work off the 12V battery in the trunk? Sounds to me the dealer ripped the warranty for some extra $. That means that battery only lasted 7 years if it was bad.
‘12 V with 123K. Owned since new. Love the rig except for the EGR and PCV setup. Way too much engine oil and carbon gunk accumulation at the air intake manifold. If you buy a 3rd Gen, clean the EGR system and intake manifold and install an oil catch can on the PCV line.
Wish I could say the same about my 2010 Prius. That thing started burning oil at about 110k. The cat converter went out at about 170k. Ended up getting rid of it. Didn’t want to spend thousands getting the engine repaired and a new cat converter
Well mine went bad. Yes oil burning over 60k miles clogged it up. It got to a point were it could barely go 30-40 mph. The mechanic did a temp reading on the section of the exhaust before the cat and it was hot (forgot the temp) and the exhaust system after the cat was way cooler. This was an indication that exhaust wasn’t going through the cat. On top of that the engine was getting worse and worse. I just said forget it. That 2010 model was known for that. I took it to Toyota and had a consumption test and it was burning about 1 1/2 quarts per 1000 miles. They didn’t fix it because it was obviously out of the warranty but i thought i at least try.
Sorry to hear of your problems with the 2010 Prius. I bought mine new - first 2010 to arrive at the dealer. I was a bit concerned about reliability of the first year of the new Gen 3, but I got lucky. No major issues - just general maintenance. Battery is still good. Mileage almost the same as new. It has had 2 minor accidents and one major one (rear-ended by a truck). Always repaired. About 190,000 miles at the end of 2023 and still going strong. Planning to keep until it dies.
I own a 2010 Prius with 70,000 miles and they are phenomenally reliable, and new generation is absolutely a big improvement. Do you recommend getting the new Prius?
I have a 2010 with 395,000 miles and I drive it daily as a courier. It is a beast. It still looks great too. I also have a 2012 and it has 205,000 miles. No issues. I love these Gen 3 cars. Both paid for and I feel like they are paying me when I drive especially with gas at $2.60 a gallon right now. Cheers
@@KirkKreifels that’s great. How exactly does 65% battery life reflect on the performance of your car? Does it just mean it has 65 percent life or it is only 65 percent efficient out of 100? Thanks
Replace head gasket Clean carbon from egr system Clean hybrid battery fan Replace electric water pumps Replace all fluids Change oil every 5k miles Replace spark plugs Replace all filters Add oil catch can Siphon brake fluid from brake fluid reservoir & top off with fresh fluid every 5000 miles This is the only way to get 250k+ miles out of a Prius.
I havnt done any of those things except oil changes and replaced inverter water pump and replaced egr and spark plugs. 395,000 miles. This 2010 is killa.
@@KirkKreifels apparently there was an update for the inverter that totally neutered the off-the-line acceleration because the early Gen 3s were cooking inverters.
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thank you Toyota, I've had my 2010 Prius since high school, still running great, 180,000+ miles still work, never have any major issue.
Change the battery yet ?
@@FRESHALEX760 Not yet still running good, almost 190,000 miles, even I sale not much money, keep drive until stop.😀
@@carolscottodivettio4893 i been wanting to but the battery replacement always through me off
If you haven't had the EGR system cleaned yet, should do it now. That should be done every 50k-70k miles. Only a matter of time until it blows a head gasket. I hear the hybrid battery pack fan/plumbing should be cleaned out every 30k miles too. Other than these extra maintenance items to keep the vehicle running probably a million a miles or more, it's solidly reliable from what I understand. It's just that these two things are extremely important!
@@Lincolnator721 Thanks for the advice . this is useful for Prius owners
finally one of the most realistic and best reviews! Thank you for putting it up, I am so tired of not enough long term realistic videos for normal folks! Thanks.
It's almost old enough to start middle school
My 2010 gen 3 Prius had 280,000 miles on it and I was headed toward half a million till another driver ignored a stop sign and totaled it a few weeks ago. I bought it new and after 14 years it had original everything other than brakes, water pump and one wheel bearing. Wonderful car. I bought a 2012 Prius V last week to replace it. I’m liking it, but I’m still depressed about the wreck. And my broken sternum. P.S. Seatbelts save lives.
Hope you recover quickly i was in same kind of accident a lady was texting and took a red light. My old prius was at 220k miles running great.
@@vickvega571 My head is now constantly on a swivel when I approach an intersection. Which is a good trick since the wreck damaged my neck as well as the broken breastbone. I’m old, but I plan to get a lot older.
@@DanFrizzellThank you for this valuable life lesson about intersections and I’m sorry that you had to deal with all of that. Like a beloved pet or family member, may your totaled Prius smile down upon you from the afterlife. Sounds silly but I kind of mean it with some level of genuineness.
Did you use regular or mid grade petrol?
I had to change an injector on my 2009 3rd gen today. Allready changed the battery and the head gasket but it's almost 400k miles and still drives great...
Thanks for sharing!
Why is rhe engine chuggimg whwn going uphill? Its a brand new 2023 model
@jinsu0504 try reading ltft and stft with an obd2. But first just call toyota it's definitely under warranty.
@@MrPicoli what? why do people throw acronyms like its common knowledge....even i dont throw medical jargons like that at patients....
Agreed about the design of the 3rd Gen. Still looks really good, much much better than the 4th Gen. Idk what Toyota was thinking with that design
I think the Mirai influenced some weird design in the 4th gen prius. The 3rd really looks like a normal car, not weird and bubbly like the 2nd but not too angular like the 4th.
Ive always felt this way too lmao
The 4th gen almost looks like a hybrid of a 3rd refit, and the front of the 1st gen.
They were thinking that the Prius should look like something that could combine with 5 other Priuses into one giant hybrid battle robot.
My 2011 is now at over 200k miles and I’m on the original battery still and original brakes. Tires last me about 80-85k thousand miles. I get mid 40’s for mpg with this many miles on the battery and my driving. Only thing I’ve had to replace somewhat major on it since 100,000 miles was the rear wheel assembly. The integrated speed sensor died and that was the only way to replace it. Get your hybrid battery cooling vents cleaned every few years or 30-50k miles! The battery is air cooled from the interior and the better the ventilation is kept clean, the longer the battery will last. That’s what “The Car Care Nut” Toyota master tech recommends, as well as the service manual.
Currently getting 4.0L/100km (58 mpg) in my 2012 plug-in. It's like the perfect commuter car.
My favorite Prius before the current model. I spent over 40k for this model with all the bells and whistles. I installed the Toyota TRD sports package on this. Changed out the headlight colors, added veilslide rear lights, and removed the shifter in place of a circle shifter from Stage10. My prius was an eye opener. Even took it the race track! I miss the Heads up Display from this Prius.
Here is the thing about zero to sixty…I live in a 30mph zone, then 45. Ten miles to a 55 mph zone and 15 miles to a 65 mph zone. Had a 2010 and now a 2022 Prius great cars adequate power.
Yes; I found power to be more than sufficient in my 2006 Prius. I've never had problems merging onto expressways, etc. The only "iffy" experience I had was one time passing on a 2-lane highway.
They have great power! I own a 2019 fusion hybrid which is very smooth but drive my 05 Prius for work. That car is very zippy on the highway. 0-60 isn't impressive but from a 30 roll? It moves. That's how hybrids are. Today I actually had a new amg Mercedes tailgating me. He goes to overtake and I merged behind him and he started doing 100 weaving in traffic and my Prius hustled him, kept right up! Lmao. I drive 60k miles a year and am a good driver. Wouldn't recommend others doing that 😂😂 never underestimate the Prius. I bet that Mercedes driver was shocked he couldn't pull away
@@AustinDasheshaha i know what you mean I love the Prius drivetrain. It has a power band somewhere in that ~30~ range. You floor it and it picks up. Even if I'm driving crazy I get 50 mpg like wah😮
@@VYBEKAT yeah!! I love the Prius man. I have a '19 fusion hybrid too which is just as smooth because it uses Toyota's hybrid tech with a Ford badge but my gen 2 Prius is a good time for what it is. I really like the gen 3 and how it looks. Might buy that next!
I've seen people do a 8 second 0-60 in a Prius which is REALLY good for such an efficient car. That's plenty fast. And really, where they're surprisingly quick is on the highway too. If you drive bare foot and gently squeeze the gas you get the most out of the transmission for excellent acceleration! Takes a bit of skill
Fun fact: the 3rd Gen (like what's being reviewed) Prii do 0-30 faster than a BMW 5-series.. Thanks Electric Torque! =P
I used to get that sort of MPG out of my old Lexus CT200h, which I'm sure you know is basically a Prius underneath. I did a 100 or so mile round trip up and down the motorways today at 70MPH in my new NX350h and was still getting around 49MPG, not bad for a mid size SUV.
NX 350h rocks
I just bought an excellent 2014 Prius for only $1k. Only has 170k miles, no known issues after an inspection, and the body and paint are solid.
Great! Ok, here’s your chance to DOUBLE your money today!
I’ve got $2,000 cash money for you, as long as the a/c works on that Gen 3 gem! 🤗
Seriously, I live in Central Florida, & the a/c on my tired ‘09 Touring Prius has a big leak. (And bald tires.) Heat index is over 100 degrees here, already, lately. 🥵 Getting desperate, now.
So, where do you want to meet up? (I may sound like I’m kidding, but I’m not!)
I can leave now.
We Mongolians love Prius 2nd, 3rd gens. They're all second hand from Japan, you can see hell of Priuses all over Mongolian steppe. No problem at all kind of roads.
For some reason, I assumed that Mongolians would've preferred 4x4/off-road focused vehicles due to the terrain (and the flexibility to support a more rural lifestyle).
It never occured to me that a car like the Prius would be super popular, but it makes 100% sense in the urban/suburban areas.
My mother is from Mongolia and she gave me her 2010 Prius a few years ago. We live in the U.S. I love the car. Cool to know it’s popular in the Mongolian steppe!
I brought the base model of the 2012 Prius in late 2012 in Brisbane Australia. All I can say is I still absolutely love it. I’ve got nearly 280,000km and it’s still going great. 🎉🎉🎉 Really wish Toyota could bring the new Prius into Australia because I really want another one. 😅
I’m in Brisbane also. Where did you buy your Prius from?
I have a 2012 V station wagon, I bought it new. It's never had a light come on the dash, Only to the shop for oil changes, still has the original battery. I replaced the 12V battery twice, due for a third time soon. Its the best car I ever owned.
The trunk space is pretty generous on the 3rd gen… I still own two in the family. I fold down the 2nd row, and it hauls all my expo booth stuff pretty easily. 2x 42inch tv, 2 sets of tv stands, a folding table. And some other smaller stuff.. all fit in the trunk with 2nd row down
Aside from my catalytic converter being stolen, this car is my family’s workhorse and has never failed. Love this Prius to death!
I had a 2015 Prius. I LOVED IT. But we sold it because we moved from California to Florida. It was such an incredibly EASY car to drive!!! Parking was sooooo convenient and easy. Whenever you had to go somewhere, it was so practical and convenient to just hop in and go somewhere. The mpg was superb and the maintenance was super low and economical. And with the new 5th gen Prius, I’m itching to get a Prius again. To me, the 4th gen was a mistake. I’ll pretend Toyota went from 3rd gen to 5th gen and there was never a 4th gen. 😆
Yep, I have an ‘07 Prius. The biggest luxury is getting there, and the Prius does that.
Still rocking my 09 with 300k miles on it and have never had any issues at all! I'm going to drive it until the wheels fall off!
I’ve a 2012 Camry hybrid , purchased used in 2014 with just 12K miles. 100K miles later it runs and drives great and averages ~36mpg. Great commuter car for Houston area traffic and a 45 mile daily round trip. Really looking forward to buying a 2023 Prius Prime XSE. Thanks for your video and impressions. 🙏🏼
I own 2x 2010 one 210 one 240k miles🎉🎉 Both holding up well crazy NY roads. Drive almost everyday around 3 hrs during summer wedding season😅😅 tried ct200h two times, esp just to aggressive for me so I prefer 15" stock alloys or 16 enkei rpf1 on prius so you can keep accelerating while turning, and prius is just a tad faster 0-60 specially filled with 93. Just replaced a head units in both, my daily with 240k has 11in android Head Unit with with all infinity speakers instead of stock jbl,plus 10" sub from nxp custom made for gen3pri with pioneer 500w subwoofer amplifier and sound deadening, and I love this car😂😂.
I agree on the looks being better than the next generation. I recall the dealer trying to entice me from my intent of a 2016 Prius C. I couldn't get past how ugly the full size prius was. It evidently wasn't doing well since they were willing to knock the price down to the C level. I still went with the C instead and drove it for 100K before trading in. It still looked nice and the new owner can drive it another 100 - 200K if they take care of it like I did. I fretted over keeping it as a second vehicle also. But the dealer made it worth my while to trade it with a very nice price.
Thanks for sharing! Saw a mint C this week in aqua green!
My 2012 Prius with 17 inch wheels, leather seat and navigation just reached 200,000 miles with no major issues, love my Prius, great daily commuter and still running strong.
still rocking my 09 with 300k miles. I have never had any issues with it at all. Going to drive it until the wheels fall off.
Just had HG replaced @ 210k miles and hoping to keep it for as long as possible, I hate car payments.
Awesome channel! Longtime Prius family here. I drive a 2012 white Prius Plug-in. My wife drives a silver 2014 Prius V. My son drives a red 2005 Prius; and my daughter drives a 2015 turquoise green Prius. Love the Prius (2nd and 3rd generation best), but not so crazy about the 4th gen too much.
I love Prius family , because it is so efficient and I love the game of getting best mileage and yet not block the road. Driving Prius Prime 2018, amazing car. The only thing I just discovered is leaking trunk hatch, not sure how to fix it.
Love the Prius. ❤ They are good cars that get a lot of undeserved hate.
use inertia and watch the road far ahead...you can go pretty fast. Aggressively fast hyper miling and still get 70 or 80 mpg sometimes 😂 almost always around 50 though
Excellent review. 59 mpg/70 mpg is very impressive. Believe it or not, my car, which is a 2012 Auris/Corrola Hybrid gets over 70 mpg UK, even in this cold weather. I even get an impressive 66 to 75 mpg on the highway/motorway. I think I'll hang on to it for quite a few more years. If I was to buy a new a new car tomorrow it would be the new Prius Prime for sure.
13:56 whenever I get to drive my Dad's 2012 Civic I like to play MPG Hunter too... I got like 39.5 mpg last time I had a chance to use it for a few days. Great review man, nice nice interior in that Prius. Dashboard styling is futuristic
I was impressed that Toyota reached out to me about my 2012 Prius' white pearl paint peeling problem. Evidently many Toyota models with white paint have this issue, and Toyota is paying for repainting bad body panels through its ZKG customer support program (technically not a recall). I don't think Toyota is doing this out of the kindness of its heart - it's probably to avoid lawsuits and bad press. I'm on my dealer's six-month long waitlist to have the two right doors repainted, otherwise I'd trade it in now for something new.
My prius 2012 is not as nice as this, but this video convinced me to keep it.
I'm looking forward to all the new testing you will do on the 23 prime! Mine should arrive late summer!
We had a 2004 Prius that we traded in on a new 2014, because the big battery was going bad. We still have the 2014, which still drives just fine. Other than oil changes an a set of tires after about 59,000 miles and a recent replacement for the 12 volt battery, the car has needed absolutely no other repairs. Even in the cold weather this winter we still were routinely getting over 50 mpg around town. We put down a deposit for a new Prius plug in just about this time last year. It never became available after the Prius lines were shut down last summer. We currently are sitting #12 in line for the XSE prime. So we will still be waiting for a large enough allocation to hit Utah. After buying my 2021 RAV4 XLE, we we just love all the safety features (some people claim we are rapidly becoming senior citizens) that the newer Toyotas have.
Have a 2012 MarkV which I love and just found out that it has headlight washers
2:05 3rd gen is peak Prius aesthetics👌. It screams "I'm economy class" in the best possible way!
As a car mechanic, I can only recommend keeping this car as long as possible. The Gen5 is still too new to tell, but to date the Gen3 is the best Prius ever. More power than the Gen4, it has the best cockpit which you just have to love, and it looks best from outside. Here it Germany, although the Prius is pretty rare here because the people were diesel-crazy for 20 years before they realized they were shit, and drive more conventional looking hybrid cars like the Auris and Yaris Hybrid, most Gen3 and Gen4 are bought with the standard 17 inch wheels which fits the look of the Gen3 so much better than your 15 inch wheels (sorry) and I like the Gen3 ´s design best because I also care for looks. I love my 2011 Prius as much as I love my MR2 and Levin. I turned my standard 17 " wheels into winter wheels and got some even cooler wheels for summer, which are even half an inch wider, but also much lighter than the OEM ones. I just sent you pictures of it on IG, please check them out. I would even go as far as saying that everyone who doesn´t have to pull a trailer should have a Gen3 Prius as a daily, and the world would be a better place. As I said I love all my cars, but the Prius combines so many good characteristics (efficiency, practicality, room, enough power, easy to drive ) that make it the best car in general.
Prefer the P4 as a way better Prius. Not the P3. Drove the P3 round about 100.000km and now the P4 over more than 120.000km.
The Prius is the best car in the world. But not for everyone. That's okay.
The P5 is way to expensive, still overpriced and I want to drive a HEV, not a PHEV.
Proud owner of a 2012 Prius too. It still works as the first day, only chance to replace it would be for a new Prius PHEV but it won't arrive to my country (Spain) 🙈
Sorry mate! Wishing your 2012 goes forever
I bought a used 2012 Prius in 2014. I don't have a sunroof, but I have OEM LED headlights and 17" rims. I have driven it up to 213000km. Car has been really reliable. There is a common problem with the car in which it rattles on startup and it has happened a few times over the years. I have a OEM Toyota homelink mirror that I always adjust to the top but sags down over time. I have had some uneven brake pad wear in the rear wheels. I have never changed the transmission fluid as per the manual. I find that the car accelerates really slow, but I don't mind. The car seats need improvement. It is a really solid car overall. I have had no unexpected repairs other than the rear brakes.
I have a 2013, it's a great car. It has 220,000 km and I full expect it to go 400,000+
I'm still driving my 2012 Prius Plug-in. It's boring but practical, reliable, and inexpensive to drive. I'm planning on replacing it with a BEV this year.
Ev range these days on that 3rd generation plugin?
Likewise… my 2014 Plug-in is still going strong; doesn’t burn a drop of oil after 213k KM (~133k miles). EV range has dropped a bit, I get about 15-16km these days (~2.4-2.5 KWh on my ChargePoint, where it used to draw ~2.7-2.8…)… we have a Leaf as well), which seems to be about a 10% reduction in capacity, which is decent for the age, IMO. On a wait list for a new Prime! 😊
I would wait until BEV's are vastly better within two years
@@nw1018 7-9 miles. No noticeable degradation to speak of since 2012. Living in hilly San Diego doesn't help EV range.
@@jordanrosenberg9816 No argument here that BEVs will be much better in a couple years. I go back and forth on BEV v. PHEV. I've test driven a few BEVs plus the Niro PHEV (which I quite liked).
You should review of your 2013 or 2014 Sienna next
Man I'm just came in very late into this game I just got myself a 2011 Toyota Prius and I absolutely love it so much that I am thinking of switching all of my car to hybrid best purchase that I have ever made for $5,000 184,000 ML and it runs like a champ
I have a 2015 Prius Two, bought new that same year (final year of the 3rd gen.). About 100.5k miles on it. No major options, just standard equipment. Batteries still work fine. I average between 39-42 mpg; I check mpg by resetting the trip odo when I fill up, and then dividing the no. of miles on the trip odo by the no. of gallons it takes to fill the tank/make the pump nozzle click off the next time I fill up (for those unaware, you're NOT supposed to top off the tank, says so in the owner's manual). In any case, IMHO it's a more accurate way to measure your mpg vs. what the Prius' computer says.
I own the same model year, 2015 with 136,000 mi.'s, And I get the same mileage you do in town, short trips.
On the hwy, long trips , I avg. 48mpg.
When you do acceleration measurements with that Racebox put it somewhere we could see the results on the screen.
You just make me fall in love with Prius more and more man 😭💕
Also, call me old school, but I miss the blue hybrid logo already 🥺
It’s a really nice car and I was honestly planning on getting one eventually, one of if not the most reliable Priuses made.
I had a 2011. Got about 46-50mpg hand calculated depending on the time of year. Mostly highway driving. Very reliable car but very cheap interior. Noisey and suspension was cheap and jittery. I put 150k miles on it with zero issues.
My family member has hauled 14-foot boards in his 3rd gen Prius. Very impressive cars.
I have a 2012 Prius. I'm short, like 5" 9 ' and I still bump my head when getting in the car. The newer roof line? No, thank you! I like the styling look of the new Prius but, I'll keep what I have.😊
Fuji
I hate to see her go, but I love to watch her leave 👀
Got a pearl white ‘10. I’m about 15K miles away from 300,000 on the odometer. Good thing about a a plastic interior is that it looks the same after 14 years. Playing the MPG game is fun and something that only us Prius owners get.
I'm noticing in the comments relatively few complaints about the "well known" problem with the EGR system leading to clogged intakes, gummed-up piston rings, and eventually blown head gaskets. That's a very good thing! Car Care Nut's channel has an excellent video about the problem which has certainly affected my own 2012. Best of luck on your continued reliability!
Thanks for the info!
My prius3 2009 with 380000km is still working very good with the original battery
this prius was so strong, most of the owners have a hard time selling this generation.
As a Gen 3 Prius Owner / Driver, I can honestly say it's a great little car with bombproof reliability & super efficiency, even though it's over 13 years on the road! No problems, mine even looks dope, if not a Lil' "Gangsta," cuz it's fully murdered+out.. Heheh (exterior- Black on Black tinted w/ custom plasti-dipped wheel covers & badges - she's stealthy & clean!~)
I was looking to buy a hybrid back in 2020. I test drove a 2012 prius and tested a 2017 Ford Fusion Hybrid . I bought the Fusion because it looked and drove much better
I have a 2010 Prius bought new (white with the solar panel as well). I just was able to make a deposit on a 2023 Prius Prime. I think the dealer is lowballing me on the 2010 trade-in, but at least it covers all taxes and dealer fees (so not experiencing high mark up as I've heard reviewers say dealers can do with these low production cars). Before finding out about the 2023 Prime, I was thinking my next car would not be a Prius (as I thought gen 4 looked really ugly). Gen 3 (or even 2) looks more streamlined. What's nice with the Prime is it has enough electric range for city driving, and I can still use the pump when doing long distance highway driving. Looking forward to test driving the 2023 Prius Prime: assuming I'm going to let the deposit stand and buy it. As far as a quirk about breaking: I noticed my Prius doesn't break if you're going over a speed bump or rolling over a pothole . I've learn to double apply the breaks when that happens (think it is its ABS/anti-skid system).
I have a 2012 prius v that still runs like new. Nothing but oil changes, brakes and tires. About to trade in for the new prime.
I just bought a 2012 with plug in. I am a Prius junkie. Crazy good quality. I just put a down deposit on the 2023 and still waiting on it to arrive.
I will be looking for a 3rd Gen soon, and yes, they still look great! I actually love all the hard touch interior plastic because they are all recycled materials and help our planet 😊🇦🇺
Impressive original brakes! Still rolling in original brakes on 2020 Accord Hybrid with 141k miles. Hybrid/ EV is game changer if you are coming from reg ice cars
Oh ok @11:45 you said you're getting the Prime. Great!
not great... unless hes borrowing it for videos. he should just replace battery on his old prius. its not like we know that new priusis is much more crash safe
@@kalmmonke5037 He can afford it but his current Prius still has a lot of life yet
Currently driving a 2012 Highlander Hybrid. I love that I get the same mileage as a new Corolla, yet have tons of room. Also has the 3rd row that folds down. Just a fantastic vehicle.
I've put in a pre-order for a '22 Prius Prime last May and have been moved to the '23 as my dealer was not going to receive any more of the '22s. Curious how long it will take for you to receive your Prime and what your real world mileage is.
Hi mate, what's the MPG there?
@@yea-yea I’m not sure the MPG as I’m going by L/100km. Getting high 7’s with the Highlander. I guess it’s roughly about 30.
@@HFRajuncajun is that with AC on?
@@adon8672 For sure. It actually gets better mileage in the heat with AC than in the cold with the heater running. In the cold it needs to keep the engine running a lot more often.
My new Corolla AWD routinely gets 4.8-5L/100km for me during the winter. It's starting to get warmer here in Canada, my best one is 2.8L/100km (84 MPG) on a 15km one way route.
I had a Blue 2010 Itech Prius in Australia. It was the top spec with Radar Cruise, Solar Roof, LED headlights, and headlight washers. Sold it with 160k km for $11k AUD 😢 in 2018
I'm with you. I had two 3rd gen Prius' and IMHO the 4th gen were fugly. I currently have a 2023 AWD Limited Prius which I can't say enough about.
This is the best generation Prius among the others in terms of design and efficiency. The '23 model will continue it's legacy and go further and beyond.
I absolutely love my 2013 Prius that I named "Pearl" everyone I come in contact with, knows my Pearl. I bought her brand spanking new with only 5 miles on her. Here it is 2023 and It's still purring strong with 145K miles on her. My sister and my niece have gone through several cars to mine and they can't seem to understand that it's about quality and not beauty or what's trendy to have. I've Uber'd, with her and did all the food deliveries with her. Trunk space is phenomenal, so much room when you let the seats down. My plan is to finally trade her in next year but terrified I won't get the same quality as I do now. I however, will not get a new Prius. They are just ugly and too sporty looking
Love my 2012 Prius. It's still driving well. Like it better than the newer models.
Except the brand new one, right? I mean really....
This gen is my favorite besides the new one. Embarrassing the new one still doesn’t have rear vents🙄
You have the best gen Prius in terms of design. With the very last one gen they sacrificed functionality : the windshield is tilted so much that the 'A' pillars are almost horizontal and create dead angles towards the front. The tailgate is made so narrow that it renders the cargo capacity of the trunk obsolete.
Doesn't Toyota know that there's a whole community of Prius drivers that like to upgrade their cars? And to keep them running as long as possible?
"Outlanding" suspension lift kits, camper conversions, antiroll bars and braces, battery balancing chargers and PHEV kits. On board inverters to power air fryers and appliances.
Anti theft Catalytic converter shields. ...
Yep, my 2013 Prius V was great. NO problems - my little "truck". Felt guilty when I sold to CarMax to get my new Model 3.
2010 Gen 3 original owner ... I am thinking of replacing my hybrid battery, not because mine has failed, but at 14 years of age, I am pretty confident the capacity has degraded. The cost to upgrade, looks to be less than $3K. The problem I have is deciding on what battery to use. Besides OEM, there are quite a number of aftermarket battery suppliers, each touting the benefits of their product with some also offering low cost at-home replacement. Decisions, decisions, ...
Yes, Kirk has a 10-second car!
I think the 3rd gen is good looking, but too bland. The 4th gen pre-facelift weirdness is what got me into a Prius. I love the Zorro taillights. I have a 2017 three touring (bought in 2019) with 87k trouble free miles. I always drive it in power mode and still manage to get 480 miles to the tank ( I fill up as soon as gas lights on) and driving around 20k miles a year, this is an incredible low operating cost vehicle. I absolutely love it. I was really intrigued in the 5th gen especially with all that increased HP, but at 6’4, that lowered roofline and reduced cargo space is a dealbreaker for me not to mention the 19 inch standard wheels on the XLE. Toyota should have made those an option. I only like 19s on sports cars like the 2 mustang GTs I had before switching to Prius (yes I got married) In other words, I’m keeping my Prius until wheels fall off or market cools down for used Rav4 primes whichever comes first.
Great review Kirk. Love your channel.
That 1.8L should be in the Hall of Fame of engines! The next person will still get 10 years out of it!
200k on mine, new tires and fluid exchanges is the extent of my lifetime maintenance. Still running original rotors and pads😂
Great video, thanks for the info. I’m considering getting a 2012 myself but it’s a 2nd generation and I really like this one but the only downfall to it was the brake light and abs lights was on but it drove smoothly so do you have any suggestions?
I have 185,000 on my 2010 Prius. Original hybrid battery, still getting 42 - 46 mpg
It’s pretty wild, but in Orange County, CA the plug in hybrid variant is more expensive to drive even plugging in at the cheapest hours of utility. Electricity is expensive here. Unless you have solar and plug in during day, doesn’t make sense.
I also own a 2012 Prius and I love it but my MPG isn't high.. I get between 35-40 MPG.. I have 100 thousand miles on it and want to put new plugs in it..I see all these people getting 45-55 MPG and wonder how?
I have owned a 2004, 2016 (leased), and now a 2012 Toyota Prius Model 4 and absolutely love it!! MPG 55-61mpg!! I would like to say that I do not like the new 2023 Prius for many reasons. The dashboard for one is dead center instead of being off-center. Whatever made Toyota decide to change this? More disappointments: Reduced cargo space, lack of legroom for passengers in the rear as well as headroom. Maybe the engine is better since it is much larger. What about the new prices? What's your opinion? Let me know.
Just won a bid on a 08 jdm prius!! 08 only 60k miles! Hopefully will be as reliable as yours
Sweet. Even if you need to swap the battery, it should be very affordable
@@KirkKreifels im a dealer tech. Will probably just swap out cells as needed
I had a 2012 Toyota Prius and over and over 3-year. And 176,000 mi my 2012 Toyota Prius V package 2 so base model averaged about 43 mi per gallon for the station wagon version of the car and I did not drive at any special way to try to extract any better fuel economy out of it. If anything, I drove it more aggressively than the normal person who owns a Toyota Prius would drive their car because I am a full-time rideshare driver, I'm not necessarily trying to Dilly dally around. I'm trying to get to my passengers pickup in a timely fashion and I'm not trying to cruise at 5 mph under the speed limit to try to get that slightly better fuel economy with my passengers in the car. I'm usually a few miles an hour over the speed limit and that one was 11 years old with 400,000, mi on it when it's factory. Hybrid battery finally died and then almost a year later other issues popped up on the car which made it too expensive to fix all those issues to keep it up and working for me. So I ended up trading it in for a 2021 Toyota Prius L Eco and on that car in just over 6,000 mi. I'm averaging 67 miles per gallon doing the same things I was doing in the 2012 Toyota Prius V so the 2021 Toyota Prius L Eco is averaging about 24 miles per gallon. Better fuel economy than the 2012 Toyota Prius and I'm pretty sure if I was not in the V and the regular 2012 Toyota Prius that fuel economy Gap would be a bit smaller. Probably more like only a 19 to 20 mile per gallon difference but I'm not sure.
I have the same color 2013 prius with 215000 miles. Everything is original. But my u have to watch the headgasket issue on 3rd gen priuses
In the past year, I've spent over $3,000 in various emergency repairs on my 2012 Prius V (wagon). Then there's the $5,000 inverter repair several years ago. Yes, at 175k miles it is a good car, worth maintaining, still yielding 35+mpg. No, a trouble free or new car it is not. The hype over maintenance free cars is a disservice to everyone involved.
Whats odd is I just bought a 2012 Camry Hybrid and I see the past maintenance record from a Toyota dealer changed the HV battery on warranty at 84k miles in 2019. Car currently has 125K. Dealer stated that the radio stopped working due to low voltage of the HV battery? Uh.. doesn't the radio work off the 12V battery in the trunk? Sounds to me the dealer ripped the warranty for some extra $. That means that battery only lasted 7 years if it was bad.
‘12 V with 123K. Owned since new. Love the rig except for the EGR and PCV setup. Way too much engine oil and carbon gunk accumulation at the air intake manifold.
If you buy a 3rd Gen, clean the EGR system and intake manifold and install an oil catch can on the PCV line.
Wish I could say the same about my 2010 Prius. That thing started burning oil at about 110k. The cat converter went out at about 170k. Ended up getting rid of it. Didn’t want to spend thousands getting the engine repaired and a new cat converter
I've never heard of a cat converter going bad in a Prius...is there a certain check engine light code for it or something? How much oil did it burn?
@@readtherealanthonyfaucibyr6444 It may go bad if you sent bad exhaust through it for 60k miles lol
@@RennieAsh Gotcha, so oil burning contributes to a cat converter going bad? Makes sense but I had never heard that before...wasn't aware.
Well mine went bad. Yes oil burning over 60k miles clogged it up. It got to a point were it could barely go 30-40 mph. The mechanic did a temp reading on the section of the exhaust before the cat and it was hot (forgot the temp) and the exhaust system after the cat was way cooler. This was an indication that exhaust wasn’t going through the cat. On top of that the engine was getting worse and worse. I just said forget it. That 2010 model was known for that. I took it to Toyota and had a consumption test and it was burning about 1 1/2 quarts per 1000 miles. They didn’t fix it because it was obviously out of the warranty but i thought i at least try.
Sorry to hear of your problems with the 2010 Prius. I bought mine new - first 2010 to arrive at the dealer. I was a bit concerned about reliability of the first year of the new Gen 3, but I got lucky. No major issues - just general maintenance. Battery is still good. Mileage almost the same as new. It has had 2 minor accidents and one major one (rear-ended by a truck). Always repaired. About 190,000 miles at the end of 2023 and still going strong. Planning to keep until it dies.
My favorite car I ever had
I own a 2010 Prius with 70,000 miles and they are phenomenally reliable, and new generation is absolutely a big improvement.
Do you recommend getting the new Prius?
I have a 2010 with 395,000 miles and I drive it daily as a courier. It is a beast. It still looks great too. I also have a 2012 and it has 205,000 miles. No issues. I love these Gen 3 cars. Both paid for and I feel like they are paying me when I drive especially with gas at $2.60 a gallon right now. Cheers
Nice. My next one new 2025 Camry XLE premium plus pkg
With 65 percent battery life. Has your mpg taken a hit? Also original battery?
Still on original battery. Just tested it against the 2023 Prius and it competed well in mpg
@@KirkKreifels that’s great. How exactly does 65% battery life reflect on the performance of your car? Does it just mean it has 65 percent life or it is only 65 percent efficient out of 100? Thanks
Replace head gasket
Clean carbon from egr system
Clean hybrid battery fan
Replace electric water pumps
Replace all fluids
Change oil every 5k miles
Replace spark plugs
Replace all filters
Add oil catch can
Siphon brake fluid from brake fluid reservoir & top off with fresh fluid every 5000 miles
This is the only way to get 250k+ miles out of a Prius.
I havnt done any of those things except oil changes and replaced inverter water pump and replaced egr and spark plugs. 395,000 miles. This 2010 is killa.
I have 2010 prius with 60,000 miles bought bring new with sunroof
Is the corolla hybrid better?
I love this car i have also 2010 model red color i m in united Arab Emirates
Love my 2010. Newer versions disappoint with their smaller interior space.
Did you hold the accelerator ALL THE WAY down when you loaded it up against the brakes? I have a 2002 and it launches pretty strong when I do that.
Yes
@@KirkKreifels apparently there was an update for the inverter that totally neutered the off-the-line acceleration because the early Gen 3s were cooking inverters.
Love muh Kirk.
Nice review and these, I think, still have a spare tire.