My wife owns a 2012 Prius v with 130,000 miles. Those miles represent frequent trips to nearby towns for lunch or dinner and lots of 80 mile visits to family. We both love this car, but she worries that the car may be nearly worn out so wants to buy a newer SUV. But because this car has been perfectly maintained, I suggested we keep it, replace the battery pack when necessary and hopefully drive it for another 100 thousand miles or more. Do you think this car will last?
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I agree completely. This car is nowhere close to being âworn outâ The battery replacement likely wonât be for quite a while yet. Tell your wife not to worry.
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Toyotas have good âgenesâ and have very long lives! You are about halfway through its reliable life; just keep driving and replace items as necessary. Prius taxis have gone over 900,000 miles in heavy service!
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While I tend to agree with all the other comments⊠it does sound to me like your wife may have been bitten by the New Car Bug. Tread lightly there, friend; normal reason may not apply.
Good luck.
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good car, good reputation. reliable. cost per mile is cheap if you keep it 10yrs.
since it has some value, sell it and buy another shiny new car you want more. is this a reliability/repair question or what do i really want question?
you have had it for 6yrs. its past the major depreciation hit.
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Yep, you donât NEED to replace it, but it sounds like she may WANT to replace it.
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The car has a long life left in it, but if it creates some anxiety in your wife, and you can afford it, I certainly would not argue with your getting her something sheâs more comfortable with. Her happiness is important. Perhaps she isnât comfortable with hybrids, perhaps she feels uncomfortable relying on a battery pack (although a Prius also uses a gas engine), and perhaps sheâd be happier with a gas engine car.
Bottom line: if sheâs uncomfortable with it, and you can afford it, take her on a car shopping trip or two⊠or three.
I have a 2003 Prius with 118,000 miles on it. I expect it to reach 200,000 at least. Never have had to replace the battery pack. In fact, the original car battery lasted 14 years. By all means let your wife buy a new car if she wants: marital happiness is vital. But donât trade away a very well built car that could easily last another ten years.
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These type of deals are fantastic opportunity. I show up and fan out a stack of hundreds in front of the wife and I get a great deal on a used car 
The Prius owners on FB report super long life. Worn out is a relative term. Mechanically it may last longer than its interior and such. If you do decide to let it go, keep in mind that there are no more Prius Vs being built. Might bump up the value to a private owner if you opt to sell it yourself. I know you may just be economical with your words, but the battery packs in Prius cars are repairable. There is a pretty solid cottage industry of places that will repair it for you for a very affordable price. If it does have trouble, educate yourself before buying a new or reconditioned battery. Let us know what you opt for. Entirely new RAV4 hybrid design debuts in the fall. Top selling green crossover on Earth presently. That might be one way to get an âSUVâ, but stay with Toyota if you have enjoyed the ownership experience.
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Agree! Not only is a Prius an exceptional vehicle, I could not recommend any other Hybrid than a Toyota at this time.
For instance Ford hybrids have had may problems and short lived components.
The fact that the Prius is a favorite with taxi operators speaks for itself.
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Happy wife, happy life. If your family finances are such you can afford to do so, replace it with a new one. And let her choose the color. Youâll save yourself some repair grief too, eventually. Lots of people trade their cars in at the 5 year mark, some even at the 3 year mark.
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In the Rio Grande Valley, when we donated out 2002 Sienna to a local Bible Institute, the man who took possession told us the Prius batteries do not last the 100,000+ miles so common everywhere else. I cannot verify his claims. But, it is very hot much of the year down there, if that makes a difference.
Interesting. We donât seem to get posts from folks in the southwest (AZ, NM, TX, etc) with worn out Prius batteries. But heat is not good for batteries in general, thatâs true.
I know several people who own Priuses, and a couple more that own Civic Hybrids. 2 in that group have vehicles approaching 300k miles and not one has had to replace the battery pack (or a portion of the pack) yet.
This was a comment by a man I met while donating my car. I have no idea if that is true or not. I was surprised because I had heard no such thing, which is why I mentioned it here. But, as Texases says, we know with regular car batteries they donât do so well with heat. but, Prius may not use lead acid.
The âbigâ battery on most Priuses is a Ni-MH, some of the newest use Li-ion.
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The newest may even have cooling systems for the lithium-ion arrays. That was one of Teslaâs biggest challenges was developing a cooling system for controlling the heat from the lithium-ion arrays. Iâve never researched Prius, so I donât really know.
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My neighbor recently traded in his 2001 Prius with just over 300K miles and only routine maintenance. Original battery. No serious issues.
âLet your wifeâ is an indicator that you still live in a manâs world. I prefer language that respects team decision making. Just a thought, not an outraged comment. And I would opt to keep the car because it obviously isnât a lemon.