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Originally Posted by hayden55
Wow you bought quite the lemon.
at 205k miles my 2010 has been pretty good (purchased around 95k).
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Yeah, mine has been the least reliable Toyota I've ever owned - and I've had head gasket blowing rod knockers like 80s Supras & 90s 4runners..
I'm 99% sure the guy I bought the car from sold it to me with a stop leaked blown head gasket because it drove fine for a week then started doing the start-up knock and losing coolant (and normally it takes a while to start losing coolant). I bought it for ~$7,000 at a time when most with similar mileage were going for ~$8,500, but at the time I chalked it up to the minor cosmetic imperfections and the hassle of clearing the lein on the title from his bank.
Anyway, blown head gaskets are extremely common on the 2010-2012s (Toyota redesigned the head gasket sometime in 2013, along with oil control rings). They can still blow on 2013-2015s, but it is not nearly as common.
Thankfully mine isn't an oil burner, but my Prius shop recommended synethic oil 5k PM intervals rather than 10k to prevent gumming up the oil control ring. Obviously it is in their financial interest to recommend oil changes twice as often, but that really wouldn't be a material cost if I wasn't in an apartment and could DIY them.
The hybrid battery failing at 155k was partly my fault & partly the previous owner. He drove a long haired golden retriever around all the time and its hair got everywhere. I noticed this hair magically reappearing every time I detailed the inside the first year, but it never occurred to me to clean the traction battery & fan. I also accelerated the battery wear the first year by trying to drive it as an electric car as long as possible (i.e. accelerating super slowly to keep the HSI below 1/2 and then trying to keep my city thoroughfare cruising speed below ~42mph). Excessive charging/discharging will accelerate battery degredation. It also isn't even good for fuel economy (which I also did not know at the time), because the round trip efficiency of the NiMh battery is like 64% (vs 90% for Li ion).
Out of my control were the 0-120° F outside temperatures (which means the inside cabin temperature often gets to 150°F parked in the sun). For best life, batteries should be kept below 114°F I also drive a fair bit in the foothills which means the battery frequently gets charged above 80% SOC when holding speed at the speed limit when going downhill. For best battery life, the SOC should stay between 25-75%... Unfortunately, mine failed at 155k rather than 149k - the hybrid system warranty in CARB states is 10 years & 150k...
Failing brake boosters are not quite as common, but happened enough that Toyota issued TSBs and will now replace it for free within 10 years & 150,000 miles of the car first being put into service. I'm obviously past that. They also developed a special service tool to allow them to replace it without dismantling as much stuff, which saves quite a bit of labor. With gentle deceleration using the hybrid system I almost never use the mechanical brakes (at ~200k the original brakes still have half life) so the booster may last another year or two. I can just hear/feel it now when first starting the car for the day.
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Only faults I have really had to deal with is rear brakes seized up, and I had to do an EGR delete (cleaned it but left the delete).
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If yours isn't an oil burner and you want maximum MPG you should probably fix the EGR. In the Gen3 and especially the Gen4 Prius, Toyota also uses the EGR to reduce pumping losses (similar to how some people here use warm air intakes).
See:
https://publications.anl.gov/anlpubs/2010/06/67317.pdf
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the MY2010 Prius also specifically seeks to improve the vehicle’s real-world fuel economy, namely, hot and cold weather operation as well as improving high-speed operation with minimal compromise to urban driving.
To accomplish these objectives, the majority of the Prius’ hybrid components have been redesigned or updated. Engine displacement has increased to 1.8L versus the previous 1.4L in order to increase efficiency at higher vehicle speeds. In order to maintain lowspeed vehicle efficiency, an Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) system was included
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