Best used Prius (or equivalent brand) for dwelling?

[WalkaboutTed]

Hi all,
Still stuck at home, but I have sent Hubby away for almost a week. In our 25 years together, we've never spent more than 3-4 months together until the stinkin' pandemic. We both need our time alone.

We only have the one van,  so I will be stuck at home.  I have a kid here or the Senior Center will shlep me to the doctor or shopping, but having to ask for help is a bit off-putting for me.

We have come to the conclusion that we do need a second vehicle.  Upon discussion,  we decided that with a hybrid like the Prius, that Hubby could sleep in it with the air conditioner running through the night.  Otherwise he would have to leave the area to seek cooler temps. Having a/c to get through hot nights (no,  not that kind of hot!) Is a game changer.  Hubby likes to city dwell as he is a metal detector and finds more stuff in areas that have been populated a long time (he's a coin shooter, his oldest coin was a 1767  ¹/¹⁶ silver Real he found in the Tucson main library grassy area).  

So what's the best used Prius overall for dwelling? Or other brand that might be equivalent?  We can't afford new or newer used, but it might be a year or two until we can afford it anyway. I don't want to finance anything,  so it needs to be under $10K, hopefully well under that when we get the money together.  If you have the time and ease, pros and cons, please?

Thanks to all,
Ted

 

[bullfrog]

There are lots of good videos out there. Basically their average maximum life is 300,000 miles. The first generations were not very well refined and they didn't sell as many as the second generations. The second generations had some bad instrument cluster electrical parts which required you remove the dash to replace but they are fixable. Finding a second generation with less than 300,000 miles will be very difficult as most taxi and delivery companies buy any they can find and that was before the used car shortage. Newer low mileage ones will most likely be out of your price range but you might get lucky by trying/contacting some that have posted on the hybrid forum on this site. There is a 2' lift kit available from "Prius Off Road" and it is possible to run a 1500 watt inverter off the starter battery.

 

[highdesertranger]

A good friend of mine has one it's in the 2,000 teens I am not exactly sure of the year. but he has about 125,000 miles on it. But his battery warning light just came on so he took it to Toyota.. Here's what they told him.

The average life span of the drive battery is 150,000 but in hot weather it is shorter. He lives in the desert by Joshua Tree. His battery is already heading south. A new battery installed is 4,200 bucks.

So all that is something to think about.

Highdesertranger

 

[WalkaboutTed]

You know, I've been on crvl zillions of times since 2016 and never "saw' that topic. Now that im thoroughly embarassed, I'm going to slink back off into the peanut galeery now. Thank you.
Ted

 

[crofter]

I heard that there is a year that is the best for running the climate system overnight and that the newer are not so good at running the climate system overnight. Anyone know about this?
-crofter

 

[bullfrog]

I know for heat many use a 1,500 watt inverter and a ceramic heater on low as it takes much more time for the battery to run down enough to cause the gasoline engine to start to charge the battery than it does for the automatic climate control to sense a cold interior and start the gasoline engine to provide heat through it's cooling system heater core. In other words you get to sleep longer before the gasoline engine starts up.

 

[RVTravel]

There is a youtube vid that goes over the prius generations with issues for each.

 

[TrailerManNJ]

Hi WalkAbout! I'm new here and really wasn't planning on replying to any threads (I'm more of a reader/lurker), but yours caught my eye.

I too will be getting a Prius to full-time live in soon, and I too am a detectorist! Small world. Tell your husband I found the same year real he did...it's one of my most prized possessions. What machine does he swing, a Nox?

Anywho, I'm by no means an expert camper, but I have been researching for YEARS now. The generation 2 Prius' are going to be the most affordable options for you (same for me), but they're a big gamble, too. If the battery goes on them you're looking at AT LEAST a $1,000 fix...and that would be the cheapest band-aid type of solution. They're expensive cars to fix if something major goes, much more so than a traditional vehicle. But...

If you get lucky and find a good one - even if it lasts just 2 or 3 years - that's like living rent free all that time, so it'll give you the opportunity to save cash quickly!

And yes, just like your hubby, I'm MAINLY interested in the Prius for the climate control. No way I can sleep in a heat box during NE summers. That and the savings on gas make it a winner.

Where are you located? I might even know your hubby...even if only by name.

Good luck!

 

[tx2sturgis]

I'm wondering how Ted is doing....it's been awhile since her last post.

Maybe she found the Perfect Prius and is Happily Hybriding as we speak!

 

[Ken in Anaheim]

Perhaps she is piously Priusing (?)

 

[PeterPiper]

For the cost of a Prius battery you can buy 600 top quality 18650 cells

The Toyota Prius Prime uses five lithium-ion battery stacks. Each consists of 19 cells (25 Ah) each (95 total and 8.8 kWh). Battery voltage is 351.5 V (95 times 3.7 V).
(copied from the net)

https://secondlifestorage.com/index.php?threads/toyota-prius-battery-pack-cells.6571/

I should probably look into getting into the business of rebuilding those battery packs.

 

[Frood]

I've watched quite a few YouTube videos about people that break down and re-use Hybrid and EV battery packs.
You have a LOT of cells to work with but if you mess up taking it apart... ZAP. Really high voltage from what
just looks like a huge mass of AA batteries all wired in serial (I think. I always get serial and parallel mixed
up as to which increases the Voltage and which increases the Wattage).

 

[PeterPiper]

:thumbsup:
Long ago I used to get mixed up about that.
Parallel increases capacity with same voltage......serial increases voltage but same capacity.
UIM, some of the Prius' use 18650 cells and so do some Teslas.   Others use Prismatic cells.

Wattage is a power measurement.  Current x voltage basically.  Power transfer.  Amp hours can convert to watt hours.

You aren't kidding about the voltage.
You touch the wrong thing at the wrong time and it can be fatal.
But remember electricity follows the path of least resistance.
One trick if you're handling high voltage is to make sure if there's an accident that your body is not the path the current will choose or use least.
Lightning rods are an example of that.   They give the massive current of a lightning strike a "path of least resistance"

 

[WVWildflower]

Our 2007 Prius has 500k miles. It's the most reliable car I have ever owned.

 

[WVWildflower]

For the cost of a Prius battery you can buy 600 top quality 18650 cells

The Toyota Prius Prime uses five lithium-ion battery stacks. Each consists of 19 cells (25 Ah) each (95 total and 8.8 kWh). Battery voltage is 351.5 V (95 times 3.7 V).
(copied from the net)

https://secondlifestorage.com/index.php?threads/toyota-prius-battery-pack-cells.6571/

I should probably look into getting into the business of rebuilding those battery packs.

We replaced our 2007 Prius battery at 490k miles. It was around 3k at Toyota. We also have a Prius Prime. Toyota told me that would cost around 11k to replace.

That said, a Tesla Model S100D battery is 30k. Thirty thousand dollars!!

 

[Thorpedo]

I think that Toyota overcharges for battery replacement, since I've seen professionally rebuilt battery packs (with new cells) for significantly less. There are also DIY videos on YouTube covering all that so, if you know the difference between parallel and serial battery connections, that might be an option. I suppose, if battery life is a concern, one could get it professionally checked out before purchase, unless the seller knows it is going bad.

Back to the initial subject in this thread's title "Best used Prius (or equivalent brand) for dwelling?" I think if you can afford it, the Prius V's extra room can be a good value. Toyota stopped making that model when they came out with the RAV4 Hybrid, which also might be a good option for off-roaders. I bought my 2013 Prius V a year ago for about $11,000, which is a bit more than the initial post's requirement that it be less than $10,000. For less than $10,000, I think the second-generation Prius models would be the best option given current used-car prices.

 

[Telcobilly]

There is a youtube vid that goes over the prius generations with issues for each.

Here it is:

 

[tripper]

Prius V wagons, a lot more space than all the other models. They are collectable now so can be expensive.