Hey everyone… I joined this forum just to ask this, haha.
I’ve had my 2011 Prius since 2019. It had really low mileage when I got it, and it’s been a great car. I use it for work, and I’ve now put about 125,000 miles on it.
The main issue is the brake booster has failed. That repair would cost me around $2,600 – that’s with buying parts from eBay and having the dealer do the work.
But that’s not all. The car’s had a rough time… it got hit in a hit-and-run in December, I hit a coyote a few years ago which took out the fog light, and I also accidentally hit my own mailbox when I was super tired after having a baby. So yeah… it’s not in great shape.
Still, it works really well for my job. I drive a lot – around 600 to 800 miles a month – and I carry big, heavy stuff. I need space in the car, and newer Prius models seem a bit smaller.
We just bought a new 2025 Toyota RAV in December, but I don’t want to wreck it with my work gear.
We’ve got maybe $20,000 for a used car that has the same kind of space and decent gas mileage. My grandpa has a 2017 Prius with only 55,000 miles I could buy, but I’d have to add some storage – maybe by building a plywood platform in the back like I saw some forum people do.
Or I could just fix my old Prius and keep using it.
What do you all think? I was hoping I’d still get 2 or 3 more years out of it.
If I were you, I’d fix the brake booster. Try getting a quote from a smaller local shop instead of the dealer. The repair isn’t too hard, and the dealer is usually just overpriced.
Ellery said:
If I were you, I’d fix the brake booster. Try getting a quote from a smaller local shop instead of the dealer. The repair isn’t too hard, and the dealer is usually just overpriced.
Thanks! That gives me hope. We’ll definitely try calling around.
Do you have any other shops nearby? You don’t need a dealer for this – most mechanics can do the booster and accumulator swap, brake flush, and the calibration.
I’m cheap so I did it myself using videos online, but it’s not for everyone.
@Cody
Yeah I should’ve said this earlier… our trusted mechanic looked at it. He said he could get the parts but didn’t feel comfortable doing the calibration. Maybe he just didn’t want the hassle. I could ask around more. Still looking at about $1400 for parts though.
I got one last year and didn’t plan on the extended warranty, but it only added $5 to my monthly payment so I said why not. Everything is covered till 153k miles.
Gen 4 has good space and mine’s been super solid so far.
@Murphy
Yes, actually! My grandpa has a 2017 Prius he might sell me, basically for what his new lease costs monthly.
The space is decent, but the trunk is smaller than my current one. I need to fit a stretcher with the seats down, and it fits… barely. That’s why I was thinking of building a little platform in the trunk – so I don’t lose storage underneath.
Sorry if I’m being a bit unclear – I need room to stash supplies and still fit big heavy things, like 80-90 lb long items. I can probably make it work in the 2017, just might need to change how things are set up.
Flippa said: @Flippa
I’m a huge Prius fan. This is actually my second one. I’ve legit hugged it before. No shame lol.
The gen 4 is pretty close in size to your current gen 3. It’s the 2023 and newer models that got a lot smaller.
People didn’t love how the gen 4 looked, so it didn’t sell that well, but it drives nicely and doesn’t have the big issues the gen 3 had. Is your grandpa’s a Prime by any chance? That version loses a lot of trunk space to the battery.