So I was out Prius shopping and...

I was able to buy my Taco with mostly the money I made driving the Prius for Uber. Along with the very low cost of operating the Prius.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO6gWlyWtYo

 

Just bought my wife a CPO Prius with 33k miles, I love driving it & out of it and my 2019 Tacoma I can say I'm definitely keeping the Prius, not sure what or when the Tacoma will be replaced with yet..
Most people are getting 250k miles and dumping them before they have to do a battery. From what I'm reading, you may change the brakes and windshield wipers twice by 250k..

 

It's tough to beat used prius pricing! Windshield wipers are classic toyota items, daily use 2 years easy.
Braking is accomplished via regen. the vast majority of the time, actual pads last 100k+ miles.

Aftermarket power-train batteries are around $1.25-2k, some places even match cell outputs and have 'lifetime' warranties.

 

Ask the NY cabbies who drive them.

 

Cabbie prius's have 3 issues where I am.

EGR cooler gums up due to all the idling and low temp exhaust.

The batteries overheat and fail (the big one) They learned to clean the ducting and check the cooling fan in the rear compartment to extend the life of the battery.

Headgasket failures, but high mileage.

Prius's are easily the best Toyota ever made. I have rarely seen a privately owned one with a large bill.

 

I'm thinking about a Rav4 hybrid. Not on your list, but excellent mileage...

 

Civic FTW

 

They are solid, my only reason I didnt buy one is the winter driving. They understeer a lot more than the standard model in snow and ice. Simply due to weight.

 

Brother in-law’s Prius has 325k no issues.

 

My first car was an '03 Corolla LE. Bought it in the spring of 2006 when I was almost out of the Army and about to hit E-5. It had 56k miles and I sold it 5 years later with about 144k. I didn't do much besides Mobil 1 5-30 every 5k and an air filter every 10-12k. Should have cleaned the throttle body on it. It was super reliable despite the mediocre maintenance.

All but one of my vehicles have been Toyotas.

 

I just bought one last night for my commuter... got it from a buddy who is moving and am the second owner so I feel like I got a good deal on it paid 2400 cash

2008 Prius 189,000 miles cosmetic scrapes the motor and battery are still strong, leather, not to bad

 

You should at least get another 120k out of it. Everyone says really hot weather is what kills the hybrid batteries, but we don't get insane heat here around Denver.

 

Owned an 09 Camry Hybrid, it was a great car. At the time my ex was driving the Ford F350 dually crew cab with diesel. When gas was over $4 a gallon I decided we needed something fuel efficient. Test drove the Prius,Camry and the Civic hybrid. I wanted the Civic, she wanted the Camry....so of course.
Now with the new model Corolla hybrid available, I'd jump all over it. It is supposed to get the mileage of your standard Prius.
I recently sold my business and may have to start commuting some for locum work. I don't want to put the miles on the Tacoma.
So, I'm down for either a Prius Prime or the Corolla.
For the money and gas mileage, you can't go wrong with either. If you need more seating capacity go with the Camry.

 

Get a Prius Prime, Plug in hybrid is the way to go.

 

I’ve owned myPrius since new in 2008, and driven approx 165k miles so far, and I love it. Other than regular oil/filter scheduled maintenance, it needed no repairs what so ever so far. I’ve replaced the regular 12v battery about 5 years ago, plugs at 100k miles, and just got a set of Bridgestone Ecopia tires (3rd set) - lasts about 70k miles on these. The brake pads still look like 60% life left on them, and the best part is that I’m averaging about 53.5 miles per gallon. It helps with my 70-mile r/t commute.

 

I think the Prius is a perfect daily driver when you have a Tacoma for fun and what not.

 

I owned 2 Priuses.

First one 2010 model bought with 40,000 miles and then totalled at 90,000 miles by a 50mph work truck while stopped on the freeway. Occupants fine. Rear frame bent.

Second one with the payout check (we liked the car) another 2010 with 50,000 miles and now it has 120,000 miles. Going strong.

Never had to fix anything on either car other than the 12v battery, oil changes, and the wiper blades.

The first car I've owned that actually gets its EPA mileage. I get 46-47 mpg interstate mostly at 80mph. City driving is more efficient.

The vehicle is so efficient tire choice will affect your gas mileage. I think the popular ones are the Michelin Defenders or the General Altimax RT43.

The high voltage battery is incredibly reliable since it's based on old nickel metal hydride tech and not lithium ion (the reason why you shouldn't get a plug-in model those use lithium ion). They go for 300k before you see issues. Even then there's tons of rebuilders and you can buy a new one for $1500. If you're good with a multimeter and can identify the dead cell the inside of the battery is just a bunch of metal slot packs that just pull out. It's not unsafe because NiMh batteries don't explode.

The popular thing that needs to be done around 100-120k miles is change transmission fluid. The electric motors sit in the transmission fluid for cooling and metal bits left over from the early break in aren't good for them. Also brake pads because the car doesn't use them much.

I think the one misconception about the Prius is they're slow. People drive them slow. The electric motor puts out 295 lb-ft of torque. It accelerates from 0-30 very quickly. 30-60 is a bit longer. There's a button "Pwr" in the 2010+ models that adjust the gas pedal response.

I'd splurge for one with fake leather seats. Our first one was cloth and it is uncomfortable for distance driving. The leather seat models have adjustable lumbar support.

Also I'd only get a 2010+. Toyota has had 20 years to work out the hybrid tech kinks, so get one from the latter half of those 20 years.

 

I actually got better mileage over the winter with my Michelin Ice-X snow tires than my Cooper CS5 all seasons. Low 50s vs. 47-50 mpg.