From what I understand Prius batteries were guaranteed for 5yrs, this has been retrospectively extended to 7yrs now due to a fair few failing/cost to replace?

So if you say have a 5-6yr old Prius and looking to sell it privately, surely a potential buyer may be alittle wary?

Thats an open question, not trolling BTW. Im too tired for arm wrestling today.

Im on the fence at the moment.

For the same money I can buy a Mitsubishi Lancer estate and in two years it’d cost me the same but I’d still have the car.

Then again, will there be any fun and japery with it mechanically in that time?

We went down the PCH route a couple of years ago, primarily because I need a reliable car for work and couldn’t be doing with the hassle that comes with running an older car: constant trips to garages, sorting lifts, courtesy cars etc, and thats before the cost of repairs (ever take a reasonably modern car into a garage for even something minor and come out with a bill for less than £200?)

Bottom line is I just want the car to be there when I need it, not constantly wondering when it’s going to break next, so for me a new car is the way to go and PCH is probably the lowest cost way of getting there.

” £15 on VED”

Surprised that thing’s not free road tax. Can’t be that green…

It was £15 when we got it, then it was free for a couple of years, now it’s £15 again. It’s 104g/km I think.

From what I understand Prius batteries were guaranteed for 5yrs, this has been retrospectively extended to 7yrs now due to a fair few failing/cost to replace?

Dunno. I spent time on the American Prius forums since they sell far more over there, and the consensus was a while ago that no-one’d had a whole battery replaced on warranty, despite the warranty being 10 years due to Californian emissions equippment regs. It does not have a *design* lifetime limit, cos Toyota tested the nuts off it and couldn’t get it to show signs of fading.

Individual cells can cause trouble, but again advice is to get a reclaimed battery/cell from a crashed Prius, since many more get written off than need new batteries. I’m not worried. 82k miles on ours so far and it’s faultless.

Then again, will there be any fun and japery with it mechanically in that time?

It’s about probability innit. A reliable brand is not very likely to go wrong I don’t think. I’d just stick costly repairs on the credit card, since IF you have to make payments on that it’ll be not that different to making payments on a lease, BUT (and this is a massive but I reckon) chances are you won’t have a big bill, so you are highly likely to be ahead.

A reliable brand is not very likely to go wrong I don’t think

Braaahhhh!!!! Tell that to Mr Mastiles and his fricking ‘reliable’ Japanese Mazda.

👿

MF.. you understand what the term ‘probability’ means, don’t you?

OVERALL Mazda are good. Even though they apparently made one car that was a turkey. I’m talking about stats, not ‘my mate’s dad’s mate’ stories.

Molgrips how do you rate the prius? That new 7 seater one looks interesting, might make a tax efficient and more eco friendly alternative to my unacceptable 4×4 when it goes back.

MF.. you understand what the term ‘probability’ means, don’t you?

Yeah – the probability of having a 3, 5 or 6 built between 2006 & 2008 means 50% all faults in those cars were the DCS system failing costing around £700 to repair. It isn’t just *my* car, it is all models at that time fitted with that feature.

And no ‘mate’s dad’ theory here – look on any Mazda forum or on reliability reports and the fault appears again and again.

Yeah – the probability of having a 3, 5 or 6 built between 2006 & 2008 means 50% all faults in those cars were the DCS system failing costing around £700 to repair. It isn’t just *my* car, it is all models at that time fitted with that feature.

Out of all Mazdas ever made, the stats seem to be good.

Prius – I love it. It’s a really relaxed car, super easy to drive. 55-60mpg depending on season and journeys. Problems with mine are the steering wheel has no reach adjustment, and the interior is a little crude in places – not everywhere strangely. Also a smidge more road noise than I’d like. However the newer one is mean to be more refined; it’s signifiantly quicker, more economical, a bit bigger, nicer inside and it has steering wheel reach adjustment. I do want one but see above for the reasons 🙂

The 7 seater also looks good – should be pretty efficient, hardly any higher than the standard car.

Out of all Mazdas ever made, the stats seem to be good.

Possibly but my point being that I bought a brand new car – and it was actually chosen mainly because we thought Mazda WERE a reliable brand – so in my experience (and that of countless others as I said above) past performance is no guarantee of reliability which is why I responded to your comment.

A reliable brand is not very likely to go wrong I don’t think

Well my statement holds by definition – in fact it’s almost tautological. If a brand’s cars are likely to go wrong then they’re not a reliable brand, are they?

Yes, you were unlucky. However overall (not in the specific cases you quote) I am still right.

I might lease, I might buy but I’d never buy from Toyota GB in a thousand years

Buying an ex-lease car has been good so far for us. All servicing done up to date by the lease owner., we picked up a 3yr old passat estate a year ago for 5.5k. High mileage at 126000 but it literally looked like it’d done 26000. had had its second cam belt on time and hasn’t skipped a beat since, now reading 140000 and no problems. Sure it’ll cost at some point but if I’d been paying 300 a month I’d have spent 3600 by now, which would probably pay for any approaching repairs 4 or 5 times over. And I bet I’d get 4 grand for it tomorrow.

Just another option.

I am still right

I know. You always think you always are.

😛

and Volvo drivers beware..it is a common fault that suffered a recall in the USA but not in the uk!

It’s alright, Volvos are reliable 😉

Is that similar to the old Passat issue? I.e keep leaves/mulch clear of the drains?