High-miler daily driver

It’s good to be back and contributing to Car Mechanics! Those of you who recall me as editor from 19952008 may be surprised to hear that, for the past three years, my everyday driver has been a 2008 Toyota Prius hybrid. I’ve driven it nearly 60,000 miles and absolutely love it.

Three years is long service for a Simpson vehicle. However, the Prius is definitely a keeper. She’s just tipped over 175,000 miles, so it would be rude not to take her over 200,000, wouldn’t it?

The Prius was a main dealer partexchange bought at auction – a bit up on miles (117,000), but not massively so, and with a complete main dealer service history. Buying this way is not without risks and not for everyone – you need a sound mechanical knowledge and be happy to back your own judgement. My usual strategy is to buy at trade price at auction, then sell ‘private retail’ for about the same price a year or two later, thus avoiding depreciation.

The Prius has needed next to nothing in terms of repairs beyond normal servicing and the usual routine tyre and brake pad renewal. A couple of common weaknesses were sorted shortly before I bought the car: it had a new water pump at 113,000 miles, with the 12V battery renewed shortly after that. The latter’s only function is to power up the electrics at initial startup, so it doesn’t have the usual charge/ discharge cycle that keeps a conventional battery healthy – the best way to kill a lead-acid battery is through inactivity.

Mechanical durability is also aided by the Prius not having several components which usually need renewing at 100,000-150,000 miles. There’s no clutch, alternator or starter motor, and the CVT gearbox is simplified by having no mechanical reverse. The car reverses under electric power, with backward motion achieved by reversing the

traction motor. The petrol engine has a basic low-stress chain-cam 1.5 which, given normal routine servicing, will run pretty much forever.

The biggest concern for most potential buyers of a secondhand Prius is traction battery life, but I say there’s nothing to

worry about. Up to 10 years old, if a Prius passes a hybrid health check at a Toyota dealership – which costs about £40 – the company will then extend the warranty for a year or 10,000 miles. So, if you have a check done just before this warranty expires, any battery defect discovered should be covered. Then, if you have another check done just before the car’s 10th birthday – the final year Toyota will offer an undertaking – the warranty runs for a further year or 10,000 miles.

On buying my car, I enquired about the cost of a new hybrid battery. It took the main dealer a while to get back to me as they’d never been asked to price, let

alone supply, one. Toyota quoted £1200 plus £200 labour. So while battery failure is clearly not something you’d welcome, it’s not write-off territory either. Just take a look at the classifieds and see how many 250,0000-mile ex-taxi Priuses are out there and still working – and how few are advertised with a duff battery – to be reassured that this is not a common occurrence. Really, it’s no more likely than sudden engine or gearbox failure, and the financial consequences are no more severe.

Cheap motoring

The main reason I rate the Prius so highly is that, over and above its mechanical toughness, I don’t think I’ve ever owned a car that fits my needs so perfectly. Being a 2008 T-spirit version, it has a built-in hands-free phone, sat-nav and a reversing camera.

While I’ve never quite achieved Toyota’s claimed 65mpg, it’s consistently averaged 58-61mpg, which I’m more than happy with. It is noticeably less economical in winter than summer, I suspect because the petrol engine runs more frequently with the heater on. Road tax is £10 a year, which I pay monthly because I like seeing DVLA take 83p a month from my bank!

It’s also a remarkably comfortable ride and pleasant to drive. The only thing I can find to criticise is that the sat-nav is one of those slightly annoying ones that will only accept the first four digits of a postcode.

Above all, the Prius is a tough, durable and well-engineered car, making it a worthy successor to the various Volvos I’ve driven in the past.

Alloy wheels with wheeltrims? The Prius uses alloys to save weight and improve fuel efficiency, not because they look good.

Shortly after buying the Prius, I took the coast road from Bridgwater to Ilfracombe in Devon, up the infamous 1-in-4 ascent of Porlock Hill and the equally steep descent into Lynmouth.

The drop into Lynmouth caused two unusual events: the main battery cooling fan cut in – something that’s never happened since – and the main battery charge indicator went to full. Hybrids recycle energy that would otherwise be wasted, which is what was happening here.

A petrol engine only uses maximum power when accelerating. If there’s an electric motor to provide boost under these circumstances, a smaller and more fuel-efficient engine can be used. The Prius’s 1.5 engine develops just 76bhp, but the electric motor effectively adds up to 67bhp, most of which comes from energy which would otherwise be wasted.

Prius in Isfield, East Sussex, at the headquarters of the well-preserved Lavender Line.

Inside, there are a few indications of the car’s mileage. The front centre armrest cover has come adrift, but it can be easily fixed with glue and new foam.

There’s a fair amount of wear to the driver’s armrest trim, but the passenger side is still almost perfect.