In Our Cars, Peter Simpson’s Toyota Prius needs a new front wheel bearing.
Since my last update, both Simpson family modern cars have continued to give good service. The Toyota Prius has now passed the 190,000-mile mark, of which I’ve covered 73,000 in a little under three years. That’s remarkably long service for a Simpson daily driver, but to be frank the Prius is so perfectly-matched to my business and private motoring needs that there is absolutely no reason to replace it. It consistently returns over 60mpg and, while most of the actual miles are clocked up on long runs, the car also does plenty of local runs of five to fifteen mile durations in between.
Interestingly, after monitoring economy fairly closely throughout the three years, I’m now certain she’s about 3mpg better on fuel in summer than winter. This is the biggest difference I’ve ever come across and, while part of the cause is clearly greater efficiency in warm weather than cold, I do wonder if/suspect that more use of the heater in winter results in the petrol engine running more than it might otherwise. Alternatively, it might just be a reflection of me making more long journeys in summer…
The biggest surprise, though, is how durable the car has been. I knew when
I bought it that it had been well looked after, but I had little real idea how second-generation Priuses were at high mileages, though their widespread use as taxis and private hire vehicles was, of course, a little reassuring.
I saw the purchase as something of an experiment that I needed to conduct – hybrid and electric power is clearly the future and people need to know how durable it is in middle age and after 150,000 plus miles. After all, by this point in a cars life warranties and company ownership have generally given way to private motorists who buy and run them using their own money, and it’s vital for people like this that ‘new technology’ is also ‘durable technology’.
The good news, however, is that secondgeneration Priuses really do seem to be as tough as old boots. I’ve got the full history of mine from new and, prior to my ownership, the only ‘worn out’ renewal was a water pump at 113,000 miles. Interestingly, though this is described on the bill as a ‘recall’ renewal, it was still charged for and the total bill including coolant and a pollen filter came to £360 – at a Surrey Toyota main dealer admittedly.
In my ownership it’s had front discs and pads at 128,000 and an exhaust back-box at 161,000. Oh, and at the last service (188,000) the rear pads were reported as still only about half-worn.
However, just as it turned 190,000, on the way back from a job in the north east, the characteristic whining/whirring of a failing wheel bearing was heard from
the nearside front; I really don’t think I can complain about a wheel bearing that’s lasted that long! Renewal was conventional and straightforward, with a new bearing costing just £70 all-in and taking about an hour and a half to fit.
Stolen cat!
There has, though, been another issue; as Editor Martyn mentioned in his Editorial (CM, June 2019), back in April 2019 some thieving so-and-so came on to my property and stole my catalytic converter. This is a common occurrence on hybrids these days as the cats are easy to get at and OE ones are very valuable in terms of precious metal content; there are a couple of very scary videos on
Youtube showing just how easy it is to get the cat off a Prius.
The aforementioned valuable metal content meant an OE replacement was out of the question at around £1200, and of course that too would be at risk of theft, though you can also buy, for around £200, a gauze-type protector that goes over the cat and delays removal. Euro Car Parts came in significantly cheaper at around £500 (though the cost has dropped since and is currently listed at £389.70), but presumably because of the spate of thefts, they had very limited stock. It was not available for home delivery – and at the time of my enquiry, the nearest branch with one was at Harlow, nearly 100 miles away. These days, however, supplies seem more plentiful.
In the end, I took a bit of a chance, and bought a catalytic converter, fitting kit and Lambda sensor – which of course had been stolen with the cat – from an ebay supplier for £230 all-in. I was pleasantly surprised by what actually arrived. The cat was a branded BM product and, though clearly it can’t possibly be as loaded with platinum etc as an OE part costing five times as much, it looks well-made and went on without difficulty. Time will tell, of course, how long it lasts, though interestingly, because you can’t control when a hybrid engine runs, hybrid cars do not get an emissions test at MOT time.
Our 2003 Land-rover Freelander – which is mainly Sarah’s car – has also been trouble-free throughout 2019
– well nearly so! Towards the end of the year, a couple of non-start issues prompted a battery change. I got a replacement from my local Halfords branch, which came in significantly cheaper than anyone else.
The shelf price for an ‘096’ was £92, but my Halfords Trade Card brought it down to £73.70; less than any of the local factors for a battery with a three-year guarantee, which also has the major plus-point of being valid at any Halfords branch in the UK.
Halfords Trade Cards are well worth having if you qualify; you don’t get money off things like dashcams and sat-navs, but 20-30% off parts and
10% off cleaning products is definitely worthwhile; it’s not just marketing hype! Unusually, you don’t actually have to be a self-employed mechanic etc; the full details of who qualifies are online at www.halfords.com/advice/ motoring/trade-card/trade-card
– basically if you work on vehicles you’ll probably get one.