Toyota Prius XW20 (2003-2009)
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Toyota’s ‘Dirty Green’ Secret. The Definitive Guide to the Hidden Cost Reality of Hybrid Ownership. Requiem of the Prius – When new the technologically ground breaking 2006 model NHW-20R Prius petrol/electric hybrid commanded a 50% price premium over that of a comparably sized petrol only model. Despite the significant extra cost, the projected engineered design life was still the same at 15 years or 300,000Km. Nevertheless, a sympathetically maintained Toyota of old… Read more
enjoyed popular reputation to exceed this. Easily capable of furnishing economical transport for perhaps a second or even third appreciative owner. Potential daily drivers for periods often approaching up to 25 years. Sometimes even 30. But this admirable quality of longevity is becoming increasingly rare on Australian roads. While some Hybrid owners, typically Taxis, report astronomically high mileages from their vehicles, there has nonetheless developed a depressing tendency. As our technologically packed and legislatively mandated safety bloated automotive marvels age, they disturbingly give complicated trouble we tend to find all too difficult. Many prematurely ending in some scrap yard partially cannibalised for parts, awaiting the ultimate fate of the crusher. The iconic and once prolific NHW-20R Prius (2004-2009) is a good example, having in recent years all but vanished from our roads.
As well as reduction of CO₂ a NHW-20R (aka Gen2) will save around 40% at the pump in comparison to a similar size/weighted petrol only vehicle. A hybrid’s additional purchase cost and the inevitable eventual replacement of it’s high voltage main Battery are however obvious caveat to simply pocketing this windfall. But shockingly it might not be this hurdle precluding cash-strapped masses participation in planet saving ‘Green’ technology. Largely ignored is the tendency for today's high-tech to go wrong in an alarmingly expensive way.
A servicing Dealer often lacking staff skilled in particular areas of expertise, instead of detailed diagnostics of niggling faults, will increasingly call from inventory some convenient, but absurdly expensive unit assembly replacement. This is all well and good while a vehicle remains under Factory Warranty but is to the obvious detriment of some hapless owners wallet after that rather short period has expired. Worse, after factory parts and service support all too soon begins to taper off, the very nature of these diabolically complicated machines will insure the rapid demise of any remaining. An alarming waste of what is, in Toyota’s case, a perhaps otherwise reasonably well engineered vehicle.
But realistically even a seemingly well engineered Toyota will have its share of failings. As stated, it is the High Voltage Traction Battery generally perceived to be any EV’s Achilles’ heel. But relative value for money, its replacement will likely be the one part of Hybrid least likely to provide an owner unforeseen financial anguish. For example. Sudden failure at 16 years and 2 months (154, 903km) in one of our Gen 2’s 28 Panasonic nickel metal hydride battery modules (low 13.56v on Block 6 vs 15.2 on lowest other) forced the recommended remedy of total pack replacement. Dealer charge for this part, $2,348.30 was not excessive (G951047031 Battery Assembly, High Voltage. November 2021). That’s under $90 per 6.5 Ampere hour module. Admittedly this did not include the notably involved removal, pack disassembly/reassembly and refitting back into the vehicle. Obviously cognisant to overwhelming customer sensitivity on Battery issues, Toyota on this occasion seem to have reined in their proclivity to scalp otherwise vulnerable owners. The Dealer also subsequently refunded the ‘core’ deposit on return of the faulty Battery for recycling, crediting $550. Testament to the amount and ‘Greenness’ of the Nickel originally mined for its manufacture.
While supply of new Battery packs are currently the sole preserve of Toyota Australia, third-party refurbished offerings are generally perceived lacking, seldom going the distance in service. However it’s usually after market parts suppliers successfully providing the more traditional mechanical parts at affordable price. For example, as in the case of the Gen 2’s boot hatch cover Gas Struts. Genuine Toyota $339 per side ($678), Supercheap Auto $55.98 the pair (December 2023). However the Gen 2 employs some seriously evolved electromechanical control. Largely unsuited to backyard mechanics or dubious Chinese pattern parts suppliers. As much as any driver might think they dominate control of accelerator or brake pedal, it is microelectronic processors employing proprietary code that increasingly dictate vehicle response to any pedal movement. Regenerative braking, anti lock-brakes and vehicle traction control being just three examples. There are 18 such controllers (ECU’s) in a Gen 2 Prius, communicating with one another over a ‘Control Area Network’.
One such of these controllers comprises electronics embedded into the multi-function display (MFD), the interactive touch-screen located on the central dashboard. With use and age, sometime around the 16/17 year mark, its 7” LCD display screen will progressively develop a cataracts (see accompanying photo). An encroaching creamy coloured fog making the screen increasingly difficult to discern in bright daylight. Toyota’s fix for any problem with the MFD is to replace the complete assembly. Its individual components, notably the LCD and its digitiser are not considered, by Toyota, separately serviceable spare parts. Astonishingly replacement of the complete unit would sting any owner foolish enough, $4,853.95 (86110-47081-C0 April 2024). Ever increasing complexity is a reality in all of today's vehicle design, but seemingly too onerous a proposition on Toyota to provide cost-effective repair for. As this particular assembly was originally manufactured in Japan by Toyota subsidiary Fujitsu Ten (now Denso Ten), I contacted the Australian agent. Helpfully they connected me through to their somewhat esoteric service personal, who explaining they didn’t typicality talk or deal directly with the general public, advised instead that refurbishment of the old unit could still be undertaken. But only through the official channel of a Toyota Dealer Service department. A typical exchange basis unit fee of $2,000 was quoted. Now, a shout-out here to Southside Toyota’s Service Management (Brisbane). Who’s claim was that exchange refurbishment is not a thing with Toyota. I contacted Toyota Australia for comment who then referred me back to the Dealer concerned, who in turn failed to get back to me. A prime example of the infamous ‘Infinite loop’ of buck passing.
I then dismantled the afflicted unit myself. Easily done, carefully with just a #2 Phillips head screwdriver (see accompanying photo). The offending component is of Toshiba manufacture and is the same screen commonly used, with or without digitiser, in many small devices such as the popular single-board hobbyist computer, the Raspberry Pi. Armed with the screen’s Toshiba part number I contacted Toshiba Australia to learn they’d palmed off that division of their spare parts responsibilities to a third party, EMPR group. EMPR were particularly useless, their seemingly anaemic data base holding no reference whatsoever and having no access to any external Toshiba data base that might of. Tiring of Toshiba Australia’s indifference I finally sourced the LCD screen out of Shenzhen China. Probably paying too much, it cost $223.83 + $25 shipping (see accompanying photo). The repaired MFD is now functioning perfectly as new. Phew!
To demonstrate yet another example on the same vehicle, the dash Meter ECU module directly behind the steering wheel. Giving speed, fuel and other information in the form of a mirrored electro fluorescent display. During the Gen 2’s design gestation, its designers apparently cocked up the electrical specification of a particular electrolytic capacitor. Board assignment ‘C3’ should anybody be interested. The result over time as other associated electronic components drifted slightly off spec, was intermittent but progressive failure of the display. This affected some but not all Gen 2’s, but becomes increasingly likely with age. As well as not knowing what speed your doing, neither does the car’s computers. Resulting in a hard shutdown having to be preformed when powering off the vehicle. Midway through 2009 Toyota (USA) issued T-SB-0172-09 acknowledging problems and providing solution to affected owners by way of an ‘updated’ ECU. Here in Australia Toyota employs a market specific ECU so this translates to the fitting of a 83291-47272 ‘Combination Meter Computer’. Current retail price (May 2024) is $538.90 plus the necessary extensive disassembly/reassembly of the vehicle dashboard. In truth the burden of this expense is not necessary. By removing the offending 100µF surface mount electrolytic capacitor, the most tricky part, then soldering in a replacement 220µF , the original Meter has seen full functionality returned. Permanently (see accompanying photos). The cost of this component? Around 40 cents.
But annoyingly, with the required MFD and the Meter module dashboard disassembly, there involves tricky removal of either two (MFD) or four (Meter module) ‘registers’. These are respectively 420mm and 530mm curved vertical light grey coloured ABS plastic trim panels supporting switches and four air vents. The two longer of these are especially, extremely susceptible to damage on any attempt at removal. Increasingly so with age. With any serviceable replacements in breakers yards virtually non-existent just one new one from a Dealers, for example the particularly vulnerable 55670-47050 ‘Register Assy. No3’ , will set you back an astounding $381.13 (April 2024). Worse these parts are handed, so opportunistic Chinese knockoffs for a more realistic $80 a set on eBay, but made only to suit left hand steer, will not fit. I remain cynical Toyota’s design inadequacy of these obnoxious pieces of plastic junk was mere incompetency. I would suspect instead conspiracy to discourage the long term service viability of elements behind the dashboard. A clever and deliberate designed in booby trap, and a sabotage of sorts.
Obviously the above cost-effective remedies are not practical for a typical owner. The Gen 2's Factory Service Manual alone runs to some 4,800 pages and only the obsessed might attempt such intimate repair themselves. I present the above as illustrative and certainly not definitive of the many faults of a Gen 2 Prius. But it clearly does demonstrate a disturbingly common trend in the evolution of motor vehicle design. And it would certainly be naïve to believe Toyota would not behave in similar manner with their current Hybrid offerings, indeed across the entire labyrinth of their automotive products. Consequently my limited example likely illuminate only the small tip of a very large iceberg.
I have owned and driven Toyota passenger car vehicles as daily drivers almost continually since 1990. Which might imply I consider them best. But they are only best of a depressingly mediocre lot. The many outstanding accolades these vehicles receive here on product review and other places seems to reflect only the giddy euphoria of the new or near new car buyer. Seldom reviewed is the burden of real life cycle ownership cost as these supposedly ’Green’ vehicles complicated engineering and electronics starts to falter from around the ten year mark. Dictating ever more expensive trouble from the sinkhole of anemic Dealer and aftermarket product support. Encouraging the throw-away mentality that inevitably leads to the premature vehicle write-off to some scrap yard by an increasingly frustrated and cash strapped owner. Toyota and their dealerships are no doubt in delight of this situation, as gormless repeat new car buyers continue to queue dealerships for more of the same. Although the rich amongst us will always prefer to uphold their superior ‘Green’ credentials by quickly discarding an aging purchase, it is increasing numbers of the less well off in society that are obligated to suffer the running expense of these traded in hand-me-down money pits. Legislators, Toyota, Greenies, you or anyone else who think this expensive ‘disposable’ concept is in any way sustainable or planet saving are delusional. Toyota and their dealership allies are ultimately in the profit making business. And it is this ethos, along with recent alarming escalating costs, that will thaw any remaining ambitions the multitudes might hold, for the future and continued personal ownership of that much treasured private conveyance, the automobile. R.I.P Hybrid car ownership for the masses.
Written Mount Gravatt East, Revised June 2024
Love it – We have been Toyota Prius owners since 2010. Throughout that time it has been great. We have to fill the car up with petrol far less than with our previous car. Very fuel efficient. Show details
capable, efficient, smooth, quiet and surprisingly fun – Great car, fun to see how the regen and battery storage work as you're driving along. Always gets 5l/100 for us. Actually my favourite car to drive so far, and more powerful than you think once both the petrol and electric motors come on together. Smart efficient driving, what more could you want. And with regen braking, you get better stopping force and hardly ever have to change a brake pad. Show details
Still going strong- 20 series Prius – Very few drawbacks owning this car. I can start with those, because afterwards the overall ownership has been really great. Negative -if it doesn't get driven daily the main (hybrid) battery can fail. Ours did about a month out of warranty and Toyota wouldn't help. This said their price for replacement was more than twice what the independent… Read more
service repairer was, an that's not including labour.
Negative - so quiet it takes some getting used to. Reversing in a carpark pedestrians ignore it.
Negative - no towing/ CVT Trans so give up on that concept. If you need to tow buy a utility.
That's about all the negatives I can give.
Positive- great fuel economy. Coming to a stop in traffic and watching consumption drop to zero- a good thing.
Positive - Extremely roomy, front and back. Spacious in the hatch. Practical, fold down seats accommodating.
Positive - Service costs are reasonable but - forget the dealer. Get a good independent mechanic, they're worth it.
Positive -easy driving in traffic.
Positive - surprising power
Positive - Engine brake - shift it to B going downhill and save your brakes.
Positive - Smart car. Unlocks without clicking remote if you open the door or hatch in proximity of the remote.
Positive - Night time, approach the car in a dark garage the interior light comes on automatically.
Positive - good sound system - JBL speakers sound good for a factory stereo. 6 disc stacker a plus.
Positive - Quiet interior on the road,
Positive -comfortable seating
Positive - Superior Reliability as with all Toyota products. Can't fault the brand.
Final opinion
There are probably 50 more positives - for an older car, 6 years old when bought and now 6 years owning one, I'd do it again. I would say that buying a low km car had one issue that was the Hybrid battery failure. Still, I've seen taxis with over 700.000 km and the original battery. Bad luck for me, but still worth it.
Great. Little. Car. Toyota does not disappoint.
A Twitchers Car, if you love HO model railways and like to sneak up on pedestrians or cyclists – Hello, I guess if you spend a lot of money on a thing and you like to review stuff then there is a natural tendency to be self justifying of your purchase. So when I had the chance of a go in a Prius recently and then logged on to PR to see what others said, I was horrified at their level of satisfaction. Talk about smug, well I am glad you… Read more
are happy.
But it's not a very good car, sorry, nor is it green at all.
and it looks odd.
and you can't see out the back window.
The basic drive train under the odd skin, is a similar one from the late 1990's and that's a long time ago. That's 10 years before the first I Phone. Toyota has made it lighter and given it a bigger petrol engine, for what reason I can only guess. Petrol electric battery gave great fuel economy for its time, but its time has past and much more conventional modern cars, those are the ones whizzing past you as you do your best to get better economy, are getting the same or better economy. Best my electric gizmo could give me for the day was 5.3 k's per 100, my normal car gets 5.1 for the same type of usage.
The old fashioned Nickle battery weighs a lot and has to be pulled around everywhere you go, oh and then there's a thing called Nickle mining, vast generator of sulphur and acid rain. Very non green.
On I Phone's, the Gizmo as I have renamed the little red slug, has a mobile phone charger built in but it won't charge i phones. No SatNav either, so when your i phone runs out of battery, as they do twice a day, you had better have packed the old road map book thingo or you will have to stop at the shop, buy a newspaper and ask people, just like we did in the very olden days.
How did it drive? In the town, light and breezy, really pleasant to be in, but on the fast motorway I know another reason you all drive so slowly, it's twitchy. A combination of feeling heavy and much too light steering gave me the impression while going up the Blue Mountains (the Prius natural home) it wanted dart up a tree.
Another odd thing, so, remember when cars had clutch pedals, yep if you're old you know where it was, well the Gizmo has its parking brake hidden a little to the left of that spot. Why Mr Toyota would you do something so French, ie French is to do something automotively that is different just to be different.
and lastly I know you Gizmo owners will say you have no need to overtake anyone but if you ever want to get around a B double travelling at 110ks before it hits the uphill single lane that is coming up and slows to 80ks for the climb, you can't.
On the other hand [name removed] hates it so it must have some winning ways.
Me thanks for the go but no thanks I would not buy one.
Now who do I know who has a Tesler?
Great car, low running costs, great technology – Bought car at auction in 2009, it was 1 year old. 8 years later i have spent nothing on repairs apart from the standard service, 2 sets of tyres and 1 $80 starter battery. Fantastic for city driving, goes great on the open road and excellent air conditioning when driving out west. Done 210,000 km and still getting 4.8 litres per 100 km. Still on… Read more
the original hybrid battery and going strong. Will upgrade soon and buy another prius. Its the least trouble i have had with a car and i have been driving for 29 years.
Perfect – I have had my Toyota Prius I Tech for seven years and I absolutely love it. I do not have to fill it up with petrol very often due to its effective use of fuel. It is also very spacious inside with a high roof. I couldn't live without my Prius. Show details
Amazing! Reliable! Cheap to run! – These cars last forever, with regular servicing. There are cases of taxi's in the USA which have over 1 million miles and all they needed was regular servicing and one hose replaced. The reason is, that the electric/battery tech helps the mechanical/petrol engine, which means the petrol engine doesn't get anywhere near as much stress/work as a… Read more
typical car engine. Less wear and tear = more reliable.
We've had ours since 2011 and it's been brilliant to drive and saves so much in fuel. A tank (say $60 for a full tank of 95RON nowadays) does between 900 - 1000 km's (depending on how/where you drive).
Nothing major has gone wrong. We had to replace the 12V battery once as it wasn't a Prius compatible one (any battery of the right size will fit, it's just that the Prius compatible one's hold their charge better).
The centre console fabric wore away in a couple of places and created a hole in one, so we paid less than $100 to have it recovered in a nice velour.
Priuschat.com is a brilliant resource.
We've installed a flip-down monitor for the rear passengers (went way too big, so something like a 12" screen would be best), connected to a Sony Head unit with USB. Don't buy Sony (or Pioneer) if you want to play video's via USB as they use Divx, so you have to try and re-encode all your video's into Divx, and at the correct bitrate and resolution.... which is all but impossible as the source video's are all different resolutions. I'm experienced at video conversion, and even I gave up and went back to burning DVD's. I'd suggest a half-decent Chinese head unit, as they play pretty much anything you throw at them, without having to have it converted first. Something from https://www.carjoying.com/au-warehouse.html for instance. I've not bought from them yet, but in correspondence with them they've been very honest and informative (even directing me to another site for a component)
We've driven it 'into the ground' – Bought our Prius new in 2004, now has 418,000 km on the clock. In all that time, it has given us very little trouble and generally been an excellent family car. I'm certainly no mechanic but I serviced it myself since 120,000 km, which is mainly just changing the oil. Had two recalls which cost nothing. Both our kids did their driving hours in… Read more
it, so it's a bit battered these days but still going well.
THE MAIN BATTERY. Ours died at about 340,000 and 10 years of age - you get plenty of warning, ours died over a period of a week or so, red warning lights came on well before the car itself started to die a few days later. It never actually stopped, but it started to get very sluggish after a week. After ringing around I found a guy who exchanged our battery for a 'reconditioned' one, which just means he had replaced the weakest cells (ReVolt I think, in Queensland). Cost was $1000.00 for the battery - I think he charges a bit more to install it. We've had the replacement battery in for around 70,000 km without any further issues.
Other troubles? We've had very few. Rear tailight cluster ($180.00). Probably three 12 volt batteries. Front struts at 3000,000. One set of brake pads. One set of spark plugs. Headlight plastic has dulled, which seems common these days.
All in all, it's no oil painting and a bit quirky, but it really is a great car. I can't believe the thing is still going after all these km.
Prius Battery Life 2nd Time Around – On my Prius when the battery was finished the car did not stop, did not require a tow truck. Just the alarm came on the dash board, the battery charged full and discharge again totally within a few km. Most noticeable the battery cooling fan run permanently (non stop). I managed to drive to Prius Battery Exchange Australia in Rydalmere (Sydney) and they put a reconditioned battery in. They kept the old one. Show details
Is the Prius really green and does Toyota care about its Prii customers? – I bought a used 2005 model Prius 2 years ago. I've loved it and it's had great fuel consumption after having driven an old Camry prior to this. However, recently my love affair with the Prius has come to an abrupt end. After 5 days in a smash repair shop where I had the bonnet resprayed, the dashboard showed me the notorious 'triangle of death'… Read more
upon picking up the car. It seems very odd to me that the HV battery pack would fail after merely standing in a workshop for 5 days. The car has an excellent service history and everything was working fine when I put it in. One mechanic that I’ve since spoken to commented that there does not seem to be a viable explanation for this occurring. Of course, the smash repairer denied all responsibility, and the local Toyota dealer initially quoted me just under AU $ 5000 for a new HV battery pack (supply and fit).
According to Redbook the car is worth AU $ 8000, so I've got a big dilemma on my hands now, especially given that I'd just spent over AU $ 800 on the spray painting job. Of course the battery was just 9 months out of its 8 year warranty (but still under the 160 000 kms of the other warranty criterion - incidentally the warranty period in California compliant emission US states is 10 years), and the Toyota dealer's warranty claim with Toyota Motor Corporation was rejected twice on the basis that it had exceeded the 8 years.
I have spent the better part of my week ringing and googling around to get more information about this situation as I am extremely disappointed with Toyota Motor Corporation’s small minded and mean decision. In this exploration I found that given the limited long-term experience with Hybrids so far and the public’s widespread concern with the long-term reliability of this as yet untested new technology, Toyota seemed keen to let the market place know that they will be there if things go wrong with the HV battery (hence the extension of the HV battery warranty from 5 to 8 years, cf). Non-Toyota online claims vary from a life of 7-10 years to the lifetime of the car. In the US there are alternative options for reconditioned batteries that are much cheaper than replacing it with a new one. Unfortunately though, these options don't seem to exist in Australia.
Based on my research and experience, there are 2 main issues:
1. One Auto Electrician told me that Hybrids' claim to be 'green' is misleading as the savings in petrol and lower emissions over time is made up by the price of a new battery pack and the environmental impact of the disposal of the old battery packs.
2. What Toyota Motor Corporation does not seem to recognise is that their decision to reject my and the Toyota dealer’s warranty claim greatly impairs the resale value of the car. After 8 years you never know if you’re going to be hit with a massive HV battery pack replacement bill, which may well come close to if not exceed what you initially paid for the car. This is unlike conventional second hand cars, where you’d expect to pay a few hundred dollars worth of repairs, not a few thousand in one hit.
Due to my experience with Toyota's inflexibility and pettiness around their discretionary warranty decisions, I would caution anyone considering the purchase of a second hand Prius that's reaching the end of its HV battery warranty, ie approaching 8 years of age. Of course if you’re thinking of buying a new Prius and are planning on selling it sometime down the track you may want to think twice whether this is a good idea given the potential problems that second hand buyers may have with the car once this issue becomes more widely known, including Toyota’s stance towards it as I had to experience.
In summary, Toyota’s rejection of my warranty claim seems a very short sighted approach to a matter that is of importance to a company that tries to promote and instill confidence in the market place in a still relatively new technology. The way this situation has been handled by Toyota Motor Corporation has put me off buying another Toyota ever again, and you should think very hard before buying a Toyota Hybrid, new or second hand, as well.
a great car – We're extremely happy with our 2004 prius that we've had for 4 years, which has done 153,000ks since we bought it. We estimate that we've saved $7500 in fuel compared with driving a similar car with a conventional engine. Maintenance costs have been low, and the existing big battery pack is still doing well. We're still able to get 4.8lt per… Read more
100ks, when we're easy on the acceleration, 5.1lt at other times, which is country driving. Efficiency is better in urban areas. Our bikes fit in the back. Quiet, reliable, roomy and pleasurable to drive.
unbelievable – Have had a prius for 5 years and have --- bought it as a used car at a government auction on a whim i am utterly impressed with every aspect of this car even forgetting the fuel economy, it has been completly reliable and has not missed a beat, i currently use it as a workhorse carting building materials arround, i have put almost a tonne in the… Read more
rear, this car has put up with my abuse and still comes up smiling ---- recommend to everyone everything you dont look cool in it and its a bit ugly
A little ripper – We have had our prius since 2006 and it has been a brilliant car. Cheap to run (not to service) and very reliable. The drive is excellent as you have great visibility from the car and it handles very well. We have the iTech model with proximity sensors and keyless ignition. Recently the system went crazy - the car refused to start and the… Read more · 2
proximity sensors stopped working reliably. We were worried that the cost to fix it would be expensive so we did some research - turns out the car battery (little one in the front) was almost dead and was the cause of the electrical issue. We had a new battery put in and the car is back to its wonderful self.
We love the quality of finish in the interior of our Prius and it still looks fantastic after all these years - just wish the body and paint still looked as good as the interior does:-) We also love the dash set out and displays as there is absolutely no missing the speed reading. Very important for avoiding the unwanted costs of speeding fines:-( Drive, styling and economy Cost of servicing
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I've since had to replace the battery pack and pay for it myself as I had no other option. I was… Read more