Best and Worst Used Toyota Hybrids to Buy

hello and welcome to the car careless channel in today's video we're going to be talking about the best and worst used toyota hybrids to buy hybrids are becoming extremely popular these days and many people are looking at the new ones they're all very expensive and turning around to the older ones and they're wondering well what's good and what's not well in this video we're going to be covering all of that and more but before we get started if you're new to the channel welcome consider subscribing to the channel check out some other videos if you are alternative subscriber well thank you so much for watching another one of my videos and without further ado let's get right into it starting with the best used toyota hybrids to buy and let's specify the categories here the cars that are going to be recommended here are aged toyota hybrids the ones that are out of warranty basically ones that are five years and older we're also going to cover some highlights in the oldies or the older models starting off with the middle aged toyota hybrids a highlight in this segment is going to be your 2012 and up toyota camry 2013 and up toyota avalon hybrid these are fabulous models they really get good gas mileage they happen to have a third generation hybrid system which is very reliable but when that generation started in the prius they had some issues we'll talk about those in a little bit but in those two cars it seems like they were really good i've seen many examples with a lot of miles and they hold up very well and they're actually overall the car itself is also a very nice car however there is one thing you need to know about these before you just jump on the first one and buy it maintenance maintenance maintenance particularly two very important things on these that make them very good or very bad the first thing is oil changes these are the wonderful years of the 10 000 mile oil changes that we're not going to get into that too deep but 5 000 mile oil changes on these service history complete service history specifically on the oil changes otherwise they do tend to burn oil if they're not if they're neglected not taken care of the second thing is and this is this applies to all the hybrids in this segment few years beginning in this these two cars did not have hybrid fan filters and briefly if you're not familiar with that the hyper battery has a little fan that cools the battery in the earlier years there was no filter just dust and debris clogged the fan and that overheated the battery and that basically destroyed the battery well later on toyota realized maybe we should put a filter so they started putting filters somewhere around between 2012 2013 in most models but some of them didn't really get the cut until 1415. so the main thing is you gotta check that filter it's so important and i make such a big deal about it in my channel every time we talk about hybrids it is very important that you check it if you're going to buy a used one look at the filter if it's solid cloth walk away it's not worth it in the suv land of toyota hybrids the rav4 specifically the 2016 to 2018 is a standout in reliability it also has third generation hybrid system it is very reliable and overall the car that the hybrid system is attached to is also very reliable however same thing applies luster on the maintenance these don't seem to be so prone to burning oil although they have this similar engine it is slightly updated however you still want good service history and that fan filter is so important i will leave a playlist in the description of this video if you're wondering how to service that model i'm trying to make a full library of how to service toyota hiber fan filters for all toyota models so you can do it yourself because most of them are so simple you should actually be doing it yourself the other suv there is a highlight is 2014 and up all the way till today actually highlander hybrid these are really good suvs in the early years specifically 2008 2009 all the way to like 2011 they were okay however the maintenance was high the gas mileage was not what you call impressive however that might be okay for some because it is a big suv after all but the maintenance having a timing belt and all this added maintenance especially if you buy them now everything is overdue that could be an issue that's why if you want to play it safe with the highlanders basically get one with a 3.5 liter and up somewhere around 2011 that's when we started with the 2gr fxs attached to the hybrid system and then going all the way forward however as a car in general i think the 2014 and up it's a major improvement over the 2013 it feels very upscale very nice car and you find one in good condition that has been taken care of especially the fan filter it is a very good buy now we can talk about toyota hybrids without talking about the mama hybrid the prius let's talk let's dig into the prius family of cars because believe it or not there is a prius family mama prius gave birth to many big and small priuses so let's talk about all of them so the first one is the prius v prius v is actually a fabulous car unfortunately they don't make them anymore which is too bad because they are actually great however you'd want to start shopping for psv's right around 2015 and up we'll cover a little bit on that a little bit later in the video but 2015 and up prius v is a fabulous car as long as it of course has maintenance folks you're you're seeing the theme with toyota hybrids maintenance maintenance maintenance doesn't mean it's very expensive maintenance they're high maintenance cars actually they're not but you still want that maintenance there are so many people out there that don't understand hybrids that they tend to neglect them unintentionally because they don't understand them so maintenance is very important that you do do your due diligence on the maintenance research before you buy one another one in the mama prius family is the prius c now the prius c all the years of the prius c they're actually very good hybrids and the the thing that makes them interesting is they used a similar engine from the second generation prius which had the second generation hybrid system but integrated that into a third generation hybrid system so it's kind of a old school well now it is old school too the third generation hybrid system but it is actually a very good small economy car many people bash it many people say all kinds of things about it it's it's a little eco box uncomfortable so loud yes but if you don't mind that you just literally want a very basic a to b car they're actually fabulous cars that don't have many issues of course maintenance is a big thing with these but they are really good you can't go wrong buying one of these if you don't mind how small they are how basic they are and they are a little bit on the loud side and then of course the mama prius just the prius the original prius you cannot go wrong buying a 2015 and up so that would be kind of a crossover between third generation the last year of third generation prius into the new generation like the one behind me 2016 and up these are really good cars they are very purpose-built the priuses are not your average hybrids that's why you have camry hybrid avalon all the other models the prius is a purpose-built efficient car they they do that very brilliantly but they don't do other stuff very well and that's why people bash them all the time they just don't understand them and that's okay they have that odd shape they all this stuff but don't shy away from the prius because 2015 and up and we're going to talk about why the rest of the third generation is not very high on my recommendation in a little bit but 2015 and up don't be afraid of these cars folks they are good cars as long as you do your due diligence i have many videos other people on the internet have a lot of good videos explaining how hybrids work what to know about them what's what educate yourself before jumping into a hybrid because if you make the good purchase on a hybrid you're going to be very happy they're very efficient they're very reliable and they're overall good cars but they are very misunderstood and that's unfortunate now let's talk about the not so good toyota hybrids and unfortunately these are models that are scattered across the board let's start with the first one possibly in my book the worst one or could be the best one depends let's talk about that for a bit 2010 and 2011 prius i have not seen more toyota hybrids that fall apart completely to a point of totaling the whole car than the 2010 and 2011 prius and wait a second before you jump on the comments and tell me that you have one with 250 000 miles and it's the best car you own i agree because these cars were absolutely neglected there were so many of them that were extremely neglected for whatever reason i don't get it look they have their common issues namely oil consumption head gasket issues egr problems and catalytic converter problems and the list goes on and on and on however i know of a single viewer and i wish you are watching and you know who you are with one particular 2011 prius with 138 000 miles the last time i saw it he's owned it almost since it was new probably if our memory serves right 7 000 miles and the thing is perfect doesn't do any of the things that i listed but that is one out of 100 000 maybe because every single 2010-2011 prius that shows up in the shop has one of these issues some of them have all of these issues combined and then to add it all up to back in 2010s hybrids were just starting to begin their popularity momentum people still didn't understand that didn't maintain them well they didn't understand what's what and so many people neglected them they are possibly the worst to buy today unless you absolutely know who you're buying it from completely avoid 2010 and 2011 mama prius now in 2012 when mama prius got a slight update their facelift things got a little better but not great we still have the oil burning problem we still have the catalytic converter problems so that completely got fixed in 2015 and the same thing for the prius v because the previous v is basically the exact same thing as mama prius so 2012 to 2014 psv unfortunately they had the same issues the oil burning egr problems head gasket problems and catalog converters because of the oil burning by the way so to play it safe and this applies today if you've owned one since it was new and it's been great i am very happy and i and i appreciate you taking care of this car all this time but unfortunately so many people didn't that if you're in the market today buy one of these you're gonna have a hard time finding a good one so avoid 2010 avoid 2011 mama prius and if you really want to play it safe avoid 2010 all the way to 2014 prius go with 15 and up you're not going to be sorry because they're actually really good cars otherwise same thing with the prius v 2015 and up the prius v is actually a favorite of mine because it's such a good car the whole package is very good now let's speaking of mama priuses uh this is gonna come again before you jump on the comments hear me out here avoid first generation and second generation prius as of the date of filming this video look first generation prius was blasted for what it is it was an experiment it was a successful experiment if people in 2010 still didn't understand hypers in their maintenance and what to do what not to do imagine back in 2001 2000 they really did not age well and those that took care of them and loved them they still have them and they still driving at 300 000 miles but those that neglected them they're offering them up for sale for a very cheap price and you look at them like man this gets great gas mileage it could be a great car for my kid don't do that to yourself walk away they're not worth it unless you really know the previous owner and you know that they took care of them the second generation prius again you're going to find them very cheap and they are extremely hard to find in good condition and those that find in good condition the owner won't sell it because it's actually a good car if you took care of it from day one they are so hard to find in good condition i would actually avoid them and this advice the next advice here will apply to all the hybrid models whenever you find a toyota hybrid that is too cheap and doesn't have a lot of miles but it's very cheap significantly cheaper than all of the other ones that's your cue to skip it don't buy the cheapest hybrid you can put your hand on because usually hybrids have a way when they're neglected over the years of totaling themselves very quickly buy ones that are taken care of and if you really don't want to take chances here avoid the first second generation prius because they were really the most not taken care of and another car that it's actually a fabulous car and i can't believe that i am saying this in this video but hear me out here 2006 and 2007 highlander hybrid great car but again we go back to the same thing so many people didn't understand them you're really going to have a hard time finding one that is in good condition today if you do power to you it's actually a really good car otherwise but so many people didn't take care of them and the highlander hybrid the battery prices on these are so high compared to a prius you do not want to buy one with super high miles and just say oh it's a toyota it's a highlander let's go for it don't do that yourself you'll find them cheap here and there but the nice examples of that exact year 2006 2007 they actually hold their value pretty well so you ain't gonna find one cheap in those two years unless it's broken and ready to total itself now the last one on the baddies list is your 2007-2000 toyota camry hybrid the this is actually a very good car and it's actually a very good hybrid system that it has but it's let down by one thing the engine now this is the same recommendation as 2007-2009 non-hybrid toyota camry 4-cylinder they have the 2az engine that engine has a design issue it's very notorious to burn globs and globs of oil and in this generation it actually contributes to so much more because it's a hybrid and it just it seems to get a lot worse than the done hyper version so unless you can find one that the previous owner can present records that this was fixed because toyota did fix this for free for some period of time but of course in these years that's all expired now if you can find one that has been 100 fixed by the dealership under that campaign these are actually very good cars however again we go back to the maintenance it needs to be taken care of and these are a little older now especially if you go for an o7 this is the original camry hybrid the battery might be a little on the tire size this is one that did not have a filter so likely that fan is completely clogged so be careful with these and if you want to play it safe just avoid that generation go to the 12 and up find one with good maintenance history find one that's taken care of and you're not going to be sorry because hybrids can be really good but if you're not careful they can be really bad so do your due diligence and do your research before you jump and buy one now because of feedback from similar videos that i've done before for my awesome viewers let's talk about some highlights now the highlights are going to be the ones that are not exactly in the middle aged group here maybe they are a little newer but those are hybrids that are really standouts right now and particularly the fourth generation hybrid system folks i was there in 2015 when the third generation prius 2010 turned five years old and we have been inside so many of them for all kinds of problems oil burning egr ipm problems and the list goes on and on but this generation behind me the 2016 and up the fourth generation prius nothing absolutely nothing that's one word to summon i think this generation actually it drives better it is much nicer it is a lot more car like the previous generations they were so light and you felt them this one is no race car by any by any chance it has that wet shape it's designed to save fuel that's all it's doing but it drives so much nicer the interior is much nicer it's very lightweight but the interior doesn't feel cheap lightweight it feels nice decent for an economy car lightweight so this any car with this fourth generation hybrid system is really a standout because this has been a very solid generation with very very little problems if any honestly so this generation of course started in 2016 prius and all the way till today and then it moved over to the 2018 camry all the way to today and then it moved over to the 2019 avalon and rav4 unfortunately the avalon is going out of production in 2022 so this might be your last chance to grab one fabulous cars have fourth generation hybrid system and then the highlander in the year 2020 moved over to the fourth generation hybrid system with the four-cylinder and a giant standout that is a new member on the club actually two of them one of them is the 2021 toyota sienna of course fourth generation hybrid system and it is a ginormous minivan that gets over 30 miles per gallon and it's very reliable that's a standout in my book and the other one is the return of the toyota venza even though it looks nothing like the old venza but it returned in a much better suit it is a hybrid now again fourth generation hybrid when you buy a toyota hybrid you need to do a little bit more due diligence than your average car the reason for that is the batteries and you're you're gonna read this all over the internet they are expensive they could break your back and this and that but that's not entirely true as long as you understand that the maintenance and reliability of hybrids overall is actually very low compared to a gasoline car first they don't have an alternator they don't have a starter most of them actually don't have a drive belt most of them the brakes last over a hundred thousand miles so yes you might reach 250 000 miles and then the battery goes and you have to buy one for 2 000 3 000 whatever the case may be to reach that 250 000 miles you've spent so little on maintenance and repairs it's okay that's that's what i'm trying to get here and i'm not saying they lost 250 000 miles some of them actually go to 400 500 000 miles because the owner took care of this car maintained it properly and knew what they were doing key thing here is maintenance not excess maintenance where it's super expensive good researched and informed maintenance is the key to your toyota hybrid lasting a very long time and then you look back and you realize wait a second i drove this car 250 300 000 miles and still runs like the day i bought it new i'm just going to keep going and that's why sometimes it's hard to find older hybrids that are in good shape because owners just hold on to them because they're good cars simple plain and simple they're not thrilling they're not exciting all that mumbo jumbo but they do one thing very well is they're extremely efficient and as long as you go into one thinking with that thought process of they are efficient cars they're really good you're not going to be disappointed and you're actually going to own them for a very long time and have no issues i hope this video is helpful and informative i hope this helps you make a better decision when you're going out there shopping for a used toyota hybrid if you like this video consider giving a thumbs up if you're not a subscriber consider subscribing to the channel check out some of my other videos and until the next video folks may the lord bless you and keep you and you have yourself a wonderful day

Channel: The Car Care Nut

Views: 202,417

Keywords: Best and Worst Toyota Hybrids to buy, toyota hybrid, toyota, prius, best toyota to buy, best hybrid to buy, toyota buying guide, the car care nut, scotty kilmer, avoid this car, car wizard, never buy this car, bad cars, good cars, hybrid technology, camry hybrid, rav4 hybrid, rav4 prime, prius prime, toyota tundra, toyota bz4x, tundra hybrid, hybrid, should you buy a toyota hybrid, best and worst used toyota hybrids to buy

Id: HSrP_-ahuCU

Length: 21min 27sec (1287 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 20 2021