Should you buy a Toyota Hybrid?

so should you buy a toyota hybrid new or used a recent comment from a from a viewer asked me hey do you some people say absolutely buy them they're the best thing and some people say run away don't buy them don't buy a used one they're horrible now there are two huge youtubers that i watch and respect and actually love their content scotty kilmer and chris fix they both made statements about hybrids that contradict each other so i am going to give you my humble two cents on this matter as a toyota master diagnostic technician with over a decade of experience hybrid certified exclusively working on these cars from the day they roll out of their factory till the day they have 300 400 000 miles i'm going to give you my input on this but before we get started consider subscribing to the channel check out some of my other videos give this video a thumbs up if you liked it without further ado let's dig right into this subject possibly the most controversial question are hybrids reliable can you keep them 10 15 20 years put hundreds and hundreds of thousands of miles on them and the answer to that is yes and no let's let's dig into this a little bit more so the main thing with hybrids is that everybody seems to be worried about they all everybody researches and freaks out about and this and that is a high voltage battery everything's everybody's so afraid that this high voltage battery would fail this is the end of my financial stability and now i have to be put putting thousands and thousand dollars to fix it and it'll never be right again and all that well let me tell you the truth hybrid batteries if maintained right will have no problem lasting 100 200 300 000 miles and as a general rule of thumb it's a battery it's it's gonna have a life just like your transmission just like your engine so your expectations for this battery are very important if you're planning to just buy this car driving for 25 years not do a single thing to it just oil changes you are mistaken go buy a gasoline toyota and life is good have a wonderful day however the truth of these batteries is if you maintain them right and we're going to talk about maintenance in a second here if you maintain them right and if you follow some of the general precautions things you should not do to them they have no problem lasting at least 10 to 15 years and 100 200 300 000 miles the number one cause and i have said this on almost every single video that i have made that has the word hybrid next to it you have to maintain the fan filter i'm not going to be scientific and how does batteries high bracelet all this mess i'm not an engineer i'm just a humble mechanic well that's another channel i'm just a humble person and i'm going to tell you my experience batteries any battery whether it's a small 12 volt battery in your any car or the high voltage battery it's a battery it does not like heat you warm it up too much it's not going to fail the next day but the more you let it run warm the lesser it's life and eventually the two will hit each other and battery fails the end of that the first thing you need to do if you're considering buying one especially a used one you gotta look at that filter that's your number one indication was this filter taken care of or was it neglected because the customer the owner before you didn't even know that there was such a thing and even toyota failed their customers and not the fault of them they just missed it they did not put filters on these cars until later on you go look at the 2004 to 2009 prius they did not come with a filter from the factory it was just an open vent in the back seat innocent looking vet people didn't think anything of it covered it boom battery fails battery fails battery fails and then second gen and first gen prius were notorious for battery failures i have replaced more batteries on second generation prius than any other hybrid model combined and it was because of this it was around 2010 to 2012 when toyota started putting filters and started saying folks you gotta maintain these filters is when battery life started going like it changed from every five to ten years to it could really last a very long time so maintenance is key here even if you buy a new one you start from day one cleaning that filter changing that filter they're all most of them are very simple you can you don't even have to be a diy mechanic to check it at least check it if not replace it and clean it right there you're assuring yourself that this battery is going to last the most possible time i cannot emphasize how important that is every other maintenance on the hybrid not as vital as this one it is super important and you do this maintenance right you will have no issue keeping that hybrid 10 15 years even 20 years 100 200 300 000 miles this is god honest truth people they're not horrible cars they're actually marvels of technology they're awesome cars some people hate them hate is a strong word but for lack of a better word they just don't like them and guess what this will take us into the next section should you buy one before you go running into a dealership get in the car drive it do you even like how it drives i i get so many emails and comments and people asking me both family friends why do hybrid engines shut off i'm not gonna go into how hybrids work because we could be here for a couple hours and i'm sure you don't want to look at me for a couple hours but the basic idea is if the way hybrids run with the engine shutting turning on turning off the whole nine yards the noises they make when you brake when you accelerate when you reverse and this and that if this bothers you perhaps a hybrid is not for you that's the number one thing do you like it do you like the way it drives yes better gas mileage all the benefits but you like how it drives if it doesn't walk away we're done it could be the best car in the world but if you don't like it we're done that's the end of that conversation the second thing is if you are not gonna be driving a lot let's say you're gonna be putting three to four thousand miles a year don't buy a hybrid batteries don't like to sit when you let that battery sit you're asking for trouble it's gonna fail prematurely because it's not getting its cycles of charge and discharge and it's gonna fail just like a normal 12 volt battery so if you're gonna drive the car normally or high miles absolutely buy it if you have a very heavy foot and you always like to be flying 100 miles an hour 90 miles an hour on the highway it's not going to be very efficient you're not going to get the gas mileage that you want ideally you want to have a 50 50 drive or more towards city driving 50 city 50 percent highway you do that you're actually going to get your money's worth out of the hybrid sufficiency if you're always flying down the highway 90 95 miles an hour they're not going to be efficient and and you're just wasting your money you could have gotten a gasoline car that drives better faster and more efficiently at high speeds so it is very important that you decide why do you want to buy one are you buying it for the gas efficiency then you need to think is my driving gonna really reap the benefits of these efficiencies am i buying it to save the trees that's up to you i i'm not into i'm not gonna decide that one for you and the last but not least and the number one reason you should not buy one because they're cool new i i don't think that's a good idea please that's not a reason to buy a hybrid and here are the number one reasons that you should not buy a hybrid and get good results with number one if you find a very cheap hybrid cheap much cheaper than its comparable year and model cheap is not good in hybrids never don't buy the cheapest hybrid you can afford buy the most expensive hybrid you can afford because buy them each when you're buying a used one you start with the best one you can get your hand on you can afford and you maintain it right it's gonna last a long time you buy a bad one trust me you're gonna have nightmare after nightmare after nightmare and the high voltage battery will be the least of your problems they have other problems when neglected and they're horrendous they're scary you wait till somebody has to show you a bill for a hybrid transmission you will never come near a hybrid again but they're very reliable but you neglect them and you don't maintain them you're gonna see that bill and i i do not want you to see that bill because it's scary let's recap everything here is it a good idea to buy a hybrid yes and no yes if you like it like how it drives if you're willing to continuously maintain it it's not expensive crazy maintenance but you need to be involved in watching that filter the minute it gets dirty you clean it you replace it you have no issues are you willing to replace the high voltage battery at some point wait a minute did you just say that yes high voltage battery three thousand dollars your simple math and i'm the worst mathematician in the world but let's try to keep up with my horrible math hybrid battery three to four thousand dollars that's a scary number that makes most people closest video run we're not buying a hybrid forget it but bear with me here did you know that hybrid brakes last 100 to 150 000 miles easily so you're not replacing brakes every 30 40 000 miles did you know that hybrids do not have an alternator do not have a starter less things to go wrong did you know that most modern hybrids they don't have a drive belt there's no belt to replace it's just electric water pump electric ac compressor it's pretty cool isn't it there's a lot of things that don't exist in hypers that people are not aware of all they see is high voltage battery high voltage battery very expensive dollar signs i'm walking away no you gotta if you're buying a good hybrid especially if you're buying it new it could easily last a very long time you just gotta understand what you're getting yourself into you gotta understand that there are certain maintenances you gotta do and not expensive stuff you gotta do these maintenances you start early on taking care of that battery it's gonna last a very long time while you are saving gas not having to worry about a lot of common issues with gasoline cars and you're going to keep that car for a very long time so what are the best year hybrids to buy this one is pretty simple 2012 and up these are the years where toyota started using actual filters however you still got to check that filter that's your usual indication did the previous owner take care of it or he just drop it because toyota's last forever you know they don't if you don't maintain them they're worse than a lot of manufacturers because they have high quality parts that cost small fortunes when they do break of neglect please avoid the following hybrids and i know there's somebody that's going to watch this video who owns one of these cars and they love them and they're great and they're reliable and i am so happy that you have no issues with them but good luck finding one like in in good shape avoid absolutely avoid with big lettering first generation prius they are very appealing because they're very cheap they're the first hybrid and you find them everywhere please avoid them most people that love those priuses and took care of them sold them a very long time ago and the people that bought them they know nothing about them they neglected them they took them to shady mechanics they did all kinds of shady stuff to them don't you're gonna have a headache if you're looking at first generation prius second generation prius unfortunately while it's a great car again we go back to the same thing people that take care of these previous second gen prius they still have them they're not selling them people that neglected them they got rid of them so all you have in the in the buying pool right now are mostly terrible ones ones that have a shady half replaced battery that i don't know who who worked on this car who replaces better please don't buy a second generation prius because it's cheap cheap is not always good when it comes to hybrids you're much better off going to buy a regular toyota chances are you're gonna get better results out of it so don't buy a cheap hybrid there's no such thing you're gonna have problems if it was so good it wouldn't be this cheap the last one to avoid and unfortunately this one while a great car but they're getting a little old it was also an experimental hybrid if you would and the gas mileage is not justified first generation highlander hybrid they're great cars great suvs but the cash mileage is really not there they had issues they were usually neglected i wouldn't buy it i would actually look at 2012 and up hybrids the prius is the prius the king of hybrids yes and no sorry i mentioned this multiple times but i want you to get the point here the prius is a specialty car it is a test bed it was it is the mother of hybrid cars it is the first successful retail hybrid cars and possibly the best today however the prius is a specialty car it gets insane gas mileage it is extremely efficient it is a marvel of engineering the current generation prius is possibly the best hybrid there ever will be i don't care about other manufacturers sorry toyota is king when it comes to hybrids if you don't like the prius because of its shape its shape is very intentional it doesn't look like that just because oh we like to make it look odd no it's a very functional shape so it would get that efficiency if you're not big on the prius i highly i am i am one of those people honestly i will say it i don't like how priuses look they don't look ugly but they look different i don't like how they look but i think they're great cars however camry hybrid avalon hybrid prius v prius c highlander hybrid rav4 hybrid all these other hybrids sienna hybrid that's coming up these are normal cars that are hybrid they have very efficient systems they are super reliable when taken care of i would not hesitate a second to go buy a camry hybrid right now they're just awesome the way they drive they drive very normal they don't have too much hybrid technology where it's overwhelming like the prius and if you maintain this car ride especially that hybrid filter i have no doubt that you're going to keep this car 10 15 20 years 100 200 300 000 miles without any issues with a high voltage battery people also ask do hybrids have special maintenance are they more maintenance than a gasoline car again yes and no yes because they have the high voltage fan filter that we talked about that you need to regularly maintain and they have an additional cooling system but we're talking about chicklets here we're talking about small cost not huge things compared to the stuff that doesn't go bad on these cars or it doesn't even have to go bad it's a win-win in this case hybrids are generally very very low maintenance i mean the maintenance costs on a hybrid are considerably lower than a gasoline car there are so many things that they do not have alternator starter hydraulic power steering and many other things that you'd be servicing on a regular gasoline car that you wouldn't be on a hybrid [Music] are these diy cars can you fix it on your own in your garage you guessed it yes and no yes if you're replacing brakes a little water pump anything related to the engine or the rest of the car however and i apologize chris fix i loved your video on how to replace the high voltage battery anything to do with the high voltage system you have to be very careful please people we go through some specialized training on how to handle the high voltage components how to properly disable it how to be safe around it how for lack of a better word not get yourself killed not hurt killed that's that's what you have to go for to become hybrid certified now i will give you an example people say oh this guy doesn't know what he's talking about i can do this sure when the transformer on your street goes out blows out for whatever reason do you call your power company or do you climb up there to replace it or that high voltage cable on the street no you don't and why is that when you answer that question it is the same answer why you should not service the high voltage system on your hybrid without specialized training and it's not rocket science training if you're willing you can take that training and understand what the dangers are otherwise the cars diy except the hybrid system which for most part if maintained right you have no problem and when it comes to the fan filter which i talked about and i cannot talk about it enough you absolutely can diy that and i actually encourage you to that's very simple in closing of this video i'd like to say one thing first please do your research on hybrids don't listen to one source listen to 10 people watch 10 15 different videos but the most important thing is do you like the car are you willing to maintain it and if you're buying a used one what's this car maintained are you willing to replace a high voltage battery if you're buying an old one it's not the end of the world remember these cars are very reliable otherwise you replace you buy one cheap that's not neglected it just needs a battery that's why it's cheap you replace the battery life is good yeah it's an expensive battery but to most people believe it or not it is a well worthy investment my personal recommendation never use an aftermarket battery because i'm just going to come out and say it yeah sure there are great companies out there with lifetime warranty however these companies are not cheap it's not like the original battery is three thousand dollars oh an x a b whatever company is 300 bucks it's not the original battery 3 000 this company is 1500 bucks you're still paying a lot of money i if i'm gonna if i'm going to spend 1500 i have no guarantee that this battery is not going to stop working in two years you buy the original one you know because you just replaced your 15 20 year old original one you know it's gonna last so i'll leave that one up to you food for thought i suppose i hope this video was helpful or informative for you i hope you learned something new i hope this helps you make a better decision whether you should buy a new or used hybrid or not if you like this video consider subscribing to the channel leave a comment down below let me know what you think or if you have any questions you're also welcome to email me at thecarcarenet gmail.com may the lord bless you and keep you and you have a wonderful day

Channel: The Car Care Nut

Views: 426,676

Rating: 4.9158006 out of 5

Keywords: should you buy a Toyota Hybrid?, toyota hybrid problems, don't do this to your toyota hybrid, never do this to your toyota hybrid, hybrid reliability, hybrid battery, bad hybrid battery, hybrid mileage, bad hybrid, toyota hybrid, things you should never do to a hybrid, is Toyota Hybrid good, hybrid battery failure, hybrid battery fan, hybrid battery problems, hybrid problems, Prius problems, rav4 prime, worst hybrid toyota, best hybrid toyota, toyota hybrid maintenance

Id: 3m5j8nJrMc8

Length: 23min 35sec (1415 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 25 2020