Owner Review: The overengineered, high technology, underestimated oddball- My 2013 Toyota Prius 1.8

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Basic information of my car:

TOYOTA PRIUS 1.8 LUXURY ZVW30

Reasons why I bought this car

Before i bought my prius i was driving a 2008 Corolla Altis 10th gen, it was a good car but the fuel consumption is on the high side as i mostly do city drives with a lot of stop and go and idling. The final straw was me and my sister decided on a road trip to Krabi, Thailand and she was that time driving a Prius 1.8 2011.

I was a bit skeptical about hybrid at that time. The long journey actually shows the difference between a hybrid and a ICE car. For each time we stop for fuel, i am already on the 2nd tank (each tank around 400+-) and she was only fuelling for the first time (800km+-). Fuel price in thailand is much higher than us and this prompted me to replace my current car.

Car Selection Process

I had a budget of: 150k

Models that I’ve considered included : Honda Civic

Before i bought my prius i was driving a 2008 Corolla Altis 10th gen, it was a good car but the fuel consumption is on the high side as i mostly do city drives with a lot of stop and go and idling. The final straw was me and my sister decided on a road trip to Krabi, Thailand and she was that time driving a Prius 1.8 2011. I was a bit skeptical about hybrid at that time. The long journey actually shows the difference between a hybrid and a ICE car. For each time we stop for fuel, i am already on the 2nd tank (each tank around 400+-) and she was only fuelling for the first time (800km+-). Fuel price in thailand is much higher than us and this prompted me to replace my current car.

User experience

• I have already done 240000km
• My average fuel consumption is 5.2L/100km.

• Having using the car for 9years and done 240k km, i am still in love with it. It has followed me travel around Malaysia and into Thailand couple of times and being a Toyota, you only needed to worry about the wear and tear and as it being a hybrid, my HV battery has already been replaced back in 2018 at Toyota SC (for FOC as it had a 8yrs warranty) after doing around 160k km (if i remember correctly)Along the journey, i have added some stuff to make the car better handling like full stage UR bar, a coilover suspension system and a big brake kit for better stopping power and full car sound proofing to make it even quieter.This car is the longest in my possession as i tend to upgrade my car every 5yrs.

Pros of my car:

• Good fuel consumption
• No need to worry about maintenance

Cons of my car:

None which i can think of excepf why our Malaysia market didnt introduce the solar roof system which our neighbor got it

Ratings: 

Total Score: 5

Performance: 4

Quality & Features: 4

Space: 5

Ride Comfort: 5

Fuel Economy: 5

Price & Cost: 5

Summary :

Maintenace is like normal car

Regular oil change 10k km using Mobil 1 Gold 5w30 or LiquiMoly 5w30 oil

Flush brake oil and gearbox oil every 30k km using Toyota WS oil and Bosch Dot4 brake oil

Clean EGR annually to prevent excess carbon buildup.

Cost few hundred but cannot really remember exact Repairs Hv battery replacement done - FOC under warranty

12V AGM battery - 6xx (replaced one time before)

Steering Rack and Column - rm1700 halfcut used

Rim is made in japan forged rim VolkRacing CE28N and using Michelin Pilot Sport 4

This car has served me well and we have been through many places together. Nothing much can be asked for that even after 9yrs, it is still doing great

Last:

My HV battery spoilt while on the way up Genting with the Check Hybrid System error. Luckily i got a OBD adapter and able to check on the error code and it was the battery issues and while with an error code, the car is still able to move but without the battery function.

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