Used 2008 Toyota Prius Hatchback Consumer Reviews
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Still great 1.5 years later!
hondoman45, 02/14/2015
2008 Toyota Prius Touring 4dr Hatchback (1.5L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
11 of 13 people found this review helpful
I wrote a while back about my experience with my Prius. It is still a very reliable car that has not let me down. I replaced the 12 v battery myself as the original one was getting tired and wouldn't hold a charge any longer. Still get around 42 mpg in the cold and 46+ in warmer weather. This is great considering the car is driven an average speed of 72+ mph on the highway where it spends most of its time. The nav system isn't worth getting as it is woefully outdated and I'm not willing to pay a couple hundred for an update at the dealer. Car rides well and is fairly quiet, but still dislike the leather seats as church pews are more comfortable. Very happy with my purchase!
Honest Opinion
SR, 11/23/2009
2008 Toyota Prius 4dr Hatchback (1.5L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
10 of 12 people found this review helpful
Hybrids are the shape of things to come, & from my test drives of available makes, Toy is on top of the game as usual. Driver & passenger comfort good with impressive haul space. Fun driving? Hey, it's a single gear electric car! Here's my honest take of pros & cons. The Prius is a great car for city, flat highways & perfect conditions. Its biggest downside is over engineered aerodynamics. Introduce a hill, kiss your mpg goodbye. Introduce wind, kiss your wife goodbye. Handles snow & ice superbly, gravel & bumps are Kryptonite. A quick car, after the initial hesitation from a standstill. Tires wear 30% faster. Dangerously quiet for pedestrians. Buy the service contract.
2008 Toyota Prius for sale near you
3 of 262 listings
- Standard Hybrid 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $6,99548 mi away
- Base Hybrid 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $6,199140 mi away
- Base Hybrid 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $4,675149 mi away
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Great car. Fun to drive
Cindy, 06/11/2018
2008 Toyota Prius Standard 4dr Hatchback (1.5L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
7 of 8 people found this review helpful
I bought my Prius when it was 10 years old with 90k miles on it. I love the car. I test drove newer models but like the interior of the 08 better. Many compartments to keep things in and it just feels roomier. Too old for a USB port but can still play my iPod. Nav works great. Gas mileage is fantastic! Acceleration is not the best but once its moving it's pretty zippy around town and really smooth at higher speeds. As with any car that is 10 years old it has its little squeaks here and there but over all still feels very solid. I have no regrets. I see many ads where they are selling with 250k+ miles and still going. Hope I'm that lucky. Oh and it is amazing what you can fit in the hatch. Crazy! Great design, great mileage and great longevity puts it ahead of all the other hybrids.
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Some major costs with replacement of headlights
Nurch, 03/15/2016
updated 09/19/2017
2008 Toyota Prius Standard 4dr Hatchback (1.5L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
7 of 8 people found this review helpful
Apparently this year Prius had a problem with the headlights, and mine chose to be problematic after the warranty had expired. The dealer was incredibly expensive to replace the first one that failed, I used a body shop for the second and the price was significantly less than half the dealer cost. UPdate, 2016: I am now having to replace the headlights again! This is silly - I've never had to replace headlights in a car before, and I keep all my cars until they have over 200,000 miles. I will again use a body shop to replace the headlights because the dealer is more than double the cost (and the light the dealer replaced is the one that has burnt out!). I also have had a squirrel or mouse chew through the gas line, and have had mice chew through the wiring harness for the anti-knock device. What do they make these plastics of that they are so attractive to common rodents? Update, 2017: I totaled this car last month when I rear-ended another vehicle at a low enough speed that the airbags did not deploy. I had failed to see the brake lights or turning signal of a car stopped in my lane waiting to make a left hand turn. Good tires, but we were unable to stop in time. We replaced it with a Ford Fusion Hybrid, 2014 which we strongly prefer to the Prius.
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2008 Prius: 151k miles, no problems ever
Neil Lifson, 05/12/2016
updated 11/13/2016
2008 Toyota Prius Standard 4dr Hatchback (1.5L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
6 of 7 people found this review helpful
Good car, can carry loads of cargo, never needs repairs, needs snow tires for better traction, esp. for getting out of icy driveway with slight uphill slant, great traction with snow tires, front seats (cloth) not too comfortable for long road trips but perfectly OK for day-to-day driving, newer Prius versions have better seats, we get about 44 mpg overall consistently but originally got 46 mpg with original tires, original tires wore out very quickly (15k miles) but got good gas mileage, annoying that the doors tend to all lock by themselves when you shut off car (except for driver's door), lacks a pivoting sun visor (only goes in 2 directions), newer models have more up-front leg room, power window buttons and door lock buttons do not light up, very safe car for head-on collisions ( experienced head-on collision in 2004 Prius, which is of the same generation as 2008 Prius, and survived in quite good condition with just a few broken ribs and some vertibrea with slight cracks that had to be kept immobilized for 2-3 months just in case (2004 Prius was totalled). We finally traded it in at 159,500 miles -- the only reason being that the front seats were not too comfortable for long drives. Other than that, this car has been fantastic. Nothing ever broke. Did replace the struts/shocks at some point -- maybe 85,000 miles (can't remember). Never did any brake work that I can recall. Changed the oil every 5k miles, and rotated tires every 5k miles (mostly). Added a tow rack (for carrying a bike rack) -- which was a very easy DIY project. Changed the 2 headlights myself (there was actually a recall on this, but I changed before the recall was issued.) Not very easy to change these bulbs unless you have tiny, tiny hands. Did not try out new Prius, but did try out 2017 Prius V. The seats are much more comfortable on the new Prius V, and the height of the seats is at least 3" higher than on the 2008 Prius. (Not sure how this compares to the standard 2017 Prius.) The entire Prius V is about 6" taller than our 2008 Prius. Ultimately, we decided to go with a Rav4 Hybrid as the replacement vehicle -- mainly due to the seat comfort issues, but also due to the fact that we would not have to have a separate set of snow tires -- since it is AWD. Also, it can tow. (The Prius V was very close in comfort, though, to the Rav4, and would likely be happy to drive on long road trips with the V -- but, we only tried the faux leather seats, as the material has a major impact on comfort. We got the faux leather seats in the Rav4.
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