Junkyard Gem: 2003 Toyota Prius Sedan

Regardless of being overwhelmed by Honda within the race to promote the primary manufacturing hybrid-electric automobiles in the US (the primary Insights hit American streets as 2000 fashions), the bigger and fewer silly-looking Toyota Prius ended up wiping the ground with the Perception within the hybrid gross sales battle that befell when the primary 2001 fashions appeared right here. The primary era of Prius bought right here was obtainable solely as a four-door sedan with an unlucky resemblance to the Toyota Echo; its hatchback successor appeared as a 2004 mannequin. This is one of many final of the Prius sedans, present in a Denver automotive graveyard just lately.

This automotive’s inside appears to be like prefer it’s about 20 months outdated, not 20 years.

The physique is sort of as good. Why is that this automotive in a spot like this?

We will assume that one thing catastrophically costly went incorrect with this automotive’s powertrain, in all probability mixed with the costly-to-replace hybrid battery pack going unhealthy on the similar time.

This automotive will likely be a bonanza for a junkyard shopper seeking to revive the worn-out inside of a 300,000-mile first-generation Prius.

Hybrids are not any massive deal as we speak, however this automotive was considered one of simply three gasoline-electric fashions obtainable in the US when it was new (the opposite two had been Hondas: the Perception and the Civic Hybrid). Extra rivals quickly obtained into the hybrid sport; Ford launched the Escape Hybrid as a 2005 mannequin, whereas the Saturn Vue Inexperienced Line appeared within the 2007 mannequin yr (GM additionally provided a “delicate hybrid” model of the Silverado in 2004).

2003 was the most important gross sales yr for the first-generation Prius in the US, with almost 25,000 leaving showrooms that yr. The roomier second-generation Prius bought significantly better, with gross sales first cracking the 100,000-unit mark for the 2005 mannequin yr. The Prius sedan is a uncommon sight as we speak.

Transportation is lastly evolving.

The Prius went on sale in Japan in late 1997.

As we speak, even Toyota’s mighty flagship is a hybrid-electric machine.