Help me evaluate a used Prius!

[tyrannostache]

I've had my eye on a Prius for a while to replace our failing Mazda Protege, which we use for commuting to work and running kids around town. Family of 4, safety and efficiency are our major concerns.

2009 Prius, private seller asking $3800

185K miles.

They say it uses "some oil, which is common with Priuses of this year" but otherwise it "runs great"

Stay away, or explore further?
What kind of red flags should we look for?

The price is about $1200 lower than what I'd expect for blue book value, which makes me a little nervous. Then again, I also figure that it would be hard to go wrong for $3800.

My partner is concerned about buying a used Prius--worries that we'd be on the hook for a pricey battery replacement. I'd appreciate any insight!

[pdxvandal]

I understand your concerns, as I had similar.

Last year I bought a 2009 Prius with 260k miles for $3,200. I've since put on about 22k miles with very few issues outside of new brakes, water pump, tires and a 12V auxiliary battery (which tend to last 3-4 years). So, I've had to put in $1k worth of repairs and upgrades, but that's what you tend to expect for a $3,200 car.

I spoke to a Prius guru who fixes up these old cars and he mentioned he's never seen the main battery go out on any second-generation Prius (those made between 2003-09), and if they do, he's heard this tends to begin happening at 300k miles, for what it's worth.

Anyway, I generally like the car, outside of weak acceleration up hills and the general ribbing I take from friends for driving said car. They're easy to drive, reliable and when you fold the seats down, you can fit a bunch of crap in the back (like a small pickup truck). Highly Mustachian if you ask me.

[kendallf]

I've had my eye on a Prius for a while to replace our failing Mazda Protege, which we use for commuting to work and running kids around town. Family of 4, safety and efficiency are our major concerns.

2009 Prius, private seller asking $3800

185K miles.

They say it uses "some oil, which is common with Priuses of this year" but otherwise it "runs great"

Stay away, or explore further?
What kind of red flags should we look for?

The price is about $1200 lower than what I'd expect for blue book value, which makes me a little nervous. Then again, I also figure that it would be hard to go wrong for $3800.

My partner is concerned about buying a used Prius--worries that we'd be on the hook for a pricey battery replacement. I'd appreciate any insight!

My 04 with 240k uses some oil, but I just keep an eye on it and top it off between oil changes.  We have 3 2nd gen Prii in my family (04, 07, 09) and they have been some of the most reliable cars we've ever had.  Common problems include flaky dash gauges (what Toyota calls the combination meter) that intermittently won't power up, cars with the HID headlight option can have failures, and there's a recall for the inverter water pump on some of the earlier cars.

My total maintenance on 3 of them with ~240k, 150k, 140k miles: I did put a traction battery (the HV battery) in my wife's 07 at about 120k miles.  I bought a used one for $500, swap took about an hour.  No big deal.  I've put a 12v battery in two of them, sort of a normal maintenance item on most cars anyway.  I had to replace both HID bulbs and one ballast on my daughter's car with the HID option.  I finally put brakes on my 04 a couple of months ago at over 230k.  They may have been original, I'm not sure.  Oh, and regular oil changes and fluids as necessary.

[tyrannostache]

Thanks for the input, kendallf and pdx!

The slightly ironic part of this is the car we'd be replacing has about 180K on it, so if we go with this Prius we'd actually be trading in for a car with more miles. However, that car is from the '90s, and has accumulated so much deferred maintenance at this point (at least $2500) that I'd rather unload it than put any more money into it. This has led to a really dumb spiral where things keep going wrong, we don't fix them, and the car gets progressively less safe.

Any suggestions on flags to watch out for while evaluating the Prius?

[a1pharm]

Thanks for the input, kendallf and pdx!

The slightly ironic part of this is the car we'd be replacing has about 180K on it, so if we go with this Prius we'd actually be trading in for a car with more miles. However, that car is from the '90s, and has accumulated so much deferred maintenance at this point (at least $2500) that I'd rather unload it than put any more money into it. This has led to a really dumb spiral where things keep going wrong, we don't fix them, and the car gets progressively less safe.

Any suggestions on flags to watch out for while evaluating the Prius?

An 09 will be rock solid - I'm unsure about the oil thing (mine doesn't burn through any extra).  Don't worry about the HV battery - as mentioned above, they may start to fail at 300k+ miles.  However, you don't have to replace the whole thing - just the bad cells.  You can get a bluetooth ODBII scanner for about $15 on Amazon and an app called "Torque" and get real time info on each of the cells in your Prius.  If any of the cells are more than 1 volt away from the others, that "battery" (really, the cell) is bad.  Changing a cell is a few hundred bucks if you pay someone else to do it for you.  Checkout the Prius Chat forums for more info on how to setup Torque.

As far as evaluating a used Prius, Manly Father did a great article on it on his blog - he goes over how to buy a used 2012 Prius, but the info is the same for yours.

Good luck!

[Trying2bFrugal]

Welcome to the Prius world.

I dont know a lot (almost nothing) about vehicles, all I did was taking the vehicle to highway and put the pedals on high acceleration (90+mph in power mode), break and did all kind of stress test to see if it holds good (i got it from a ford dealer who gave 30 day warranty). Took a friend in passenger seat to accompany me (he was a car enthusiastic but still nowise in internals) to see if there are any rattling noises or funky smell during our 10 mile ride. Opened the engine (i know nothing here) and just inspected for oil leaks, inspected closely to see any damages (which got fixed) due to any accidents. Checked the vehicle history through records (it was one owner, meticulously maintained in same Toyota showroom without missing miles/maintenance and had all records).
Ran the car report (I think someone on craigslist sold detailed car fax for $1) to know more about it.

As far as the things people say, they will scare you about the battery, but most cars are good for their lifetime. Check if the car was from flood prone area (if there was flood like Florida, I would never a hybrids from that location), or from severe weather (in my case car was from Michigan, not that bad for weather) which can impact battery performance. Like others suggested, try to check health of the battery.

Thats all i did when I bought it.

Edit: When we bought used cars for our friends, we sometime ask the owner if anything wrong in car and why they are selling and are they okay to bring the car to a nearby mechanic shop for evaluation (which cost you $100, but worth on negotiation/information). But it depend on the situation.

Another thing I forgot to mention, In 2010 i received a mail letter from Toyota for servicing head light circuit as some might have gone bad. Mine did. But its not a factory recall, rather selective issue for random cars on a particular year model. So you may want to double check on Priuschat forums or any owners here on any particular issues related to 2009 as they may not be available in recalls for that model. But if you tell specific issue (so many models, service guys would turn you down unless you know the information).

Also the oil change is about 10k miles, but light will be on after 5k miles (I turned down from oil change on Toyota dealer by the tech guy there saying that and reset the timer). But I do the oil change 6 months.

If the small battery is weak/bad, its only $100 to change it.

I read that the oil issue was for 3rd gen (2010-2015) but it wasnt in my 2010. Also not read much mentioned about 2009 on that issue when i was in market 4 years back.

Good luck.