Wanted: the desirable Toyota Prius

[wellnessmobile]

Mustachian tribe,

I feel the Prius is a common staple in this community and I believe it is time for myself to purchase such wonderful vehicle.
I have been car-less for the past year and have enjoyed the journey. However, now that I am planting myself in Jax, FL for a period of time it is time to pull the trigger.

With that being said:
- is anyone selling a Prius (willing to travel for a solid car and the right price)
- price point below $7,000
- besides battery is there any other important gotcha's for the Prius
- what is typical mileage lifespan on Prius (any personal stories)
- any specs would be appreciated

Cheers!

[Huskerfan]

Have you looked into an older Honda Insight? I’m talking about the 2000-2006 models.
Great little cars. My current one is right around 70mpg lifetime over 140k miles so far. It’s an automatic. 

[dezfreeze]

My wife has a 2004 Prius- purchased at 130k for $5,500.  Now at 210k miles, still on original battery.  No big problems other than a burned out instrument cluster screen.  I have always steered clear of the Honda hybrids.  Not necessarily bad, but I have seen a lot more of them at the junkyard and heard of more mechanical failures.  Probably still better than an average luxury car, but not better than a Prius.

[dandarc]

My wife's 2010 Prius had something go horribly wrong with the brake booster. Repair was going to be $3600 at the dealer. Basically every light on the dashboard came on at once - right as we were pulling in to the parking garage at an airport 350 miles from home. We were out of town, exhausted, and went with the easy "trade it in for a different car" option when we got back. 2nd leg of that trip was visiting my in-laws, hence the airport so far away.

Got a notice that I couldn't be sure about, but sure sounded like the issue our Prius had was going to be covered under warranty ~8 months after the deal was done. So, kind of not happy about any of that whole deal.

[Abe]

We had a 2012 Prius that we traded in recently for a Prius Prime (plug-in hybrid). It had 80k miles with no mechanical or electrical issues. There weren't any specific concerns we had ever, other than the infernal beeping sound when it is in reverse gear. That apparently can be turned off by the dealer, though.

[dandarc]

We had a 2012 Prius that we traded in recently for a Prius Prime (plug-in hybrid). It had 80k miles with no mechanical or electrical issues. There weren't any specific concerns we had ever, other than the infernal beeping sound when it is in reverse gear. That apparently can be turned off by the dealer, though.

The continuous beep when you hit "lock" on your fob while a door is open. My wife tends to exit the car slowly, and we bought another Toyota, so we hear that one a lot.

In all honesty, our Prius was great - 8 years of nearly no repairs, great mileage, plenty of cargo room, pretty quiet on the road.

Then an engine gasket went (I think that was $1200? Maybe $1800? mostly labor) and maybe 8 months later the brake booster which even if I had the skills to do myself would have run $2500 for parts. Hybrid system parts are very expensive. Wish we had a more average experience on the repairs end of things - many people drove theirs quite a few more years and many more miles without those kinds of things happening.

[doggyfizzle]

Look on craigslist, and you will definitely find a prius at your price point.  Maybe in Florida be wary of water damage from flooding/hurricanes?, but that might also be an ignorant west-coaster talking.  I recently donated a 2007 Prius with 250k miles; I never had a single issue with the vehicle (original owner) other than the occasional equipment recall (airbags, etc).  In fact, that would be my only caveat, is I believe many if not most of the OEM airbags included from the factory on recent Prius models were the faulty Takatas, so I'd check the VIN with Toyota either before or immediately after any purchase.

Lifetime mileage: close to 45 mpg on my 2007, my wife gets 52+ on her 2012.
Stay away from the Michelin Defender tires, I burned through those on easy highway driving wayyyy before the 80k rating, and I mean wayyyy before.
Never an issue with the hybrid battery; in fact I believe that was the most valuable part of my car at auction

[tomorrowsomewherenew]

Hi,

We're on the east side of Orlando and will have one in Orlando for sale in a few days. It's in great shape. White, 2010, around 105,000 miles. I haven't looked up its value yet, but I'd be willing to bet it's in your price range.

[Rubes33]

Mustachian tribe,

I feel the Prius is a common staple in this community and I believe it is time for myself to purchase such wonderful vehicle.
I have been car-less for the past year and have enjoyed the journey. However, now that I am planting myself in Jax, FL for a period of time it is time to pull the trigger.

With that being said:
- is anyone selling a Prius (willing to travel for a solid car and the right price)
- price point below $7,000
- besides battery is there any other important gotcha's for the Prius
- what is typical mileage lifespan on Prius (any personal stories)
- any specs would be appreciated

Cheers!

I can sell you a box of tampons for well below $7k.  It's essentially the same thing.