Author Topic: Used Prius  (Read 2845 times)

Rhoon

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Used Prius
« on: November 26, 2016, 10:11:50 PM »
Hello all,

Looking for some help and any personal experience with anyone who has purchased a used Prius / Hybrid vehicle. I'm looking to trade out my monster of an F150 (still owe $41K on it) to a used hybrid vehicle with the best possible storage capacity (Prius V is the front runner).

I think my biggest fear with making this switch is the thought of my wife and kid (2 yrs old) potentially broken down on the side of the road in Central Florida because of a problem in a vehicle someone traded out of-- I don't view the local roads as forgiving.

Another question for the mechanically inclined group in the house. When looking at used vehicles, what do you look out for if you were recommending a vehicle to a non-mechanically experienced person?

Any feedback is appreciated as well as any links as I'd have to bet these questions have been asked before (Search function keeps returning errors on me).

Thanks.

druth

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Re: Used Prius
« Reply #1 on: November 27, 2016, 10:28:26 PM »
A Toyota is a more reliable car than a ford, so I think your concerns should run the opposite direction if anything.  Treat it like any car sale, go to a trusted mechanic with the car before you buy.

We have a used Prius and in general I think you would need to neglect it pretty hard to have it die suddenly, it's full of alert bells and whistles so there's rarely an excuse.

BigRed

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Re: Used Prius
« Reply #2 on: November 28, 2016, 08:01:54 AM »
I'm shopping for a used Prius as well.  I've found that they made a Plug-in version from 2012-15 which has better options and runs cheaper than the base models.  I don't know if satisfies your cargo needs, or if they are only available in some states, but worth checking out.  Apparently they leased them very, very cheap, so there are a lot coming back on lease returns that should be in very good shape.

Here's another question - what do you do if you don't have a trusted mechanic?  We just moved, and don't take our car in for repairs much at all anyway.

omega13

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Re: Used Prius
« Reply #3 on: November 28, 2016, 08:57:19 AM »
I have a newer Prius and it's been an awesome car. Very reliable and I've put about 70k miles on it since I got it.

Personally I try to find out more about the history of the car and the type of person that owned it prior to buying it. But I buy my cars usually private party. Such information is usually not available through a dealer.

One thing I would recommend is that if you find a good candidate, ask the seller to let you take it to a dealership and have their service department inspect it. I would pay $100-200 for them to put it through a thorough inspection.

Which model are you considering of buying? I would recommend buying a 2010 or newer.

Bruinguy

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Re: Used Prius
« Reply #4 on: November 28, 2016, 10:51:08 AM »
Four years ago, I bought a 2009 Prius.  Other than replacing the regular battery (the $100 one that is in every car), I have only done regular maintenance on it.  A++ would buy again.

Papa Mustache

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Re: Used Prius
« Reply #5 on: November 28, 2016, 11:26:59 AM »
I had a mechanic friend buy a well used Prius with something well north of 200K miles. The traction battery (big hybrid battery) went bad and the car was sold cheap. It was slow and the fuel economy went south.

He studied up on it and replaced individual cells in the big battery with used cells sourced from eBay. Needed a couple, sourced for less than $50 each I think he said - and the car was fixed.

Acceleration came back and so did the fuel economy. All in all a good car for cheap. He later sold it to a friend b/c mechanic friend was on to the next project car.

Also have a couple of neighbors who drive them and swear by them. I've have ridden in one and they are nice cars.

They do have styling that may or may not be appealing. I lean towards utility over aesthetics on daily drivers.