High milage fully loaded or Low milage Stadard?

Not sure if the fog lights are any different. Mine appear to work fine in the fog and they are actually illegal to use if it isn't foggy.

We get fog so thick sometimes that you can hardly see the front of your car and you almost have to follow the white line (yours are yellow?) in the middle of the road. If you use normal headlights in this thick fog they just reflect back and blind you, so you use the fog lights with just the side lights and the headlights switched off. The lower, weaker beam helps you see the road.

Same reason we have a high intensity rear fog light as in thick fog you really can't see the back lights of a car in front. The single high glow of the rear fog light helps here. They are much brighter than a brake light - so can be a real pain in the a*** if people forget to switch them off when it isn't foggy!

 

so i take it you bought the 2005 with lower mileage?

 

I'd take the 2006 w/98k, if it's in great condition and wasn't in an accident. 30k miles is nothing in a hybrid.

Bumping this...

 

One factor must be what is your anticipated annual mileage? When I brought my 3 year old T Spirit recently whilst researching the market there was a huge difference in price between cars that had say 20 - 30K on the clock and say 60K. I went for the 60K because I do around 4-5K a year, so feel by the time the 100K expected minimum life of the battery arrives I will probably have changed the car. However if I anticipated doing 10K a year I would want to go for a lower mileage so that the 8 year period of the warrenty was reached before the 100K minimum life, thus giving a degree of assurance of a longer period before the 100K mark is acheived when things could start to get expensive and the trade in values would fall to reflect the higher risk.

 

FWIW, when someone hit my Prius and knocked the rear bumper cover off, replacing it, an impact absorber and repainting the new bumper cover cost >$1100. Luckily, it wasn't my fault and it came out of the other driver's insurance.

On my 350Z, the plastic strip under the front bumper was gouged along w/two small gouges in the bumper cover's paint caused by a car shipper, it came out to $920+ (>5 years ago) to replace the strip, refinish and repaint the bumper cover. Again, luckily, I wasn't footing the bill.

 

You certainly should try to negotiate price down.

I bought 2005 Package II ( curtain airbags + smartkey) with 73000 Mi, In top shape both inside and outside, from a used car dealer ( It was actually a Honda dealer) for 11000$. I got 1000$ back for a Honda accord with 250K mi on it which I traded in so 10000$ from the pocket.

Prices have since definitely come down since 2010 is out and with all the bad publicity Toyota has gotten.

I have since driven the car another 25000 Mii. I have done just oil changes at 5K + PCV valve change+ Transmission oil change.
I am due for a more expensive service with coolant and spark plugs which i believe should cost around 400 or 450$ or so. I am very happy with my purchase.

so your base 2006 is much like my 2005 now since almost a year is passed. The most I would pay for it is 9500 or so. Same goes for 2005.

 

Re: High mileage fully loaded or Low mileage Stadard?

This is pretty normal. Plastic polish will remove the haze which forms (probably due to exposure to sunlight) on the surface of the plastic headlight lens.

While you are looking at cosmetics, look at the brake lights. Notice each light is composed of six LEDs. Look at the flat surfaces below each LED. Are the surfaces smooth or are they warped like a Salvador Dali painting?

If the latter, this is due to heat damage, and the 2004-2005 with tinted grey brake light lenses are subject to that. Newer Prius with clear brake light lenses typically will not suffer this particular problem.

 

When I was looking into the possibility of buying a Prius, I determined quite quickly that I might have to travel a distance to get the T Spirit model with IPA that I was after. I therefore arranged a Test drive of a 2004 T3 at a local main dealer. It had only got 30K or so miles on it. I was quite surprised to notice a stone chip over the wheel arch was showing signs of rust. Not so bad that the dealer could not have fixed it prior to sale. It was the thought or rust itself, as it is something you don't readilly associate with Toyota's. Having examined a couple of stone chips on the T Spirit I have brought that may have happened on the 200 plus mile drive from the garage I brought it from, I have concluded that the paint does not seem to be a thick on the Prius as it was on my old 1999 British built Corrola (which I still had until I sold it). Therefore any stone chips need to be attended to quickly.

You can either use them as a bargaining chip or get the dealer to put them right.

What are the Service Histories like on the cars? A Toyota will only be reliable if it is serviced at the recommended intervals. The higher mileage one will be due a service (a major one, I believe). The lower one will be due a service in 5K miles. Clearly if you go for the higher mileage one you will need to get it serviced pretty quickly, unless the current owner has had it done to boost his chances of selling. It might be worth asking a Toyota dealer the cost of a 100K service and the cost of a service at 70K, so that these can be factored in. Will the car dealer offer any warrenty with the 65K car? If he has proper facilities then based on UK practice he should do - you might have to pay for it. With the 100K car I would seriously consider getting a mechanical inspection done if it has not had a service since 90K. This would highlight any mechanical faults before buying.
As it is a private seller, given the prices you have quoted and comparing them to the UK market, I think he is asking over the odds for a car that is virtually out of warrenty and may require a major service anytime soon.

If I were you I'd look around the market again and see what else is available if you want a higher spec. Ideally you should try and find one that has just been serviced. If there is nothing about, and as you are on an Island you might have a long wait, and you don't have the option of easily traveling to an area where there is more choice, I would honestly either go for the lower spec, or wait for something better to come along, if you have the patience.

It seems that in the US you do not anything similar to an MOT test that is required annually for all cars over three years old in the UK, but the state of Hawaii does require a car to be pass an annual Safety check (I googled it). I don't know how rigorous it is - in the UK the MOT is very rigorous checking brakes, steering, suspension, emmissions, lighting, tyres and bodywork. If these areas are tested in Hawaii I would go for a car that has just passed its test. It may give some piece of mind.

Just one final thought, looking around the forums, it seems that water pumps can go on a Prius at around 60K - mine had one fitted at its 60K service last November. If you do go for the lower spec, try and establish whether it had its replaced at the 60K service.

 

I would go with the '06 personally. These days 30k miles is nothing and in reality age has more to with a car degrading than use. Also factor in the improved interior materials and the much more reliable MFD in the 06-09 models and picking the '06 is a no brainer.

 

We have to do an MOT safety test whenever we transfer a car, or if a cop asks us to get one. Every 2 years we have to get a test of the pollution systems. I think some other privinces (Nova Scotia, I think and maybe New Brunswick too) require annual safety inspections.

 

The test is not particularly rigorous. It is a visual inspection of steering, suspension, tires/wheels, exhaust system, intake/fuel system, brakes, lights, horn, window glass, wipers, mirrors, body integrity, etc. Emission testing is not required.

 

I don't know what a MOT test is but LOL, in the US (outside of Hawaii since I've never lived there), WA and CA definitely don't require ANY test for cars regardless of age other than a smog check (for all of CA and many counties in WA) every few years once the car's beyond a certain age. Cars the are too old and can never meet emissions standards are exempt. There are a few more details, but I'm simplifying.

Because I had to register my cars in WA (formerly registered in CA), smog checks were required, but the Prius was exempt. For my Z (and cars that have OBD II), they just plugged in their computer to the OBD II port to retrieve self-check results and gave me a pass. They didn't bother using their exhaust probes or their dyno.

DMVs might look at your VIN plate to make sure it looks unmodified. Long ago, when one registered a car in WA, you had to get it inspected by the state patrol. They did the same check but stopped doing the check years ago.

You could be driving a heap and the government doesn't really care unless you get ticketed for stuff like burned out lights, no plates, expired registration or something illegal. Then, they might notice bald tires or something else wrong.

 

I believe this is the UK Ministry of Transportation.

 

Yes indeed it stands for Ministry of Transport. Everything is recorded on a Computer so that if you are considering buying a car and you can get the VIN you can check whether or not it has failed a test in the past and what on (mine failed first time at three years old because they had not checked the headlight allignment before putting it through the test which was a bit careless. The recorded mileage also goes to those companies that sell HP checks, so that with just the Registration No you can get details of past mileage, which makes selling a clocked car a lot harder in the UK.

All cars have to be tested at three years old and annually thereafter. The test is naturally tougher on new cars than an 80 year old Vintage car , but nonetheless they still have to pass a test if they are to be allowed on the road. If you do not have a valid MOT (and insurance), then it is not possible to renew the annual road tax. This makes the Police job easier as car without an up to date Tax disc is more likely to be uninisured and without an MOT. The Police can check whether a car is insured easily with the Registration No without necessarily stopping the car until they have checked first and probably have some fun listening to the driver arguing that everything is fine with the car.

Details of the requirements can be found at The MOT test for your vehicle : Directgov - Motoring for anyone who is curious. The only cars that appear to be exempt are foreign registered cars belonging to those East Europeans who have driven their cars to the UK when they came here for work (or they have gone back to Latvia or wherever and brought a newer car because it is cheaper than buying in the UK). However left hand drive foreign registered cars do stick out like a sore thumb, and any driver indiscretion is likely to result in them being stopped and checked.

 

Crazy! We don't have anything like that in the two states I've lived in, at least not for registration renewal beyond the smog check in some places.

Sharp edges? LOL Horn? I've known someone w/a non-working horn. Headlight aim? Err.. I and nobody has ever checked this on any car I or my parents have owned, AFAIK. I've seen... err heard heaps running around w/holes in their exhaust. Some ricers (aka rice boy racers) have really loud exhausts that are illegal.

Maybe it'd be a good idea if we instituted something similar to that here in the US. It might help prevent flood damaged cars from being resold due to have rust in certain places along w/other suspicious signs. We heard anecdotal reports of such horror stories after Hurricane Katrina. It might also help prevent totaled vehicles that were repaired (sometimes badly) from being resold. I hear about this every now and then in the news.

 

Re: High mileage fully loaded or Low mileage Standard?

Imagine what would happen if a federal automobile inspection program was proposed. Constitutional issues would be raised: where in that document does it give the federal government the right to set up inspection programs for motor vehicles, etc.

If the good citizens of a particular US state do not see fit to establish tight registration requirements that preclude salvage and flood damaged titles from being cleansed, you'll have to assume that they are willing to run the risk of being scammed... The problem arises when titles issued by those states are accepted on face value by an unsuspecting consumer from another state. We've seen a few examples of that recently on this forum.

 

The NJ inspection sounds fairly similar to the UK MOT. I have failed in NJ for bad wipers. I should have failed for parking brake on one occasion, but the examiner didn't understand the ratchet-pedal on the 1990 Pontiac Grand Prix and assumed he just hadn't applied the brake properly.

In any case, I have become convinced that annual safety inspections are a useless process and in most states are just a rip-off scam for private garages (In NJ the inspection is state-run, but in PA it is all done through private shops). Enforcement based on an annual inspection is useless (bi-annual in NJ now), because it is not a random inspection. For most people, if they have an out headlight, etc,. they just leave it go until the inspection is coming up. If the MIL is on, it could be on for months and months before an owner actually has to fix the problem.

The number of cars I see with safety defects is astounding. A much more effective, and cheaper, system would be simple random inspection, or just pulling over obvious offenders.