Am I foolish for considering an '05 with 227K?

Yes you are foolish. I'll sell you my 05 w/216k for $6999. Let me know if that works for you.

 

Yes, that is totally insane. There are plenty of salvage title prii in the SF Bay Area where they are more expensive for less than $10K with a lot less miles.

BTW, the most common salvage prius add is:

"...had minor rear end accident and was repaired by professional body shop".

Well I had a minor rear accident where someone rear ended my prius and it required replacing the entire rear bumper. It wasn't so minor even though the subframe under the impact foam wasn't touched in anyway. The collision occurred at 15 MPH or so. The cost of repair was less than $500 including a new bumper. The car would have had to have had at least $15K in damage before the insurance company would have even considered rendering it salvage.

The point being that there is no minor accident that can salvage title a Prius without seriously bending the frame and probably damaging the traction battery.

 

I've spent the last week looking at used Priuses and that price is not great, it's not that bad, though. People may call you crazy but i doubt they can point to ads online showing much better deals. Miles are high but there is no linear relationship between miles and how low the value should get. Another way to look at it is there is NO way you'll get a second gen Prius for $7k that is in good shape except with a ton of miles on it or a very rare sale. I see a 2004 with 130k for $8000 by me at a dealer, that's the cheapest 2nd gen I've seen.

 

The good deals are gone. I bought my '05 Prius (with 134K miles) last October for $7K+tax. Now the same year / same mileage costs $2K more.

Also - not a good idea to drive a Prius for only 3K miles per year. You probably wouldn't be charging the traction battery often enough.

And - since the history of the Prius you're looking at is spotty, skip this one and keep looking. It took me almost a year to find one.

 

Well, not necessarily foolish.
More likely not well informed, perhaps even naive.

My Prius was rear ended and jammed into the car in front.
Damage was limited to body parts and crush zone bits; ~$3500.
No effect on drivability or MPGs.

From the small annual mileage you predict, it sounds like you'll be
doing a lot of short trips. This will be a MPG killer.

To have a reliable ride you'll need to do a lot of preventative/catch-up
maintenance; inverter pump, possibly a new 12V battery, air and oil
filter, possibly the water pump, etc, etc.

Would be most helpful/less costly if you're a strong do-it-yourselfer.

If you do it, it's going to be an adventure, with a lot of uncertainty.
Good luck.

 

What about the Prius interests you? It won't make economic sense to buy a high MPG car at a premium then not drive it far.

Are your weekend trips very long? The Prius does not excel at short trips. The Prius depends on both batteries being charged, I worry that you are not planning on driving enough to keep them charged.

The Prius drove huge distances in taxis, but those taxis are on 24/7.

 

Forget what the car is used for, buying a 2005 with 227K miles for 7K is not a good choice, unless it has gold somewhere inside it. I bought mine, a 2005 with package #4 (119K miles), 40 days ago and paid $7200 and I bought it off of E-bay.

The car you are looking at has over 100K miles more and it's only $200 less. Since gas has shot up the Prius prices are rising but I'd still look for a better deal than that. I'm sure you can find one. Just be patient.

 

I'd stay well clear of this car. 200,000+ miles is more than many cars will ever drive. At this mileage you would need to be ready for just about anything to break on the car. While the fact that it made it to 227k miles is a testament to how well the car was built you would be buying it well into its expected life-cycle.

If it were me and I just needed a car for light use I'd look at a Geo Prizm - it is essentially a Corolla twin (built in the GM/Toyota shared NUMI plant). They stopped production about 9 or 10 years ago, but I have had a few friends get them with low miles for very little. I'd then bank some of the savings for the inevitable repairs that come with an older car.

 

This car would be a good deal at $4,000 when purchased by a dealership hybrid tech, independent mechanic, mad scientist (like me), or a very serious Prius DIY fanatic. This is not the car to buy if it is your first Prius. The $7,000 asking price is outrageous.

 

I've got a 2005 Package 6 with 92,500 that I am going to need to get rid of. Make me an offer!

 

Test For Foolishness:

Look at feet.
Are they wearing shoes with toes that curl around with bells attached?

It's just opinion. But I wouldn't touch that vehicle at that price. To me? A salvaged titled Prius with that many miles on it should be a 2nd, or even 3rd vehicle, purchased at considerable, considerable, discount. I wouldn't buy it unless I wanted it as a project.

With gas prices rising and supply dwindling, I'm not going to say that isn't market value, maybe it is...but if it is? I'd wait until the market changed.

It's not so much the age of the vehicle, or (knock on wood) the mileage, so much as all the other red flags attached. Salvage Title, dubious almost unknown history...

IMO...even in this increasingly difficult purchasers climate, you should be able to do better.

 

yes, totally nuts.

 

lol shame you're not in the UK. I know plenty of guys who want to off load fairly new cars with galactic mileages.

227k is A LOT. You wouldn't want to be paying A LOT for a car with that mileage. It might be OK but if it goes wrong it'll cost ya.

 

I would not pay more than 3500 for that even if it had a clean title.

 

If you're not putting many miles on it, why not consider something like the Matrix/Vibe?
Great realiability, and they are pretty cheap (the vide is even cheaper)
When My 08 Matrix XR was totaled in December of 10, it had 49,xxx miles on it and was valued at $12,000.

 

I apologize for not being more forthright initially. I would listen to what everyone else is say. For the miles that you are expecting to drive, I would not recommend picking up a 05 Prius with that many miles for $7000. There is too much risk to purchase a Prius w/so many miles for that price even though I'm sure I can hit 300k. I believe replacing the shocks or struts(?) - as recommended by others - will cost over $1000. Your better off buying a used civic or corolla and using the money saved for gas. $3000 for used car means $4000 for gas. I'll let you work out the math.

Edit: I am serious about selling my prius for $6999 in case anyone is interested in a slightly used prius in WA state.