Possible Newbie Here - Need Advice About Purchase

It's not a good idea to buy a used car with a 5 year loan. I suggest a cheaper car with a 2 or 3 year loan.

 

Greetings!
Welcome Aboard!!
You only have one post, so you're definitely a newbie...and possibly (probably) a new Prius driver....which is OK.
Even Danny had a first post.

The answer to your question is yes. You can expect an 05 to chug along for another 5 years.
Normally, I'm not wild about 5 year loans, especially for a 9 year old car however (comma!) this is a very frugal nine year old car, and there are many MANY articles in this forum for DIY maintenance and repair for the G2.

Right now interest rates are VERY low (my wife's Yorkie qualifies for a car loan) and Hybrid resale values are very high, so while there are smarter ways to build credit and drive cheap and green.....there are dumber things you can do as well.

Just don't pay out the nose for the car because it's allegedly a cream-puff, and start saving right now for repairs and maintenance. Learn how to do the maintenance and repair work yourself.
It's not hard.
Rednecks do it while drinking beer.

Otherwise....LEARN about the car so that you don't get shafted by unscrupulous repair shops, DO NOT make the mistake that dealerships are wiser or more honest about the G2, and get the car inspected by a for-real mechanic and look into Carfax before you sign on.


Other than that?

Good Luck!

 

Well, they are good and reliable cars. If it was me, I wouldn't hesitate to buy this car (from the sound of it). I bought my 01 in 2008 and it is still chugging along great with zero problems. The 2005 is a better vehicle so you should have no issues (but of course that can never be guaranteed). With that in mind, I would buy with confidence.

I don't like 5 year loans either but, hey you do what you have to to survive right?

 

My opinion is don't do it. It is an accident waiting to happen.

I would purchase a new Prius c lowest model on a 7 year car loan before I financed a 9 year old Prius.

If that is impossible buy a Honda Civic cause ice is less expensive than hybrid to repair and Honda has a good reputation on reliability and a decent MPG

You could find a decent Civic for a reasonable price.

That's my 2 cents

 

It'll certainly last, but I'd agree that financing for 5 years seems a bit much for that old. I just bought an '07 and we financed it for 3 years. We had financed our used SUV before for 5 years and I won't do that again. The payments barely kept up with the depreciation. Our rationale was that we were going to keep it for 10 so it wouldn't matter. Well, after 3.5 we decided to sell the camper which was the reason for buying the SUV and we wanted out. Barely got the loan paid off with the trade in on the Prius. I'd never consider financing for 7 years.

Even though it'll last, I'd still look for something less expensive that you can afford to pay off in fewer years.