The local Toyota dealership has a 2006 Prius with 201,000 miles listed on AutoTrader. I show up to look at the car and do a test drive. The pictures of the car look very very good. The car in person looks very good also - no wear on the seats usual with high mileage cars, not all beat up etc. The sales person says they can't let me test drive the car because they can't get it to pass inspection. He says they thought it was the battery ( I assume the 12 volt one but he didn't say) but they found that it was not the battery. He says the computer is saying that the engine is misfiring. He says they'll sell me the car for $4,000 and tow it to my house if I want. At this point my confidence is shaken and I don't even know what to say so I tell them to fix the car and I'll look at it at that time. On the other hand, maybe I should buy the car and then pay them to fix it? Am I walking into a lemon nightmare or a dependable car that just needs some minor repair? How shaken should my confidence be?
The dealer knows exactly what is wrong with the car. The DTCs on the car will point them to the exact problem. It probably is a major problem they don't wish to fix. I wouldn't buy this car as $5000 is probably the running value of the car at 200k miles. Any major repair will be in the 4 digits so you are not getting a deal. A traction battery from the dealer is $3000+. My thinking is this car probably has issues the previous owner doesn't want to address or too expensive to address.
Well, 4k is seemingly a good deal. Ask them what the codes are. If they are misfire codes then its probably not the battery. I personally would love to have a deal like that but, whether or not I would recommend it to you would depend on many factors like: How good are you with a wrench? Do you have facilities and tools? Can you follow instructions well? Do you have a lot of patience? Do you need the car to be a dependable daily driver right now? Nearly anything on a Gen II Prius can be fixed relatively inexpensively (less than $2000 if you DIY). All parts are available as well, so from there its just whats in it for you and the answers to the above questions. If you don't want it, let me know where it is. If its not too far, I might buy it. lol
I do have facilities to fix a car (my garage is not heated and that does slow me down ) I'm pretty good with instructions and wrenches. I do need a daily driver. The need for a daily driver is the real rub. I don't mind maintenance and/or fixing a car a 2 or 3 times a year - more than that and I start to feel like I have a problem, not a car. Sounds like you don't see this issue as a warning sign of impending future repair doom. You'd buy it, fix it and drive happily ever after - right?
I'd look around for one around $5k that's actually running instead. If they're not letting you drive it, it's probably because it's not runnable in its current state, and if they don't fix it themselves to sell for a higher price, then that means it's pricy to fix.
Walk away. The garage is not being straight with you, how can you trust them? What if there is a problem with the traction battery or inverter etc.
This car is definitely not a "lemon". It has logged 200k miles, I don't think a lemon can do that. Toyota has the life expectancy of a Prius at 180k miles. Seeing that you need a daily driver, this car might not be your best option. It "may" be a good car after the repair or it "may not". Can you live with the "may not"? I think this car would be suitable for our DIY members that can fix this without bringing it to a dealer. Like a project car and not really a daily driver.
Now you're tapping into my paranoia. He said it was against state law to allow someone to drive a car that could pass emissions. He said we could drive it around the parking lot - I should take him up on that.
I don't know what state you're in, but in CA hybrids do not need to pass emissions (since they don't have a new method to test hybrids yet). If he says it's okay to drive it around the parking lot, but not the street, then he is definitely hiding something. Move on to the next car on your list, and avoid that dealership. Sounds super shady.
Except this car has 200k miles on it. You could go to 300k without needing anything more than oil changes, or the battery, transaxle, inverter, or engine could die the day after you buy it. The same could be said of any car, but 200k miles on it makes it that much more likely. As a second car, I think it would be a good deal, maybe see if you can get them to lower the price a bit more. As your sole mode of transportation, you might want to look elsewhere.
Run the vin tru carfax and Toyota database. I wouldn't buy unless it was inspected(state) by them. Dropping it off is a bad sign.
4k for a car with 200,ooo miles that doesn't pass inspection? how much would it cost if it didn't have any issues?
They posted $5k on the web and didn't mention any issues in the article. I think the guys who post cars jumped the gun.
OP, if something is so wrong with the car that the stealership won't even let you drive it, you don't want it - believe me. Just let it go. Another high mileage early Gen 2 could turn up at any time. My 05 has 214K miles on it, is still running strong, and now that I have the torque app for android, I know much more about how it's operating than I have in the past three years. It is really nice to finally see the engine rpm and coolant temperature. Those gauges should be standard in every car. Shame on you, Toyota. Today, I was viewing the highest reading and lowest reading battery block voltages (there are 14 blocks total) for the HV traction battery with the torque app. The block numbers that are displayed for max block voltage and min voltage vary while I'm driving so I believe it's telling me the traction battery is in good condition after nearly 9 years and the 214K miles. Eventually when the traction battery is on the way out I'd expect one block number to be consistently be displayed as the min voltage block almost all the time compared to the other 13, which might be the best time for me to drive to AutoBeYours in S. Indiana to have the traction battery replaced - I hope it wont happen for a couple of more years at least. I thought about buying a 2012 Gen 3 last week but as long as my Gen 2 continues to run strong I might wait until a used Gen 4 becomes available in 2016 before Yoda moves onto owner #3.
First, thanks for all the comments - very helpful. Second, I've decided that I'll keep looking. The "pay a little more and get one with less miles" suggestion feels like a good way to go. Thanks all.
No. If it were something minor, the dealership would fix it at their labor rates and parts discounts and sell it as a running car. You say you need a running car, is this the best low mileage car you can buy for what you have to spend? The simplest/cheapest to fix when things go wrong as they do on high mileage cars?
Here's the link to the AutoTrader ad I called the dealer and talked to a different person. She said the main battery - not the 12 volt - was bad and that they had been dealing with it for a while. Carfax on this thing look pretty good
