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High mileage taxi prius

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by fopoku2k2, Jul 21, 2015.

  1. fopoku2k2

    fopoku2k2 Member

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    Anybody in this forum own a used Toyota prius taxi?

    Most of the ones being sold have very high mileages. Are they a good buy?

    What should one look out for when inspecting one?

    A0001 ?
     
  2. vskid3

    vskid3 Active Member

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    If its very cheap and you're able and willing to make repairs when necessary, probably wouldn't be too bad as a project beater. By now you can get a Gen2 with ~150k miles for $5-7k. One repair to a 300k mile taxi could cost half of the purchase price of the lower mileage car.
     
  3. fopoku2k2

    fopoku2k2 Member

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    I got my 2010 for $5k. I bought it at 235k miles. Checking from mycarfax.com these are the maintenance record i going. servicing at 17k and 23k. Oil and filter was also changed at 145k, 158k and 185k. What do you think?

    A0001 ?
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i'm not sure what you're asking above, but i wouldn't buy a taxi, some of those drivers are crazy, and very hard on a car.
     
  5. RL Prius

    RL Prius Junior Member

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    Agreed. I know a taxi driver. Not only they drive the car very hard, they drive a 24 hours non-stop two shift with another driver. you figure it out. So it is all about what do you expected from a former taxi.
    People even buy former Black and white cop's car too ! and I don't know why?
     
  6. fopoku2k2

    fopoku2k2 Member

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    I would basically be using it to commute from home to work (roughly 20miles each waY). but at a sale price of $5,950. Its a good deal right??
     
  7. fopoku2k2

    fopoku2k2 Member

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    I would basically be using this for roughly 20 miles a day.

    According to toyota owners website these are the maintenance done so far on the car . . .
    1. 17,637 miles = 2nd Warranty Service
    2. 23,474 miles = 3rd Warranty Service
    3. 145,934 miles = General Over all Checks, Replace Tire Light Sensors, Oil & Filter Change, Replace Front and Rear Brake Pads
    4. 158,353 miles = synthetic Oil Change, 4 Wheel Alignment Performed, Replaced L/F Wheel Bearing
    5. 185,029 miles = Front R/S Wheel Bearing, Synthetic Oil Change
     
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    a lot of service missing, done somewhere else?
     
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    when is a good deal not a good deal? sounds like you've already made up your mind.
     
  10. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

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    since you already purchased one, the only correct answer is yes.
     
  11. fopoku2k2

    fopoku2k2 Member

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    I can't seem to find them online. what servicing could those be and at what mileage??
     
  12. fopoku2k2

    fopoku2k2 Member

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    If the answer is actually a no I can put it back on the market
     
  13. cyclopathic

    cyclopathic Senior Member

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    I would say besides regular tear and wear, traction battery. If they carried dogs it may be clogged with hair. But you will not be able to check it w/o opening.

    To test the state of the battery you would need OBDII reader $5-10 for bluetooth on eBay, slightly more on Amazon, and Torque app. There is also an app for iPhone, but that requires WiFi OBDII which is ~$20.

    ECU reports voltage for each module, and you can plot instant diff which shouldn't be more then 0.25-0.5V.

    taxis are hard on traction battery as there is alot of acceleration and idling at low speeds. Besides tear and wear the major threat for battery is clogging with dust/lint

    Engine should be fine if they used good synthetic oil. If it was conventional with 15k change intervals I wouldn't come close to it.
     
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  14. fopoku2k2

    fopoku2k2 Member

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    The interior looks pretty neat from the IAAI pictures (find attaced). I have an OBDII and torque app. Can you run me thorugh the process of testing the state of the batteries.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  15. cyclopathic

    cyclopathic Senior Member

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    I don't remember on top of my head, but it is reported on OBDII plug. You'd need to find which parameters and then plot it or check the reported digital output. You'd need to do it static, while driving and under acceleration/braking. And I think battery temps are reported also.

    If there are no codes reported but the discrepancies btw modules are high, battery may need re-balancing(?) We checked mine at ~160k and it was almost as good as co-workers 68K battery. But this is on one owner car with mostly highway miles.

    BTW you can also check the state of 12V the same way, if turning car and lights drops below 12-12.2V, it maybe time to start looking for new 12V.
     
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  16. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    you've got oil and filters every 10k, then around 100k you're starting to do things like fluids, spark plugs and etc.a nice touch is the tranny fluid, but not a toyota requirement.
     
  17. fopoku2k2

    fopoku2k2 Member

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    What do you mean by "tranny fluid"?

    A0001 ?
     
  18. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    transaxle: ecvt, 4 quarts of toyota lubricant.
     
  19. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    The routine maintenance would have been done at the taxi's garage of choice. If the records were logged in Toyota's database they were deleted. Toyota only keeps dealer service records after the car is sold.
     
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  20. fopoku2k2

    fopoku2k2 Member

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    ooh ok