Hope to be a Prius Owner

The warranty is 10 years/150000 miles. The car needs to be sold and registered in a CARB state.

Plenty of cars in your price range on cars.com.

 

welcome!
can you give us an idea of what is available for 5k? are you prepared to diy the vehicle?

 

hopefully someone can answer your questions. i only want you to know that prius are generally highly reliable, but can be quite expensive if repairs are needed. if you decide to go this route, make sure you have a 4 figure reserve for emergency repairs, and keep in mind, the above car only has 21,000 miles and 1 year left on the hybrid warranty, even if it is covered.

 

that's one, and something most newcomers worry about. but there are a number of systems that are quite expensive. the electric air conditioning alone can be a few thousand. a bad brake actuator a few thousand. this is not your fathers oldsmobile.

 

that may be true, but all toyota's are pretty reliable on the whole, and a corolla may be a lot cheaper to kep repaired.
as i said, they are generally highly reliable, but if you're one of the unfortunate ones to hit the lottery, you may no longer feel that way. it's just something to go into with your eyes open, plenty of horror stories here.

 

If you spend 7k on a high mileage Prius and then can't afford an expensive repair, then you have a very expensive lump of metal, sounds to me like a used Corolla would be a better fit.

 

+1

A $7,000 used Prius would be a really great car FOR ME because:
1. I prefer base models.
2. I DIY all of my maintenance and as many repairs as I can. I can, for example, replace the battery by myself.
3. I would not need to rely on it for daily transportation.
4. I can write a check for the car.......and for anything that would break on the car.
5. I don't and WON'T buy a car from a person who "seems to be trustworthy." I require PROOF, or a dramatic price adjustment. It doesn't have to be Carfax (Toyota keeps maintenance records as well) No history = No Future


So.....for me, a committer car in the $5-7,000 could make sense.
However (comma!) sometimes buying a $5000 Prius instead of a $5000 Corolla can be a less wise purchase, and if you're not deep enough to cash flow a four figure repair or DIY, then you may not be able to afford a cheap car.

Good Luck!

 

Bluesman, Jack the Ripper seemed trustworthy too.

Why did First Owner sell a "perfectly good" Prius to a college kid? Why can't College Kid sell the car? Bargain priced Prius don't sit unsold for very long.

Register the VIN at http://www.toyota.com/owners and see what's in the dealer service history. Maybe you'll see a body shop entry.

Find and download the 2008 sales brochure so you can see what is and what isn't included in the packages. Pay attention to the visible differences between the Touring and the non-Touring Prius. Back in the day it seemed like every used Prius offered for sale was a "Touring". Some of the descriptions were probably due to ignorance. I suspect most were due to malice.

Truecar seems to be pricing a 2008 around $8000. The asking price seems way too low. Since there was a collision, look for evidence. My immediate concern would be that the frame is bent and that the alignment is off and can't be fixed. Look for overspray. Are panels misaligned? Look under the deck and pull everything out. Is there evidence of leaks or welds? Is the spare or the jack missing?

 

Beware of salvage title...some are great but my daughter almost lost her life when her salvaged Camry had front end damage that had been covered over and the axle was damaged and she was hit by a garbage truck...she is fine but the insurance company totaled the car again......have the car checked out by a reliable shop before you buy a car.....