I am a college student looking to purchase a reliable car for school. The car I am looking at has a good carfax with regular service, high miles, and costs 10,000 dollars. My other option would be a Prius 2 with 86,000 miles for 12,000 dollars. Alternatively I could lease but I am student without a stable income.
how much reserve will you have for repairs if necessary? while the prius is pretty reliable unto 150,000+ miles on average, you can read plenty of sad stories here from people who couldn't afford the $3,000. surprise repair bill. have you considered a lower mile civic , corolla and etc?
Thank you for the recommendation. There is a certified preowned 2013 corolla with 33,000 miles in my price range. It seems like a much safer option in the long run.
What year is that one? Yeah I'd agree. Whatever you're considering, do a good test drive, listen for unusual sounds when accelerating, uneven braking, steering pull, whatever. Try the AC assuming it's present. Look the car over thoroughly too: the cabin, controls, doors, latches. Also look under the hood: it should be relatively clean. If it's crazy clean, that could be a sign of someone trying to "wow" you, distract you from other issues. Check the tires match, have decent tread. Look through the rims at the brake rotors, they should be relatively clean, not deeply scored or overly rusted. Check the trunk/hatch, spare condition, emergency tools, and so on. Are there two fobs/keys? Owners Manual and Warranty Booklet? If they've got the car running when you go to it for the drive, shut it down and restart, just incase they're trying to mask a near-dead 12 volt.
With the CPO Toyotas if you can negotiate some extra money they will cover the car for the full warranty period bumper to bumper. Nothing to deal with but routine maintenance. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
The Prius 2 is a 2012 as well. When I test drove the high mileage car today there were some issues with the front steering and suspension. The dealer said they would take care of it if I went to a third party to have it looked at. Needless to say I will pass on that. I am torn between cars with 80,000 that are not CPO or a CPO Corolla with 33,000 miles. I would love a Prius for many reasons. I just want to make the best financial choice in the long run. Avoiding major repairs would be a bonus. If I go with a private seller there are a host of other things to deal with both positive and negative.
i understand your desire, but your safest bet is on the corolla. get your degree, a job, and a prius. it's a great car, but can be more expensive to repair in the unlikely event something major breaks. and hybrid mechanics are hard to find, leaving you at the very expensive dealer. all the best with your decision!
Thank you for pointing out different options. Adulthood is about delayed gratification. There appears to be a responsible and rather simple decision. I will get a great Prius someday with a real job. Until then, I can feel safe and comfortable on my way to school in the corolla. No wild surprises.
The Prius has more internal cargo capacity than the Corolla. That is one reason why I bought a Prius instead even though a Corolla would be less expensive overall. I agree that the Corolla would be your best choice. I have a 2008 with a little less than 80K miles. Other than the normal oil, filter, tires the only other repair was to replace the serpentine belt and headlight bulbs.
In general, reliability for a Corolla and a Prius are going to be the same. Certified Pre-Owned is a bit of a joke in my opinion, as it just means that the vehicle has fewer than a certain number of miles (60,000, I think) and the dealer did a multi-point inspection on it. Good dealers will do multi-point inspections on any car before they sell it, so you're not getting extra value but you will pay more for a certified pre-owned vehicle. However, the mileage difference between the cars is significant. In the Corolla's favor, you've got 47,000 fewer miles which is on average 3-4 more operating years out of the vehicle. In the Prius' favor, you've got a bigger car (in terms of more room for people and stuff) that is slightly more upscale in my opinion and gets better fuel economy. In the Corolla's favor, you've got an equally reliable car that you'll likely be able to drive longer that isn't as close to the mileage for costly maintenance items (100,000 and/or 120,000 mile recommended maintenance can get pricey).
Toyota also adds warranties & roadside assistance to CPO vehicles. See Certified Used Toyota Vehicles | Pre-Owned Cars, Trucks, SUVs & Hybrids
This is where things get difficult. CPO from Toyota has some perks. Warranty for 1 year/12,000 miles. Powertrain warranty is longer than that. Roadside assistance too. You have a point about the inspections. But when I went to the dealer to try the 2012 Prius with 120,000 miles on it, there were some serious issues. So even though they had inspected it and priced it for sale, it was not in good shape. Granted it is not a CPO car. I would much rather own a Prius. My budget is 10,000-12,000 dollars. The only worry for me is expenses down the line. I still have two years of college left so that is a priority. I will be commuting to school about 45 minutes three days a week. I would hate to have crazy repairs down the line. I see that CPO can be a sham which is why this decision has been so difficult.
When you buy new they always try to sell you on extended warranty. I'd argue that describing a car as "Certified Pre-Owned", and charging a premium for this, is more-or-less the same game.
So this points back to purchasing a car from a private seller and having a mechanic check it out after doing a good test drive. Maybe this means that a Prius could be an option but the issue of hybrid repairs down the line can be daunting. I had my eye on this Gen 3: TOYOTA PRIUS 57K WITH 7/100K WARRANTY - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive sale
Don't be scared of a high mileage prius. There are plenty of them out there that are doing fine. In fact, some have passed half a million miles on the original battery! I have 242,000 miles on my 2010 and I can still get 50mpg with good weather and reasonable speeds. There is a 2013 with 260,000 miles at Joseph Airport Toyota in Vandalia, OH for $11,150 (reduced from $13,000). Accident history on the carfax too. I hope I can take my 2010 to 300k and beyond without any major expensive issues but the good deals on the 2016's and 2017's out there are tempting! With gas so cheap now these cars tend to get cheaper and cheaper!
Are Toyota dealership used cars always "certified Pre-Owned"? Not sure, suspect it's about 50/50? Any EGR issues? I'm just wondering if piling on a lot of highway miles makes it less trouble prone?? Have you checked the connecting pipe between the EGR valve and intake manifold: that's relatively easy to access and will give you a sense of what the rest of the system is like. @NutzAboutBolts has a video in maintenance section on accessing that.
My guess is that any card sold by a dealer within the year and mileage range allowed are sold as Certified Pre-Owned so dealers can charge more money for them. I bought mine from a Toyota dealer, but it had too many miles on it to be certified
