Shopping For Our First Gen 3, tips appreciated

Personally, I would go the auction route for a lower price. California has a longer CARB warranty for the hybrid battery, but only if it has been registered as a California car (or from another CARB state). A salvage title will likely invalidate the warranty. Good luck.

 

Yeah, If input various years, then search for "piston" or "piston rings", at McGeorge Toyota (on online retailer, there are lots), you'll see the pistons were revised in 2014, and then the piston rings as well, in 2015. The updated pistons/rings are those indicated in a pair of TSB's (attached) for repair of oil consumption issue.

Here's a graphic summary of what I've found, going through the above exercise:



Bottom line: 2015 is the one year having both the revised pistons and rings.

Commendable to clean the EGR and intake manifold, and Oil Catch Can install, you're covering all the bases.

When you're looking at prospects, a car that looks well maintained, clean, nothing neglected, is a good sign. Pop the hood: is it grubby, leaves jambed in the corners? Spilled oil around the filler cap? Or conversely, freshly steam-cleaned? Both can be tip-offs.

Check the dipstick, have a look at the air filter. Check the washer fluid level. Coolant levels. Brake fluid color. Keep in mind brake fluid level drops as pads wear, so take level with a grain of salt. No need to top it up.

Take a look under the rear bumper, the rear suspension: is it amazingly rusty? Or? Might indicate a car imported from the rust-belt States.

Check the interior upholstery. Pull out the glove box and check the cabin filter. Push apart the rear seat upholstery, and see what's behind, with a flashlight.

Pop the hatch, lift off the floor and tray, check the spare, take it right out and check it's pressure (should be 60 psi). If it's way low, could be sign of neglect. Is the jack complete and present? If there's locking lug nuts is the socket present? Verify it's the right one, fits the locking nuts.

Check the tires, make sure all match, check their pressures and tread depth (should all be similar depth). Check the rim condition. A bit of minor curb rash is inevitable: has it been left, or touched up. If the tires are slathered with some kind of shine, I'd take that as a negative, someone trying to wow you with appearance.

Look under the front bumper: anything chewed up and dangling? Is the engine underpanel intact/complete? See any missing fasteners/bolts? Use a light, your phone or whatever.

Have someone turn on the parking lights, signal lights, reverse lights, brake lights, license plate lights, headlights low and high, and so on. Try the wipers, and the wiper washers. Turn the AC on: is it chilling? Try the various modes.

Walk around, checking carefully the paint and body: any ripples, any paint look oddly different, excessive scratching around driver's door handle, anything odd? Take your time. To be fair, stuff happens. You're not looking for a "virgin" car, you just want to verify the car's been professionally maintained, no rattle can quick repairs.

Are there two fobs, and do they both work?

 

OK...
I know very little, next to nothing about the used vehicle auction reality.
BUT....
Some of the scariest stories of vehicle problems I have ever read in any forum including this one, have come from people who purchased vehicles at an auto auction.
I'm sure they vary, but it seems there is little regulation in terms of what they can say, do, or sell.

I await the inevitable flood of posters telling me they purchase vehicles from auction all the time and are surrounded by blue birds and free cotton candy.

 

Auctions are a little scary to me, too. As I understand it, these are cars that got traded in and the dealer, who didn't want to mess with cleaning and inspecting for resale. Maybe they didn't have time or space and simply sold them at a low price to get them out of the way. Or maybe the car had problems that were too expensive to fix and still make a profit. So you get what you get, which is sometimes something that the previous owner really wanted to get rid of. But then again, you might get a gem.

The 2015 with higher miles sounds to me like a good idea. More hybrid warranty and better engine and other stuff.

 

welcome!
how many miles a year, and how many years do you plan to keep her?

 

I guess the one saving grace, is that the previous owner, and/or the dealership, didn't have the inclination or knowledge to troubleshoot, and it might be relatively minor issues. Maybe.......

 

Yup! Those are the potential gems.

 

congrats, all the best!

 

I would spread out the Monday stuff, all of that could keep you busy for a work week. Take breaks.

 

Cool!! Congratulations.

Just to make sure you know, there is no "transmission flush" possible on a Prius in the traditional sense. It's not anything like what other cars call a transmission. No shifting of gears, no clutches, no torque converters. To change the fluid, it's just drain and fill. It's easier than changing the engine oil.

 

You could manage a "flush", if warranted, say if the wrong fluid had been used, and you wanted to clear it out:

1. do a drain-and-fill, drive it around the block.
2. do a drain-and-fill, drive it around the block.
3. do a drain-and-fill.

This was the flush instruction I noticed in one Honda Shop Manual, for a conventional automatic, one where only 50~60% of the fluid would come out. So maybe a bit overkill with the Prius transaxle, which drains about 90%. Maybe eliminating the final drain and fill would be ok.

Still, best to avoid the term "flush" unless you mean it; "drain-and-fill" is more succinct.

 

Here's the repair manual info. They don't really spell out, guess they just assume the car's on a hoist, but I think it should be level when you add fluid. The level is right when it starts coming back out of the fill hole.

The two bolts are socket-head-cap-screw style, with 10mm hex holes. Honda in comparison uses 3/8" square holes, fwiw. Torque is 29 ft/lbs, and they take a bit of oomph to break loose: you want to have proper male hex ratchet wrench "sockets" (Stanley makes sets). A long handled wrench is good for breaking them loose, and use a torque wrench for the install. Remove the fill bolt first, just in case you have problems.

For filling a simple funnel and about 3 foot of hose from above works. It's best to use that combo only for Toyota ATF WS fluid, if you're really picky about contamination.

 

Geez you're a beast; any one of those takes me at least a day. You're a mechanic?