Hello to the forum!! I am seeking advice on buying my 2nd Prius (first was a sweet ‘08 that I beat up pretty badly but loved dearly). I am torn between ‘15 Prius v and ‘15 Prius—I found the V for $14K, 87K miles at a dealer (one owner, sold initially from same dealership, serviced only at this dealership). The ‘15 Prius is a private seller, 3rd owner (leased from ‘15-‘17, owned privately ‘17-‘19 and ‘19 to now), relatively clean car fax (no accidents but a more sketchy history of oil changes reg maintenance). I think I can get him to sell for $9,500. Any advice on what seems like the smart move here? I’d prefer to buy the car outright (possible for reg Prius at $9K) but also like the extra space of the V and the very clean history. Will say that the 2012 and 2013 Prius Vs I drove earlier in my search felt more “sluggish” but the ‘15 I drove does seem a bit better.... thank you!!
How many miles on the $9.5k car? I doubt the 15 v was any faster than the earlier v models unless the hv battery on the older v’s was depleted. A more likely scenario is the 15v had its Power mode selected which makes a significant difference. Otherwise the hatchback and the v both have issues with oil burning and egr cooler clogging at higher mileages.
you can look up the history of the lift back at toyota.com/owners. as rj mentions above, these engines are prolematic. if you can't diy, the egr cleaning is around $1,000.
Whichever you buy you are getting the best of the gen 3. Updated piston/ring so hopefully no oil burning. Whichever one you buy put an oil catch can on it.
