Let's hear your best guess

I'm looking at another auction Prius, but all I have are online pics. One shows the car in Ready mode with the CEL lit, but no triangle, etc.

I figured it was missing the cat, but supposedly not. What is the most likely cause of a CEL that still allows the engine to go Ready and doesn't light up the triangle? Second, what is the worst case, lol? I usually just value these cars based on whether there is a cat and a good hv battery. And I only buy with low miles, so the engine is not something I ever think about much.

I've gotten CELs for brakes, and when my inverter pump went out. Just trying to imagine anything that would make this a deal-breaker.

 

Yep, I never buy a car for more than scrap value. I actually just bought a running parts car this morning (bad rear end collision), so I'll have any part I need if this other one has major issues. But, I probably wouldn't mess with major issues, I'd just sell the cat out of it to get my money back, and keep the battery for, yet, one more Prii I have that just needs that (although that's why I bought the parts car this morning).

Parts are free. The cars are free. I got 13 vehicles now, and they're all free from my perspective - paid for with profit from some other free car and/or soon to be sold for more than I paid for it. I haven't had a car payment in 20+ years.

And yes, James, I understand the gamble - I'm well over 100 cars owned in my life, just about every one was for my use before selling. Having bought close to 15 of these cars at auctions now, I can tell you that my experience is that the competition is the dismantlers. There's an occasional DIYer, I had one for this car, but they're rare. Most go for cat value. The carcass gets tossed to the metal crunchers to cover overhead costs. I have had an Alert for Gen1s at the Texas LKQ Pick-u-Part yards for several years and have only ever seen 1 go through. At least down here, those aren't worth the square footage to sit in their yard.

IMHO, that's the twist. Even though most of these cars are worth almost nothing but scrap, the cherries are still worth it. The people that bought mine this week didn't think about it for a second. Drove up and said "we want it," and paid cherry price. They're tickled to have it, and I hated to sell it. The big difference, IMHO, was that car's paint - it looked showroom new. The interiors of these cars are surprisingly resilient and can often be made to look good. If not, plenty of cars to get what you need from. The dash bezel is a big issue, and the display. I've lucked out and most of mine have worked perfect, but some don't. But the paint, at this age, is starting to look bad on most of them. I'm thinking of building a paint booth in my garage - I got 4 vehicles that would really benefit from new paint.

 

Yeah, it's possible the engine or electrical system has catastrophic damage, but with the Ready light on, it's less likely. Yet, it's something bad enough (i.e. dealer charges too much to repair) that it made the person decide to auction it. I just assumed cat. My second thought was the pump, and that could have freaked the owner out when it got hot. And maybe it got too hot? But, it's still Ready. And I can't think the cost to replace the pump, even from the dealer, would make someone auction rather than sell retail.

That still leaves a lot, I know. Just trying to see what the most common CELs folks are seeing. My problem is that my new parts car is in Georgia and this car is West Coast. I didn't plan on transporting the parts car - just going there to grab parts then have it towed to scrap. But it the WC car needs major parts, that changes the plan.

Well, can't do anything until the seller decides on my counter offer. Just tossing ideas around.

 

"How does that work?" LOL, I'm working the details. In general, I have trucks and trailers and go pick the cars up. I book cargo to transport as well going both ways. In one sense, that makes the cars free - I almost always make more profit on the trip than the cheap cars cost. Heck, the truck I drive to pick up the cars was free from doing the same thing when I picked it up.

But, it's too hot to be driving across the desert, so I'll probably fly and drive back. Actually, the couple of times I've done that, I've booked cargo that would fit inside the Prius and made enough to pay for my air fare/taxis/fuel coming home. On the GA car, again, I just want some parts off it. I'm going to drive there, looking for some cargo to pay the way maybe, but take the GF and spend Saturday night in NO, then on to ATL Sunday, grab parts Monday and maybe hit the casinos coming back.

 

Gen1s struggled in Tx. At that time, they were strongly tied to tree-huggers. My BF is having horrible financial issues and I offered him one of these cars for free, and he wouldn't be seen driving it. By Gen2 that went away, but most of the Gen1s can be found in the east/west coast states, mostly CA.

 

wow, didn't know that. A shop there told me that it was illegal to drive a car with obvious signs of a wreck in Ga, like a dented fender. Does that sound right. Afterwards, as I was leaving the state, I didn't see any dented cars on the roads or parked in lots.

 

sure. I'm traveling for a few days, but later this week I'll be home.