Got ripped off on a gen 2 Prius but love the car, offered 2k for repairs or my money back

How unfortunate for everyone involved. Your story struck several chords with me ... We own a 2004 Prius which we are trying to sell, and had the ABS Module replaced a few years ago, for about the same cost you were quoted. I agree an inspection is a wise move, and am offering potential buyers the chance to have one done (at their expense), and I will apply part of the cost of the inspection (up to $200) to the sales price if they buy the car. As far as the traction battery, I am going to use the Dr. Prius app to test the health of mine, so that is something you may consider (or another similar app, Hybrid Assistant). As far as being able to tell if the traction battery has been replaced or not, I'm sure there are clues if you physically open it up and inspect it, or maybe other forum members have some way of telling. Once I get my OBD2 scan device (come on, Amazon) and test my traction battery, I will be sharing and reporting the results in my for sale ad.

 

Well when you're asking 6K for a car that's approximately 20 years old and probably hasn't had a lot of things done to it because these cars generally didn't need them like the Corolla getting right around 150 to 200k is nothing that comes quick if you will. Then there's the limited understanding that people have about how the hybrid system works and on and on and on and then I look at folks in Texas and Louisiana well there's an issue right there A lot of these people probably shouldn't even be messing with a hybrid they should just be getting a Corolla or a Yaris and save their headaches It does cost money to get seriously good gas mileage. Some of that you may never recoup except by driving the car a long time and if you're not able to do that because of whatever reason common sense don't like to do anything whatever that can cause your pocketbook to get light very quickly same with the electric car game If you got a good job and you want to jump on the bandwagon well there you go I wouldn't sell my gas car so when all these problems get fired up in your life like everybody else is having online at least you can walk out and get in your Yaris and go leaving the Tesla or whatever it is sitting for them to come pick up and do what they will with That's what you get is an early adopter. If you don't have the skills to buy and do the work why bother You can't afford royalty garage and pay the $6,000 for the car. You see the car is only worth about $2,500. The only thing that's pushed this through the roof is a bunch of human stupidity and angst. 7 years ago I was buying cars like this for $700 right regular stupid people and their brains pushed all this to $5,000 just because so there's always that In Shreveport Louisiana I would think you'd be able to find an '09 Prius that gold color with that horrible tan cloth interior with stained armrests and all of that for sub $2,000 and then go from there what do you think's going to be going on with a 15-year-old hybrid battery that nobody wants to replace everybody plays the same game so why? That's what everybody's doing trying to pawn these off for 5 grand with a battery that needs replacing with a brake actuator that needs replacing but the CM monitor display that is wonky or barely works or doesn't and all of that for top dollar for what You could just go by whatever a Chevy Aveo a Yaris an older Corolla and for the most part be way ahead of the game unless you're driving 200 miles a day. So I think people get caught up and get their needs wants and desires all mixed up in a flurry and then they make poor decisions.

 

Your budget is 6K, hope you didn't pay that much for this car. Gen2 cars have several expensive systems getting close to failure after this many years and probably around 200K miles. Batteries are not a big deal, most locales have someone doing rebuilds or there are always the big operations that can ship you one. New HV packs are available at toyota, I question the logic of buying a battery with 200K life on a car of this age. In the past we tested potential buy cars with torque pro, looking at cell voltage variance. Usually replaced the HV pack with a local rebuild for about 600 bucks. The brake accumulator is a judgement call. Used may or may not last, new are a fortune. I elected to ignore the lites and lack of ABS and just drive it. PA state inspection will not fail for ABS lites and I am a good enough driver to survive without ABS. Other stuff may fail or require replacement. Wheel bearings, axles, inverter cooling pumps, HV battery fans come to mind.
I would think the market for Gen2s near you would present a couple cars under 3K. But you have to spend some time and look around. Target should be owners who are original or had it for at least 4 years, some history of repairs and decent appearance as looks can indicate overall care of the car. I have bought 6 in the last 8 years, for the kids and myself. All were under 3K, needed a few hundred to get reliable and never failed after that. But every time it took a few days of hunting and looking at a bunch.

 

FWIW - I don't know about what state or jurisdiction you bought that Prius in, but in most of them, it's illegal to sell a car with bad brakes. Bad brakes must be disclosed to the buyer or sold as a 'parts-car' - no expectation that the car is road-worthy. It's a public safety thing and I know it's in my state's DMV laws. An as-is-sales does not absolve the seller of that duty, but a 'parts-car' sale will.

Hope this helps.....

PS, that's why some auto dealers will sell cars on Facebook or Craig's list and not tell you they are a dealership - as a professional they're suppose to know the law! That's a clear violation and subject to losing their business license, if they get caught.

 

Seller: It's my Aunt's car, she's old and I'm selling it for her. Please meet me at her house for the inspection.
(at meet, in front of that house)
Seller: Sorry, you can't use her bathroom, she's not home. The paperwork is in there too. She's funny like that, keeps the registration with her and not in the glove box.

Buyer: (running away)
Seller: (drives it back to the crummy used car dealership it is really from)