Greetings Prius Owners, My Chevey lumina is on its last leg (over heats everyday because of head gasket and intake manafold) so I thought I would look at picking up a used prius. Our local toyota has several used prius and I just wanted to get your opinon on the matter. There are three different years I am looking at which are all toyota certified. There is a 2004 with 54k miles for 13,988, a 2007 with 42k miles for 16988 and a 2008 with 36k for 17988. My wife and I are on a tight budget which brings my eye to the 2004, but i am concearned about it being the oldest car. I would hate to spend less up front only to pay for a major fix later down the road. Also what is a good starting price to negotate with the dealer on the three different years. When I went to the dealer the first time he flat out told me he could come down in the price with the 2007 and 2008 but said he couldn't go down much further with the 2004. Thanks for your help and sorry for yet another buying used thread. Zachary
go to kbb.com and make a print out of the different cars your looking at. The best deal is the one who is the most under the kelly blue book price. They always say oh kelly blue book is to high when you want to trade in a car so when your buying say, hey kelly blue book is always too high so how much lower will you sell me the car for.
Thanks Paprius. I checked kelly blue book and found that all of the dealers prices are bellow the cpo kbb listing. Should I stay way from the 2004 and pay the extra to get the 2007 or 2008. As far as I could tell they all drive the same and have the same features.
There's no reason to stay away from the 04, just try to get the best bang for your buck. Also try to get them to throw in the extended warranty that covers the hybrid system, if your buying from a Toyota dealer.
What are the option packages on the 3 cars? As the Gen2 aged there were fewer packages as more "options" became standard and moved from higher package # to lower #. One year's package 4 could be the same car as the prior year's package 3. Register the VINs at http://www.toyotaownersonline.com/index.html for dealer service record. Just based on the numbers I'd go with the '07 or '08 as they are more refined compared to the '04.
Thanks Jim and Paprius! Jim I am not sure what packages the car have I only have a list of what is included in the car. From what i can tell the only difference between the 2007 and the 2008 is that the 2008 has the back up cam where the 2007 doesn't. Both cars have home link which I had to look up what is even used for. The 2004 seems to have the least options. I am going to test drive the 2007 next week and if all goes well I hope to get him down to around $15000. I should be getting my tax return next week which will be used to put 20% down on the car. The last time I was the dealer, the salesman seemed somewhat desperate to make a sale. What kind of salesman come streight out and say the prices listed are just asking prices? I am guessing it has been slow for the dealers with all the bad news that has come out.
I recently bought a 2005 with 82K miles on it for 12large. No issues. Drives like new. BU cameras are nice on sedans, essential on motorhomes. They can and do fail. $$$ If you are on a budget, 3K difference is a bunch of money.
Every 2007 has a back up camera. With a "disabled" camera (what's damaged?) that car IMO is overpriced. 2007 Package 1--no Vehicle Stability Control Package 2--add VSC Package 3--add auto dimming mirror & 6 CD changer Package 4--add HID headlight & foglights Package 5--add NAV Package 6--add leather 2008 Package 1--no camera Package 2--add SKS, camera, VSC Package 3--add mirror & 6 CD changer Package 4--add HID Package 5--add NAV Package 6--add leather Any Toyota dealer should be able to identify the option package. Personally I would stay away from the HID as they have a higher failure rate & expensive bulbs. The SKS is very handy & VSC is a safety feature.
Thanks Jim! I will have to ask about the package when I go back to the dealer this week, but looking at the of options I have I see that the 2007 does have a 6 disk cd changer. I will have to see what is up the the camera. I do have a concearn about the 2007 which I forgot to mention. The 2007 has a trailer hitch which scares me because well what were the first owners pulling? What is your take on the trailer hitch?
Personally, I'd avoid the one with the hitch like the plague ... there's no way of knowing how much was being towed, or how often, or under what sort of driving conditions and/or at what speeds. There are MANY Prius owners who HAVE towed relatively light loads / small trailers with few-if-any problems, but you simply can't know AND the manual that came with our '08 says flat out: "DON'T TOW" ... ... I'm not sure if the manual for the '07 says the same thing, but I imagine it DOES say the same thing. It's a shame you're not a bit closer to Lafayette, IN, because we might be able to work something out ... ... our '08 Prius is a Package #3 -- the 6-disc changer, Homelink and Bluetooth are the upgrades we enjoy the most -- and it has about 21,000 fewer miles on it than the '08 you've been looking at; Mithril is still about 300 miles shy of 15K ....
Thanks for the input Son of Gloin. When I saw the hitch I thought to myself that it could be trouble.
I am now a prius owner! I bought the blue 2008 with 36k miles. The car has package 4. I got the dealer down to 16400. I will post pictures as soon as I can. Thanks to all who posted.
Thanks paprius. I took my wife for a ride last night and she just loved it. I even let her drive but I can tell she isn't going be a good prius driver. You all have me a little worried about the HID lights. I hope I don't have issues with them.
For those of you who are following this thread I have a question for you. I just realized that you do not need to insert the key into the termanal. Now is there a benefit of putting the key into it or is it just fine staying in your pocket?
HI Z, I hope you have not passed papers on that Prius. If you have taken owneship consult with your State Atty General on returning it. If not for safety reasons, consider your fallen resale value. Return it now and stay on the sidelines, many good discounted buys out there. Good Luck
Thanks for your concearn Carguy but I am happy with my buy. All cars have there issues. I have had nothing but troubles with my GM. The 3.1 and 3.4 engines all had the same problem and never lasted as long as they should and of course you didn't see any effort in fixing the problem from GM. My wife family has only driven toyota's and one of the cars is pushing 250k. Our camry has 160k with no issues.
I always just leave the key in my pocket. The only down side is forgetting to leave it with the car when it's getting serviced or to the valet parking guy LOL I really screwed them up one night.
