Hi all, I always wanted a Prius, and since my old car just got totalled, I've been looking around for a used one. I got $7268 from the insurance, and I kinda want to stay under $10K. I found a nice-looking 2004 Prius, with Nav, for $7450 -- but it has 150,000 miles on it. Am I crazy for even considering this car? Carfax is clean, FWIW. I don't expect to put a lot of miles on it myself. I haven't found a whole lot of cars in my price range (Prius or otherwise), especially not with miles as low as the one I lost. But it looks like I could get a new Hyundai Accent within my budget (the only new car I found in this range), and I have to admit, it would probably meet my needs, and there's something to be said for a new car, especially vs. a car with 150K. But, I always wanted a Prius.
Whatever you decide on, don't just look at the price of the car. Also look for the cost for fuel, maintenance and insurance.
Tough choice. I had an '05 and put 84k miles in two years and it ran with ZERO problems until I sold it for a BMW. I expected that car to run at least to 150k without any major issues (but expected some maintenance like brakes, radiator flush, brake flush, etc). Worse case scenario you'll have to replace the Hybrid battery (About $1500-2500 on eBay) and probably do some standard maintenance if it hasn't been done (what I mentioned above...another $750-1500 in indy shops). I'd buy the Prius u mentioned over a new hyundai accent ONLY and ONLY if you plan on keeping it for less than 2-3 years and putting less than 50,000 miles. But the Hyundai is probably a solid choice in terms of quality and reliability (see my edit below). Edit: I don't have any gripes about the Accent except its exterior look. Hyundai is now one of the most reliable companies out there and you get the overadvertised 100k warranty and new car smell. Can't beat that. I actually think it's a *logical* decision to buy the Hyundai, but our emotions sometimes win... and you're on PriusChat so you know what most people will support.
Thanks all. Someone else grabbed that car, but I ended up getting a 2005 Prius w/ 83K for $10K today.
Two weeks ago, I bought a 2005 Prius with ~89K miles on it (143,000KMs) . I know a lot of people have similar concerns, but I live in Vancouver and have talked to Taxi-owners who have Priuses with over 700,000KMs on them, and the problems they have are very limited, so I was happy to get it for a good price - C$9900, vs C$13000 for another 2005 Prius the dealer had lower mileage and a slightly better condition paint job. I've now done ~1000KMs in the Prius (in two weeks, yeah) and have zero regrets. I actually own a 1990 Toyota Corona (Japanese Import) in Australia with about 230,000KMs on it too. Very few problems.
If you save $48/month in fuel costs, you break even compared to the Hyundai in 5 years. The calc is based on 5% interest rate on the $2500 borrowed, paid back in 5 years. Buying used is a bit of a crap-shoot, but you have a fair chance of saving money if you keep the car long term, you certainly have markedly decreased your environmental impact, and -- what can I say -- the Prius is a much more interesting and pleasurable purchase than a Hyundai.
