So I'm in the process of looking for a '04+ Prius within the same budget that I am getting in trade-in for my '05 Acura TSX (roughly $10k). I found one at a 'mom and pop' dealership which was a '05 Prius w/ 126k miles. It is silver with gray/burgundy interior, leather seats, navigation, and smartkey. Title is clean and clear. 1.) Not big of a fan of the burgundy trim (possible to swap it for another color?) 2.) What is up with the 'pleather' in the Prius? How hard is it to swap to cloth? 3.) Back passenger window molding is weathered pretty bad...easy part to replace? 4.) The volume button does not click in and out...seems stuck but can still change volume. Easy fix or replacing whole unit? 5.) Engine starts and seems to run smooth but the dreaded 'Red Triangle' accompanied with a CEL light. Seller said that it was a code on the inverter. Car drove with no problem. Should that be a big indication to stay away? 6.) I've read that the Prius logs all errors that the ECU encounters. Will Toyota be able to pull all the codes for me free of charge or will they charge up the behind just to do that? Anything else I need to specifically look for that is special with the Prius? Wish I could afford the new Prius, but my budget only limits it to roughly $10k. Thanks, Anthony
Factory leather was unavailable on the Prius until the 06 model year. Whatever that car has is aftermarket leather or "pleather". http://priuschat.com/forums/knowled...andard-optional-equipment-some-countries.html and the brochures at http://priuschat.com/forums/knowled...al-equipment-some-countries-2.html#post612688 might help. I would find out what the exact codes are before buying. Make sure one of our repair experts (e.g. Patrick Wong) chimes in on it. Replacement inverters have 4 digit price tags. These other posts might help a bit: http://priuschat.com/forums/dealers-pricing/88518-18-000-please-help-me.html#post1241833 http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...ed-prius-need-help-what-look.html#post1215778 http://priuschat.com/forums/newbie-forum/88979-used-prius-buyer-best-model-year.html http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...g-buy-have-12000-14000-spend.html#post1283859 (Since my post mentioned D4R.) If the car has factory nav, it should have HID headlights. On the 04-05 models, they apparently used D2R lights and not the D4R lights that were the subject of the 06-09 class action suit settlement. It's unclear (to me) if the D2R bulbs were any better but they had mercury whereas the D4R are mercury free and use a different ballast.
I'd keep looking a bit longer if I were you. Usually if somethings easy to fix then the dealer will already have done it.
I think the only bigger indication would be blood suddenly dripping from your walls to spell out the words "Don't Buy It!".
Probably the inverter cooling pump. Tell mom and pop to call Toyota to see if the recall needs to be performed, they should do it for them for free.
Even if it were and it were fixed, I think it's imperative that the OP get the codes read and get a diagnosis from a repair expert here.
I agree with the other posters with regards to the red triangle. With regards to your comment of "Thinking of buying a used '05 Prius", I just bought a 2005 Prius last month. I like it. I bought it just as gas prices started to rise and the car has probably increased in value now that gas is more expensive. I bought mine with 119K miles off of E-bay, sight unseen. Great car, no problems so far. The only things I've done to it is: 1. Oil change 2. Transaxle fluid change 3. PCV valve 4. Spark plugs One additional thing I found (It was afterwards but certainly would have been helpful before I bought my car) from this site was that you can put in the car's VIN number in Toyota's website and it will give you the service history of the car. If the car was maintained there, it will give you that maintenance history. I believe any recalls or warranty items should be there as well. I did it and found that the previous owner brought it back every 5K miles for service, which reinforced my decision that the car I bought was a good one, or at least a well maintained one. Get those codes checked out before you dump a bunch of money into it.
Thanks for the replies everybody! I searched the Toyota website and couldn't find anything in regards to checking the VIN for services..only found the recall link. If you could direct me to it, that would be greatly appreciated! I did decide to pass the the car since there were too many things about it that were unsettling. I only have roughly $10.5k to work with, and I guess with the demand for the Prius, dealers and private sellers are price gouging quite a bit. I am not the type of person that will pay over the listed Blue Book price...I mean, $200 to $300 over is fine, but $1k-2k is outrageous.
go to toyota.com/owners and register. Good luck with your search! Prii in Texas seem cheaper than elsewhere. I know several people in NM who have bought cars there.
Thanks! Going to hopefully look at a '04 Prius loaded with nav, smartkey, and fogs; 121k miles and looks pretty clean listed for $9700. Going to try to talk him down to $8.5k-9k otd.
Since it sounds like your budget is limited, if the options aren't that important, I'd get one more lightly equipped so that you can hopefully either keep the price down or get one that's newer or has lower mileage.
I am really wanting to have the nav and smartkey options. Either way, it's very to to find a Prius under $9k even with high mileage.
I ran a Carfax report on the car ('04 Prius w/ 121k miles..looks clean) and it I just want to make sure I'm comprehending the report correctly. I'm just curious why Carfax reported "Online Listing - Vehicle offered for sale." Does that mean the dealership had ownership of the car? And it looks like the car got repossessed a few times (or was it once and has to be reported each registration renewal?) It looks like Red McCombs Universal Toyota did most of the servicing recently..so maybe I can have them go over the car when I look at it. Since there was an accident reported, I should look for the VIN#'s on body parts to see what was replaced. Is there a sticky anywhere with locations to the VIN# posted on the Prius? I'm planning on keeping the car for quite a long time 7-10 years probably; I typically only log ~12k miles per year.
I didn't carefully read the report (hard to read w/the scaling down of the image) but that is very strange that it looked like it got repossessed a few times. I do worry about how the owner(s) treated the car... The car looks clean from the pics. It is interesting that it looks like a cover is missing from one of the fuse boxes (behind the air cleaner, near the firewall). Also, it looks like stickers are missing from the black plastic cover that sits atop the radiator. Perhaps that's related to the accident? Not a biggie, but it looks like all the plastic wheel covers/trim rings are missing. Some people take them off anyway but having them on helps protect the alloy wheels from scuffs and curb rash, a bit.
You MUST assume when buying a used car with any problems that there is a big reason the seller has not fixed a problem they are advertising. E.g. "Needs brakes", really? Then get them done so that i know that truly all it needs is brakes. There is and has been for a while a 2004 prius by me with 120k miles for $7995 asking. I see a 2006 with 99k miles for $10,500 also. And a 2006 with 110k miles for $10k private
Hi Anthony. Unless it's just a huge coincidence that this car happens to get repossessed (again and again) on the 10/01/20xx of every year, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that it was just repossessed once (in 2008) and it's been reported every time the car is re-registered. They clearly show that the car has "a lien or loan" against it every year that it's registered up to the time that it's first shown as repossessed. BTW. The car looks in nice condition from the photos. How does it drive?
I did the same as FirstFlight last summer and so far had a great experience. I think I paid 7700 for 05 package 4 with 85,000. If you are comfortable and knowledgeable, in regards to ebay/internet, I feel as though you can get a much cheaper price and better guarantee. When I was looking, I only looked at the auctions, especially those with no min. I bought mine from autobargainz and was very pleased (if your located around pa-philly region). The pickup was a little shady, occurring in a warehouse area, but I think I got a great deal and car. And I agree, don't buy it unless it fixed. Not many things go wrong on the prius, but when something does and you take it to the dealer, its realllly expensive.
