Hey everyone, first time car buying and looking for something efficient and reliable. My girlfriend owns an Echo and is a strong Toyota supporter. I just test drove an 04' Prius with 175k on it (109 miles). It has some dings and scratches, cracked fog light, etc.. CarFax looks okay showing no accidents. Asking price is $8900 which is about average for my area. It hasn't been inspected by a Toyota dealer yet, but will be before purchase - if it is to happen. However, i'm hoping to get at least 4-5 years out of the car, without any significant repairs. What sort of things should I expect to see over the next few years provided the dealer inspection checks out? Being a first time car buyer, I'm pretty uneasy about signing anything lol, however I'm hoping I can easily hit 300k (186 miles) without coughing up too much money along the journey. A bit of background on the vehicle is that I have none. It was a trade-in that another dealer then picked up. Thanks everyone! Jimmy
Back to the dealer today or tomorrow to have it brought to a Toyota dealership for inspection.. I'll keep everyone posted on the report at that point.
Bad choice for first time car buyer. To old, too many miles, and too expensive to repair if anything major failed. Better off with a Corolla for $5000.
I don't know. 109k is not a lot of miles (my nephew bought a Honda Accord or Civic or something with 255k miles on it). If the dealer can test the cells of the traction battery and they check out okay, I'd say go for it. The health of the traction battery is the only real concern I'd have. Just be warned - once you own a Prius, you're spoiled for life. You'll never be able to own a car than "only" gets 35 mpg.
Have an independent shop lined up that will work on the car, perhaps a Toyota specialist with a factory level scan tool. Canadian dealerships are not known for Prius prowess due to the much smaller fleet size -- although, US dealers aren't much better. There is a user here whose uncle in I think Toronto has a mechanic's shop and helped him rebuild the battery in his 2001. Any dealership repair of a major component (hv battery, transaxle, inverter) will be approx. $4000 - $6000 Cdn, while rebuilt or salvage is in the $1000 - $2000 range. $8900 is a good price if it is at a dealer, especially if they will give you any sort of warranty. If, while you are test driving the car, you hear the fan in the back seat running, that could be an indication that the HV battery is on its way out.
I agree with the other posters that a Prius with a high-odometer reading is not the best choice for a first-time car buyer who does not have financial reserves to pay for four-digit repairs. The probability of needing such a repair may not be high but that is no consolation if the failure happens to your car. A potential traction battery failure is among the least of my concerns as salvage parts are available at relatively reasonable pricing. My greatest concern would be if the transaxle failed as substantial labor time is required to remove and replace it.
Thanks everyone, I've taken the advice and have passed on this one. The search continues. And if I don't find one in my price range - I'll look forward to the purchase of a brand new one in a few years! Thanks everyone, Jimmy
Jesus...$8900 for an '04 with $109k miles? You can have mine for $12k...fully loaded and like new 77k miles!
