Looking to get a Prius - what to look for?

Hi All,

Short term reader and first time poster.

I've always been interested in getting an hybrid but not too serious about taking the next step since my Corolla was running well. But as time went on, I decided to look some more and found Priuschat about a month a go (hence the short term reader).

Locally in Vancouver :canada:, a low mileage - 85,000 Km or less - Gen Is go for $6000 (of course the ad states that everything is fine) while high mileage Gen II - 150,000 Km or more (former taxis) - go for $10,000 and up. Non-taxis go for $17,000+. So, I think the sweet spot in pricing would be a low mileage Gen I for $6,000 or so.

My questions and the reason for posting centre around what do I look for in a Gen I and how do I look for it? Seeing that it will be a used vehicle, I can't be sure of the past history of the vehicle or how well the current/previous owners have treated the vehicle. I'm pretty good with mechanical things and DIY most of the maintenance aspects of my car now. But I'm planning to take any Prius candidate to the local AAA (CAA in Canada) to get a mechanical inspection done. I'm also planning to drop it off to the local dealer to see if they will do a once over as well.

1. I know I will need a scan gauge. I don't have one yet as my Corolla is an '88 and the carb has no use for such a fancy gadget! Which one is best for a Prius? I heard of the Graham Miniscanner but I believe it's no longer for sale.

2. Since diagnostic codes can be reset, can I use the scanner from question 1 during the test drive to gather information?

3. In reading this forum, I see that some codes will reoccur after a period of driving. How long should I test drive a car to see if the codes reoccur? 5 miles? 15 miles?

4. Gas mileage seems to be a good indicator of the health of the traction battery. Does the Prius trip computer show just this trip's mileage so that I can use it during the test drive?

5. How should I drive it during the test drive in order to get common issues to show up?

6. Anything else that you can think of to help?

And as a follow-up to post purchase, what maintenance - other than the basic oil change, rad flush, transmission fluid replacement and spark plug replacement - would you do right away knowing that you might not know the complete history of the vehicle?

Thanks
Richard

 

Thanks Patrick!

Is there anyway to tell if the DTC was reset prior to the test drive? I'll go under the assumption that if the DTC has been reset very recently, there was a reason for that reset and I should ask why...