Salvage Prius Stories

"i bought two salvage priuses an 01 prius and a 05 prius, both of which had extensive front end damage, the front frame rails were damaged.

both priuses are on the road, one of them in the picture on my avatar, and they run great no problems.

once i got all the stuff fixed i had to get all the reciepts and send it into palmetto florida, then i drove up there with temp plate and got it inspected. I have done about 50k miles on both vehicles combined since i have been issued rebuilt title.

I find toyota uses much higher quality steel than other japanese car companies, specifically honda. I recently purchased a honda accord hybrid and the metal that is used on that vehicle is much thin, and easier to cut.

salvage priuses are cooooooool, just make sure u dont buy one where the frame is damaged after the engine, or your in for a big fix."



hello there
reading your post seems like you have extensive experience on salvage prius. i recently bought one from iaai and about do the experiment on my own. have been reading each and every post i can find about salvage prius specially on " check hybrid system " can you help out in this if you can please. and what do you mean do not by any prius that has damage after the engine.
do you mean on the side or damage due to front collision which resulted damage after the engine?
thanks

 

Spitinuri:

Where is the salvage yard that has 50+ 2Gs that you mentioned? I'm looking for a battery pack. Thanks!

Chris

 

I suspect he meant a front end collision hard enough to push the engine back towards the firewall, having to end up pulling the drivetrain (which may also be damaged) A really hard side impact might also do that, but the damage would be so extensive that no one would bother fixing it.

I can't beleive I posted about buying my salvage prius back in march. It's now December, and my car still isn't fixed. I more or less gave up on fixing it myself, I couldn't seem to get the door post to pull far enough forward. My skills aren't that great. Had a guy my late father used to deal with come look at fixing the car for me. He said it would be an easy fix. I have a frame machine, but almost nothing for tools to pull with + old tired cylinders and iffy pumps. I gave up on that guy fixing it after 3 to 4 months of his empty promises. He probably worked on it a total of 6 hours during that time. Door post still needs to go 1/8 to 3/16" to get the door to open and close without help.

Tomorrow I'm taking it in to a shop to have it fixed. Guy gave me a great deal to fix it, however seeing some inexpensive work he's done for me in the meantime, I'm telling him to up his price a little and give me a better job.

Wish me luck.

 

I"m considering buying a salvage prius from an auction, one with light rear damage. My plan is to build a rear cargo rack into the bumper area (partly supported by a hitch). This is for work, to be able to easily haul small loads that won't go in the car.

My question is, how much time is worrisome for a prius to be sitting? Is 2 months likely okay? I would do a general system/battery check when i view the car in person before bidding. Does anyone know how long a car typical sits at an auction site after being wrecked?

For instance, I would bid on one that is listed as "runs and drives".

I am in TX and have been reading about rebuilt titles. I only would carry liability insurance and don't care about resell value. I'm not an auto tech, but more knowledgeable than the average person regarding cars, and have a background in building small electric vehicles.

I almost feel better about buying a salvage car with minor damage (nearly just cosmetic) than from a person selling on Craigslist. It's hard to really know why they are selling, but with a salvage car, the reason is more certain/obvious.

BTW, if anyone in the Austin area has experience buying from auctions or inspecting Prius, I'm willing to pay for help in person.

 

With the hot climate where you live and age and time it sits I think that you should be prepared to replace both the 12V and hybrid battery.

 

I got one $1000. I'm swimming in spare parts now. I love it. hope you get what you need. Mine had enough front damage to make the throttle assembly jamb and one connector to the transaxle had been cut so it failed diagnostic.
I personally feel this engine / transmission is more sensitive to side/ front damage. So much so that now I'm considering getting another one to repair it. I'm enjoying how well the car is engineered and how easily the engine/transaxel dropped out onto the driveway.
As to battery storage it all has to to with temperature, it took me 40 minutes to remove the High Voltage battery. Could you pull it and keep it charged and cool ?


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