What to look for in a used Prius?

You should strongly consider buying a 2010 Gen III, which are available at the high end of your spending range. The Gen III is better than the Gen II mainly because it's newer and because of the many improvements Toyota introduced- 1.8L engine, better mpg, eCVT transmission with two planetary gear sets, electric water pump for the gasoline engine, more options, etc.

Buy from a Toyota dealership. Try to get one that's certified used. Check that all maintenance has been performed on it before you buy it. You can check the maintenance records at MyToyota.com if you have the VIN. Test drive at least two, preferably three to get a sense of how they handle. Not all wrecks are reported to CarFax, Autocheck, etc.

I'm going to buy a Gen III when my Gen II starts requiring expensive repairs - like the HV traction battery.
My Gen II has 193K miles and has not required any major repairs in the 27 months and nearly 60K miles I've driven it. Just recalls and regular maintenance.

 

Welcome aboard! You might miss that AWD in the Prius... so I would also recommend a GenIII, 2010+ as it has a slightly less sensitive traction control. Good luck with the search.

 

1) no issues
2) no bad years, but 08 and 09 are excellent
3) no idea, but you will need snow tires, all the best!

 

Hey Ethan!
I just picked up a 2008 Prius package #6 at Heritage Toyota in Burlington VT last night. Now is the time to buy as financing is at 1.9% for certified used. See Caitlin Junger (salesperson). She is fantastic! Received a great deal and a great car! Took about a month of test driving and searching inventory and prices to find the perfect car. Still driving a 2005 Prius purchased new with 165,000 miles on the odometer! Let me know how your search is progressing.

 

2G Prius (2004-2009) Standard and Optional Equipment (Some Countries) | PriusChat may help.

Beware of non-touring Priuses being misrepresented as Touring. Touring Priuses have 16" wheels that look different than the 15" wheels (which have plastic wheel covers on top of alloy wheels).

Cars of that age if they're on their original 12 volt will probably need a replacement real soon if not already. You will NOT have symptoms of starter cranking slowly or being unable to turn the engine as Prius has no dedicated starter motor and the 12 volt doesn't do the starting of the engine.

Make sure you get two keys! It's crazy to always hear of people getting only 1 key and having sticker shock of how much it is to buy a 2nd one to get the car programmed to recognize both. Makes me think some people are pocketing the extra key and selling them on Ebay or something.

 

Not only does the car have a new 12v battery (installed as part of the CPO package) but I also had the dealership drain and fill the ATF as a condition of sale AND pending my inspection of the fluid that came out. I give Heritage Toyota a five star rating! I was very pleased with the honesty and integrity of the staff from sales to financing. The most positive experience was dealing Caitlin Junger, a salesperson who is not aggressive and will allow the customer to test drive vehicles and ask questions without pushing a sale. I had a bad experience (pushy salesman who requested a down payment after one test drive) with another dealership in Upstate NY and refused to do business with them. My new Prius came with excellent winter tires so I signed on to check for recommendations for all season tires that I will use from April through October on separate rims...

 

Hey Ethan!
Start with checking out the website cargurus.com you will find Prii for sale in our area along with the market value and whether or not it is a good deal. The site will even tell you how much the car is overpriced. My car was overpriced (according to the website) by 2,100.00. Quite a chunk of change.

I also looked at trade in values for the particular car that was on the lot, an estimate of a fair profit for the dealer and the actual cost to certify the vehicle.

I was sure that if I presented the offer that I had in mind, they'd get insulted and just about kick me out. I wound up putting a refundable downpayment on the car that I chose BEFORE making the offer. I presented my offer by e-mail a few days later. I received a counteroffer and I counteroffered that. I added some stipulations to the sale as well. All was done through e-mail. My final offer was accepted.
Added note: DO NOT discuss what you can afford as a total purchase, what you have as far as $ down (or not), and what you can afford as monthly payments. Keep this to yourself. Do know that financing is 1.9% right now.

I went with a fully loaded 2008 generation II. Yes, prices are high right now for used Prii. You have to be careful, though because not everyone is diligent about maintenance.

When I went to pick up the car, there was only one key. The dealership is ordering another one for me. Again, if you go to Heritage, see Caitlin.

 

I'll second the comment about cargurus.com. It's how I located the 2010 that I bought last week.

 

Adding my belated two cents. The 2006 and later models have a higher resolution display which results in a much nicer UI, IMO. Also, the midlevel packages and above have a rear view camera, which is especially great given the poor rearward visibility for things shorter than 4 feet tall or so.

 

The higher res display is optional on 06-09 Priuses. See MFD version | PriusChat. Tideland says that those w/o the backup camera will have the old low-res display and UI . That coworker's Prius definitely had the old UI and didn't have the backup camera.

 

Fair point. Though in most of the hot Prius markets it is very hard to get a 2006-2009 Prius without a backup camera due to the way Toyota specs popular combinations in each region based on demand.

 

Ethan - Nearly a month has passed. How are you doing in your "Prius hunt"? Anything yet?

 

So far, so good. We received a new fob from the dealership for the '08 Prius since it only came with one. New tires were mounted and balanced at no charge (Continental Eco Plus LRR) and the car received a 4 wheel alignment. The car runs fine and gets great gas mileage. Looking forward to late 2014 when the gen IVs are introduced.