I’m on the market for an additional Gen II Prius for my family, and I’ve found a 2007 that I like. The used car lot I’m buying it from has allowed me to take the car to a nearby Toyota dealer to have it inspected before I buy it. I want to make sure (or increase the odds of) the dealer mechanic actually inspects the car and doesn’t just charge me a bunch of money for only looking at the car for two seconds. Does anyone have advice getting a Toyota dealer to inspect thoroughly the car?
If you have done business in the past with Toyota and have a good relationship with a particular service writer simply ask for a free inspection. If you want to spend some money, pay them to hook up the Techstream to pull any codes that might be pending and get a printout on the traction battery. The best advice is courtesy. It goes a long way to getting people to do something for you. Best of luck to you and I hope this helps.
Be sure to ask for an actual Prius tech, not an all purpose mehcanic. FYI: an oil change includes a standard inspection. just give them plenty of time on a non-busy day/time.
If you are going to the trouble of bringing it to Toyota, you should ask them to do a proper inspection. Just inform them you are considering buying the car and need to know what repairs are needed. They most likely will charge you for 1 or 2 hours of labor and give you a proper diagnosis. This may work in your favor as it can be used to ease your mind about the condition and you can use the inspection as a negotiation tool to bring down the price for repairs that are needed.
Isn't there always a bit of unknown whenever you take any vehicle in for anything from a service center or mechanic? Unless you have a long time running relationship with a specific dealership or mechanic. You're doing the right thing though. I would definitely explain the whole situation, that is you haven't purchased the vehicle yet, and want as much illumination as to condition as possible. Yes, be polite and you might explain further that if you are happy with their service, they would become your dealership for any future work. I would want any codes pulled. Then I would just want a system by system evaluation as thoroughly as possible. That is suspension, alignment, frame, engine, HSD....you're basically looking for anything and everything. A good mechanic should be able to tell a lot very quickly. If someone hasn't already mentioned it, there is a Toyota data base in which any dealership performed work usually gets entered. I think you can look that up if you have the vehicles VIN. A Toyota service center certainly should be able to do so. The obligatory Carfax? It's not perfect...it's not all encompassing but it is cheap. Why not? Then if it all checks out? Well...roll those dice.
IIRC, when I was helping my niece buy a Toyota, we registered on the Toyota (official) owner's Web site and entered VINS of all cars considering and even service records from PEP BOYS popped up.... Or maybe I am mistaken and that happened with CARFAX? Either way, Mr. Electric makes perfect sense here.... Of course there are lots of things you can check yourself....any smoke pouring out when you rev the engine, power on an incline, leaks on the struts....
If your paying for a dealer investigation they will charge you one hour labor and hook up there proprietary Techstream Software laptop to the OBD port on the car and give the Hybrid battery a look see. Ask for a full printout of the Hybrid battery particulars including the battery 'Delta". This will be extremely important if you are already out of mileage Hybrid warranty on the car. Make sure all the TSB's have been performed. Dealer can confirm this. You didn't mention the most important thing...mileage...which would determine how much of a tune up it will require.
Thanks everyone. These suggestions are helpful. I've never had service done at this Toyota dealer before, but I think I now have a good idea about how to approach this dealer's service department. In regard to edthefox5's comments about the Delta for the Battery, what are concerning readings for the traction battery? I found somewhere online that the Delta SOC shouldn't exceed 20%, and that if there's major issues, there will the error codes that start with "P", but that's as much as I know about the battery statistics.
Please post mileage on the car. Delta will show the voltage difference between modules in the Hybrid pack. A telltale sign of use on the battery or life expectancy. A techstream battery interrogation is quite comprehensive and of interest when purchasing a used prius.
Ask them to carry out the Toyota Certified Pre-owned inspection checklist: 160 Point Inspection | Certified Used Toyota Get the written report they use for the Toyota Certified Pre-Owned warranty program. This will make sure they do the job properly as if they miss anything you have documentation that they didn't do the job properly and have some leverage with them.
