What every newb should know

Great advice for a newbee

 

Cool


iPhone ?

 

wow thanks for the post. I just realized I really am a newb when it comes to hybrids.

 

I picked up my first 2006 prius yesterday with 253,000 miles. I was a bit worried through the whole process to begin with, for it having so much miles but after reading a bit about it I came into the conclusion it stilled carried on some potential as a daily commuter. The guy I bought it from had gotten it crashed from the front and fixed it himself, after year he said it was time to sell for carrying on a few other cars in his hands. I test drove the car and it all seems fine but also as said before it is my first Prius; not to sure of what to expect or if anything is actually wrong with the car. He mentioned someone change some battery "cells" in which they still have about 6 months of warranty. I want to say the coolant plastic holder is the one that's cracked and was Mickey moused for now. ( not sure if the photo uploaded). Wanted to ask you guys what would be recommended for me to look at and be cautions towards. Looking to do a tune up myself within this week, possibly tomorrow. What exactly should I be changing, such as spark plugs, coolant flush, oil flush etc. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance

 

Omg how much was the car?

 

Asking 5,000 Dropped it to 4,200

 

Is the car salvaged? the tail lights are from 2004-2005 model. it looks like a mess. There are so many more better examples in Los Angeles......for around $5000 with 200K+ mileage.

Finding the lowest priced Prius is not a good idea, the hybrid problems that occur in a Prius can be thousands of $$$$ to fix.

 

Yes the car is a salvage title, I spend a lot of time looking for some on craigslist. Didn't really come across any under 7,000. I had a budget of 6,000.

 

Heck I wouldve sold you my 2006 with 130k for 6000

 

That would've been perfect, lets see how long this one lasts me.

 

looking at the pictures you supplied, this car probably burns lots of oil too. Make sure you keep an eye on the oil level, when it gets low, fill it back up. You might have to do this every 500 miles to see how much oil this car is consuming.

 

I'm flushing it tomorrow, I'll make sure to keep an eye on it overtime. Thank you.

 

Some good pointers there. I'm kind of a prius owner by accident. Priuses are not cheap and even used they fetch a pretty penny, especially the gen 2 and up. So imagine my surprise when I was looking for a decade old four banger beater and My buddy sold me his pristine 2005 185000 mile prius with new battery pack , tires and center console for $1500 bucks.....the down side it needed a skid control ecu. I'm replacing it myself and let me tell ya, I've rebuilt cars, albeit older ones, from the ground up and wrenching on this thing is a nightmare!! It's not so much hard as it is tedious...there's a lot going on under the dash and hood of these little cars.

 

Hello. Purchased our 2011 Prius 4, two weeks ago. So far, wow! Completely different experience from what we're used to.

Could anyone advise, how does the Prius handle in snow? Living in Minnesota has it's challenges, but don't want to park this gem over the winter if we don't need to.

 

Any car could handle snow. They key is knowing how to drive on low friction surfaces.

The bigger issue is the low clearance. I'd just as soon not drive the Prius until after decent snow removal/clearing has been done on the roads. You'd not be able to handle serious tire ruts in relatively fresh snowfall.

 

Good reading for a noob like me, thanks. Hi all!

 

I saw a few salvage cars myself before luck brought me this clean 2008, so I sympathize.

Check out the local wreck yards and parts listings on craiglist. There are MANY reasonably priced options to replace the coolant bottle for instance. Good luck!

 

I was considering some salvages myself. The used car market is tight here in New York. Why do you think it is going to burn/leak oil?

 

Very good post Richard S. Most of us can learn from it.

 

Good stuff, but 6yrs later are there any updates to the list? Anything change, like traction control improvements etc?
Good stu