Advice on buying a pre-owned Prius

There is little or no difference between the 2012 and 2013. Outside of a chronological model year.

Personally as a machine I think they age more with use, as opposed to the passing of time. So I would very much lean towards the lower miles 2012 that comes with certified backing.

What you know about a rental car....is that it was a rental car. That's not necessarily a bad purchase, but it is likely the 56K put on it, has been done by numerous drivers, all of which had no long term interest in the upkeep or ownership of The Prius.

Also there is the chance that a great deal of the people that rented it, rented out of curiosity or immediate need of an economical vehicle but were driving and operating it with limited knowledge of a Prius.

Buying a used vehicle always comes with a degree of facing the unknown and taking a gamble. In both cases look at the carfax for any red flags. But I would lean towards the certified vehicle.

 

I'd avoid ex-rentals often they get abused by their the renters and put a lot of miles per year, for an example the 2013 hertz prius it has put in at an approximated 25k miles per year Vs the cpo 2012 prius has a 13k mile per year, Average normal person drives15k mile/per year. And besides the 2012 is CPO so you can't go wrong.

 

Do not buy a rent-a-wreck.

Especially at those prices!!!

Good Luck!

 

Find one on CL, don't go with the stealership or worse, rental companies. There is no extra safety in purchasing from a stealership, and they often know less about how the car was driven and maintained than if you buy private party.

2012+ is what I'd look at, just because that year had some revisions and began to include more features as standard such as bluetooth.

Bring a friend that knows how to spot problem areas in a vehicle when you go to check one out.

 

Greetings! I bought my used 2010 Prius II, not Two since it is a 2010, with 74k miles from a dealership about 2 and a half weeks ago. Now I've only owned it for a short time so naturally I have not found anything negative and only positives. The reason I went the dealership rout is because I felt more comfortable hashing it out with a dealership, also they do a thorough check of the whole vehicle, current oil change, and they can offer additives. My dealership through in heated seats that work rather nicely. I also looked at the carfax report and was comfortable with what I saw. I think I'd rather trust a dealership over a craiglister any day. If you come across issues particularly soon after your purchase(not that you should with your new used car) but hypothetically you have the ability to go into the dealer and say hey...blah blah blah. your average joe is not going to care or try to help you, the dealership on the other hand I would think would try to make or keep you happy. Anyways this is just what I've experienced. Hope I could help!

 

I bought a 2011 3 last summer. CPO from the dealer. Very happy with it... A few weeks after I bought it the rear brakes started making noise. I called Toyota CPO and had it roadsided from my work to the dealer (hour away). They put on new pads and rotors. It was nice having that all done because of the CPO.

 

Given the choice, I'd go with the '12's lower miles.

Rental companies sell the old cars from their fleet. They keep the cars in service two or three years so there is always a steady stream of lower end models in the market.

Although there is a bias in the forum against buying rentals because they are abused I haven't seen anyone posting they abused the Prius they rented. I rented a Prius from a dealer while mine was in the shop. I treated it no differently and put some air in the tires. Cars that don't sell in a dealer's rental fleet get moved into their used car inventory.

Read through Car Buying Guide for New and Used Vehicles | CarBuyingTips.com. How do these cars compare to what you found through AAA (if a member) or truecar.com? The brochures for each year can be downloaded. Registering the VIN at Toyota Owners Official Web Site: Service Coupons, Owner's Manuals, Service Scheduling And More will allow you to see the dealer service history.

Make sure the sale includes two fobs and the retractable cover.