Effects of Side Damage to Prius?

I think the op is very lonely

 

?

 

You saw only 1 picture of the black car, they didn't give you all the pictures. It may or may not have only the damaged shown in that one picture. Worst case scenario I guess on this car, it may not have 130k miles but 330k miles.

You seem pretty young and need to take some risks. You seem to have confidence in your accident avoidance driving, You should go for it. If it ends up being bad, it'll be a risk taking lesson in life. At least you're young enough to recover from it. You only stand to lose $4000 if you lose everything (car only)......a risk worth taking.

 

I happen to know that a side impact of that magnitude is likely to have triggered the curtain airbags. Were they replaced or not? Do you care if your car lacks the normal SRS protection? Maybe you don't care.

I also happen to know that the traction battery high voltage wiring runs along the left bottom side of the car. It would be good to make sure there was no damage to that wiring.

You seem to have a very simplistic view of the Prius - you are only concerned whether the engine was hit, or that you are able to replace the high voltage traction battery if needed. You should recognize that Prius is a highly developed system containing numerous sub-systems, and difficult problems can develop that you haven't even considered. As just one example, the car has a controller area network that connects the many ECUs. Accident or flood damage to the vehicle wiring harness can make that network ineffective, thus rendering the car unable to run. That would be one reason why a Prius would end up in the salvage yard, regardless of whether the various subsystems are functional.

If your idea of "getting somewhere" truly is to own a salvaged Prius, then by all means buy one of those choices. You may have a chance to develop your electronics technician skills as well as your auto mechanic skills.

Why not. ~25 years ago I bought a BMW convertible that had a salvaged title but had been repaired and looked great. Knowing nothing about how to assess such a car, I bought it, only to find the convertible top had been damaged in the accident and not correctly repaired, the exhaust system needed to be replaced because the muffler had been bent and the catalytic converter was clogged, the body actually was composed of two vehicle shells welded together, etc etc. It was a good learning lesson for me never to purchase another salvage vehicle.

 

To the OP?
You're asking for opinions here.

And I think you've been given a LOT of good viewpoints and advice.
The majority landing on the side of it not being a particularly good idea to invest into highly damaged Prius...side impact or otherwise.

To me? Since we are riding in vehicles capable of death producing speeds, and surrounded often by others driving similar vehicles, SAFETY is a priority. So whether I'm recommending new tires, or against buying a frame compromised salvaged vehicle, I don't play "Risk" vs. "Savings" with automobiles.

You can't totally divorce risk from driving but neither do you HAVE to purposely take unnecessary risk.

The choice is yours.

 

if you have all the tools, equipment and knowledge? go for it! (i have no idea what the effects of the damage are)

 

I'd bet he has none of those things, especially knowledge.

 

you can get that part here, well, maybe not the chassis evaluation. but you better be prepared!