My husband and I are mostly the proud owners of a "new to us" 2004 Prius. Found one at a local Toyota dealership with only 42,000 miles on it, looks like new, drives very nicely. So quiet and a 110% step up from my old 2002 Ford Escort base model which finally got itself totaled out when I got rear ended. Paid $8k, which was spot on the Kelly Blue Book for the car at this point (we don't haggle). The only thing that was noted in the certified inspection was a "small" transmission fluid leak. We got it in writing that we could get it inspected by our regular foreign car mechanic (we already own a Subaru Forester) prior to finalizing the purchase, but it turns out they don't do transmission work on the cars so I won't have a final answer on that until tomorrow. I'm reaching out to you knowledgeable folks because I'm just a little concerned about the age of the car even given the low mileage. We keep our cars forever, so we want this car to last. Everything I read about these cars says this is a good buying decision, they have less problems then most cars, low mpg (of course!), smooth, quiet drive. I don't care about "exciting" driving, I love the look - I am really just worried about the age. Obviously if this fluid leak ends up being a big deal that's another story too, but overall what would you say about a 12 year old Prius with 42k miles in terms of expected longevity/reliability? Thank you!
We bought two of them - a 04 and 09. Mines the ones (04) with 215K on the clock. $5300 out the door I paid at the dealer. Main thing is to keep track of your trans fluid. Find out what the cost to reseal it in the future. Only concern is really the Traction (HV) battery and the 12 volt battery. Don't know if they are original but they are the main things of concern insofar as your car running. Otherwise....Drive it till it drops..
The biggest reality to be aware of is as an 11 year old Hybrid you are in the range where the HV Battery could fail at any given time. OEM replacement is in the $3000 range, plus or minus. As far as the transmission leak? Well, I'm a little unclear. Is this a "done deal"? If you haven't finalized the deal, I'd ask them to figure out what is causing the leak, and ask for repair. If you can't trust them to tell you what the problem is, and/or fix it, then I wouldn't buy a vehicle from them to start with. I'd take it as a positive that they actually honestly noted the transmission leak in the certified inspection. If they were being really dishonest they could of "pretended" they never saw it. 42,000 miles is low, low miles for....well any vehicle. You could certainly expect to put many more miles on a Prius. BUT... It is a vehicle that is over a decade old. So I wouldn't be opposed to buying it, but I'd want to buy it with the knowledge that it may need a Hybrid Battery replacement at some point in the future. This could be a month from now....or 3 years or more. But if the idea that you might have to make a significant investment into a new Hybrid battery is something you wouldn't be able or willing to do?
there are tons of '04's on the road. great car and model year. tranny leak at 43,000 miles? i would want that fix included in the deal. i'm surprised a toyota dealer would sell it like that.
I'm too are surprise a dealer will sell a car with a problem. I thought dealer will check and fix any issue before it goes to a lot. iPad ?
Used car dealers are not obligated to verify recall work has been done. If every leaky used car had to be fixed there wouldn't be much of a used car market.
I have seen 2006-7 prius with 60k miles on craigslist for 8k without any leaks. Honestly though with transmission leaks, i'd run regardless of car. To change the transmission is around 1.5k-2k through used parts. Not to mention this is a 2004, in which the resale value if the anything goes on it(transmission or battery) will plummet to around 3-4k tops. I'd personally run. I had to deal with a similiar high year used hybrid sale in the past and I'll never do that mistake again. I'd recommend you purchase a 80-100k miles 2007-2008 car for the same price with no issues. You'll be better off in the long run for it.
I'd pass on buying that for the same concern of an old HV battery that is under utilized. My 2007 Prius HV battery died in February of 2015 at ~68000 miles. This was before I was the owner but it was replaced for free by the dealer because the previous owner was the original owner and got all of the work done at the same dealership. The theory was that this battery died sooner than usual because it was not driven enough and sat for multiple months at a time without being started which aids in the conditioning of the HV battery.
I would take exception to that if the used car in question had aTakata airbag recall or a GM Ignition switch recall both not fullfilled. Could KILL ya you know...Also when renting a car some cars did not have safety recalls and got their customers killed as well.
The transmission fluid leak is probably something minor from an axle seal, should be replaced by the dealer. This is a common issue with Gen2 cars The thing I would be concerned about is the HV battery, that's another $3000 expense on top of the $8000. $11000 should be able to buy a nice gen3 Prius
