Looking to buy my HS senior daughter a car to help out with household transportation duties. She saved up $2500 and I told her I'll match her savings ... so relatively around $5K. Thank you.
IMHO a well used prius is not a good choice for those with limited resources. While generally reliable, they have additional expensive systems beyond a traditional car. If you can't afford an immediate $3000 repair, look elsewhere.
Agreed. An under 75,000 mile prius of that vintage will have a hybrid battery that is a DECADE old. It will need to be replaced from lack of use. Cost of $2,800 or more. If you are looking for a Toyota, perhaps consider a used Camry, Corolla, etc
agree. if it were my child, i would go corolla, camry, yards, mazda, civic, etc. i think you can get more for your money with non hybrid, and lower potential repair costs in the case of older vehicles.
Putting that aside, a car with those miles and that year or newer in socal is around 6-7k. Then you'll have to do the tuneups and potential repairs down the road. Not a car for the faint of heart imo.
That is a tough set of requirements. Hybrid batteries seem to wear out faster if they aren't used much, and that would probably apply to a 10 year old car with under 75,000 miles. If you find one that has already been replaced it probably won't be $5,000 or less. As others have mentioned you could probably get a corolla or similar car with those requirements though. A Corolla is cheap and reliable, good for a high school kid. Maybe if she wants a Prius she could have one down the road with the money you save by not buying something expensive now. A Prius is very reliable and a good car, I would just rather have one I knew the history of (if not brand new, at least gently used. I bought mine 3 years old). Any car she drives to high school is just going to get beat up anyways from the other high school drivers most likely.
