So glad to find this forum and have been reading quite a few things. So a friend of mine is looking for a car, we looked at a few today. Looked at a Toyota Prius from 2009(touring package, leather interior, etc...) with ~81k miles too. First owner and has maintenance records from the dealership. as well as a clean carfax and in really good condition. Tires are good, aux battery has been replaced in last 2-3 years and all. We test drove and it seemed fine. No noises or any jerkiness or any weird things. Question, I have never looked at one. Since it's a used one, would we be concerned about the Hybrid battery? As I researched battery seems to be good for a LOT of miles. Any other know issues or problems for this 2nd Gen Prius? Or any other advice? Thanks for the help and suggestions P.S: We can make a deal on it for ~$6.5k, is it a decent price and pull the trigger or? Should we take it to a dealership for PPI or?
BTW, I am finding a plethora of information on this forum and there seems to be so much knowledge and help. I am actually considering buying one too. Or maybe I'll lurk here, read and research a bit more and then pull the trigger.
Only bad part about a hybrid is it'll eventually need a new hybrid battery. So if you pull the trigger, prepare to one day buy a new battery for about $3000
The 2009 was the last of the Gen 2 Prius, so all the bugs were worked out. I enjoyed mine for 115,000 miles until a semi ran a red light one night. You can get all the records the dealer has If you have the VIN. Track Your Service Records with Your Toyota Owners Account Any mechanic you trust can check it out as a car. (any Prius has many more troubles as a car, than as a hybrid) I wish your friend well and hope when you need a car you consider a model like the Prius.
I recently bought a 2009 Prius for around $8000 (sale price of $7600 + taxes & fees = $8223 total cost), and mine has more miles and is the base version. $6500 for a touring model is a great deal if the car is in good condition. As mentioned earlier, 2009 is the last of the 2nd generation Prius models, so pretty much all the problems are worked out and it should have exceptional reliability. Another poster mentioned the hybrid traction battery as a potential future concern. Thus far, there have been very few (half a percent or less) hybrid battery failures on 2009 Prii. This could be a result of the 2009 model having fixed problems from earlier models or it could be that they're not old enough to start showing problems, or some combination of the two. So for at least a few years and potentially up to the operational life of the car, the hybrid battery should be fine.
Thanks very much. Yeah, he has left a cushion in the price in case if anything goes south with the battery. But I hope it won't be in the coming days!
Thanks, I appreciate it. BTW, I do have the VIN but for records I would have to register it, right? Also, since he's not the owner yet, then can we still check out all of these records? Thanks again.
That makes perfect sense. I looked at one of the dashboard and it displayed least problems with 2009 model. Also, majority of cars are going for a lot more on autotrader, so I think it's definitely a good deal and we shall pull the trigger on it. Thanks guys.
We have not heard many 2009 batt fails, so maybe they got the bugs out. In VA we get 8-yrs 100k miles warranty on the hybrid battery and other major hybrid items, from the orig purchase date as a new vehicle. So maybe it's its 8yrs old is why the person dumped it. But I am not expecting a problem, of course we never know how the first user cared for it.
Thanks, yeah I am going to check with Toyota to see if there's any warranty still left because think they bought in Jul or Aug of 2009. In terms of mileage, definitely has 19k to go. They bought a new vehicle and hence getting rid of it.
If you have the VIN, you can check all the records now. If the previous owner went to a Toyota dealership for service and repairs, then everything should be listed if you go to Toyota Owners Official Web Site and put in the VIN. If service and repairs were done elsewhere or by the seller, you would need to get a vehicle history report from the shop where maintenance was done.
Yes, you have to use some name, John Smith is fine. Toyota will show you all Toyota Dealer provided service.
