Hello. I love the prius and hate making big financial decisions on my own. I also have a bad habit of buying the first thing i test drive. So i would love some help picking my used prius. Also any advice will be appreciated Ive narrowed it down to 6 prii in my area that fit the bill for me. The price difference between the cheapest and most expensive is $5,500 which wont make or break me, but i do want to get the best value possible. HV battery is only warrantied for 8 years or 100k miles in my state (not california). 2012 Prius V wagon with backup cam - 64k miles - $13k - toyota dealer 2012 Prius II - 27k miles - $14k - used car dealer 2012 Prius II - 31k miles - $12k - used car dealer 2012 Prius III with LCD - 98k - $8.5k - sold by owner 2015 Prius II with backup cam - 35k miles - $14k - used car dealer 2013 Prius II - 29k miles - $12.5k - used car dealer (looks like the best deal to me but its from 4 weeks ago so probably sold) I do prefer the prius V wagon but the standard prius is just fine for me. So which prius on my list do you all think is the best value? How about the second and third best value? in case the first one isnt available anymore. Thank you for your help.
I think the colour is the most important factor, but for some reason, you seem to have omitted that essential piece of information! I would go with the Magnetic Gray (1G3)! PS: Welcome to PriusChat!
I don't really care what color it is. Id prefer not red but none of them are. I just want to get a nice prius for a good price
Long after you forgot what you paid, you'll remember every day whether you have what you want. If you prefer the wagon, you should buy one. Beyond that, the differences between several of these cars are trivial on paper. Go with condition, maintenance records, a car that visibly has been well cared for, and an honest seller.
Apologies for my feeble attempt at humour! I think I'd be tempted to go with the Toyota dealer (better infrastructure? warranty? expertise?) Good luck!
hey i answered you on reddit earlier. answer is still the same #4. If you can get that to 7900... and even better if there is access to decent maint. records. You also get to gauge what type of owner they might have been, perhaps it was babied and maintained very well.
welcome! the 2015 looks like a great deal. take it to a toyota dealer for a thorough check up. all the best!
I lean towards the 2015 with 35K miles. You should have some of the basic warranty left to get any needed repairs done and covered by Toyota. Get a car fax and have VIN# checked at Toyota dealer for warranty and maintenance history, and find out the in-service date to know when basic warranty expires. I think miles are less of a wear on Prius because they last a long time! If you are able to do some basic repairs and maintenance yourself, you might consider one of the older ones. Hopefully you negotiate some off the price. Good luck.
I was also eyeing the 2015... I think 2015 was after Toyota made the fixes to pass with high marks on the IIHS small overlap crash test. I like a v too, but I like the looks of the older v's but would rather have the IIHS safety fixes of the later years.
They're actually all good values. The price is much lower than what I would expect in CA. I'd rank them 4, 5, & 6 as a tier as your best value. Then 3 and then 2 not because they are worse than 4 or 5 but that 6 is better than 3 which is better than 2. 1 is at the bottom of the list. As there is virtually no difference between a 2012 through 2015 Prius, it doesn't make sense that 5 would be a good value unless you change cars often as its resale value as newer is worth the delta. I think that's why most have replied that the 2015 is the best value. I tend to keep my cars until they have no value so I'd choose mileage as more important. 6 would be the best deal for me. And finally if you drive a whole lot, say >25k miles a year, 4 is your bargain choice. The $4000 delta is enough to put in your nest egg to replace it with another one soon.
Good point. My opinion as a stranger on the internet is that mileage is more important to battery longevity than age. And at under 100k miles doubly so as it's a unicorn Prius battery to fail under 100k miles. At greater than 100k miles, then we're seeing more Prius batteries fail where age may play a larger factor. If OP was in a CARB state and doesn't drive a lot, then I might sing the chorus for the 2015 at least as warranty is concerned.
Yes , these are all Hybrids ..so the first is too determine Battery and Factory warranty . Best with CarFax If used and not a CPO , Certified PreOwned from Toyota it doesn't matter if it is sold by Toyota or not . That being said , the CPO kick to the warranty does not help the battery warranty . Even though you are not in a CARB state now identifying which choices originated in a CARB state like CA or NY may help in the future or with resale . The 2015 has some factory warranty left . The V has a little more room inside and the Prius III if you were to buy a new battery at 150k miles would still be cheaper than all the cholces and has a few more options. I shopped for 3 monthes to get what I wanted ..is there a feature or appearance option that is on a wish list ?? Plug In , SofTex , Solar roof , or Personna package ?? Kenny
If you really like the idea of a V, you should go with that, especially since this one is at a dealer. Think about whether you really need the extra cargo space though and weigh that against the better MPGs of the regular Prius. –Cargo space was important to me when I bought because I drove an F-150 before–yeah, I know . . . As it turns out, I have rarely used the cargo space, but it's still nice to have. I'd pick the 2015 but I'd negotiate price. I like the idea of newer hoses, belts, etc. The 2013 might be my second pick.
