Hello once again! I’ve been looking into many of the Prii within my price range. On the higher end at $5000, I found a 2006 silver Prius at 139,000 miles. The dealer selling it said the girl who previously owned it ran it out of oil so when he bought it, he replaced the engine with one that had 80,000 miles on it. Outside of that, the car appears to be in great condition both exterior and interior. He had the battery replaced with a refurbished one about 1 month ago and still has 5 months on the warranty. My car budget is a bit tight right now but a Prius fits all my wants as well as my needs. So my question is is this 2006 Prius worth the $5000? I’d use it daily and probably put up to 15,000 miles on it a year. Is there anything I should check specific to this year or things that come to mind that I should know? Thanks for any help in this tough decision!
here's a link to recently sold Prii on ebay. 2006 models with <150k miles. Some dealer cars, some private sales. 2006 prius | eBay
Thanks for that! I see many of those were around $5000. This has a bit more miles but it also has that battery replaced which would save me $1000-2000 and could even it out. Any thoughts on if the Prius I’m looking into is worth it in comparison? One of its benefits is I can see more of the history and know it’s a clean title, etc
a refurbished battery likely won't last beyond the warranty, if that long. they are unreliable at best.
For $5k a 2006 with 140k miles is an OK deal. A 2006 with 140k miles and "stories" not so much. Was the replaced ICE a rebuilt or junkyard unit. If it came from the junkyard it might be fine but it's not added value, it's another question mark. If it was rebuilt how good was the work? Also it means that it was installed by somewhere other than the Toyota factory. There are a lot of things that can go wrong doing a job like that. I have spent a couple of thousand to put a rebuilt engine in a car I owned already to keep it rolling but I shy away from buying a car that has had replacement engine installed. Same with the traction battery. A refurb battery might be a good way to wring some more miles out of a car you already own, but the fact that a "new" refurb battery has been installed isn't a selling point.
If you only drive 15k @ year you might want to think about a simple car like a Corolla. There's a lot of possible expensive repairs that COULD be on the horizon. The exception would be if you found an early Prius that was well kept by somebody that was into their Prius. You can find that out by searching the VIN number on http://www.toyotaowners.com If you find a Prius that was always well maintained, usually but not always at a Toyota dealer then the odds increase in your favor.
IMO, there's no such thing as a good $5000 Prius - unless you come across someone selling a very nice car way below market value. If $5k is all you have to spend, you'll be much better off finding a nice $5k Corolla.
$5000 you can find a good prius. I just bought one from a member here for $3000 with a new hv battery from 2014. Car runs like new
I don't think it's a selling point that a dealer had a new (used) engine and battery installed in the car. Seems a bit unusual that a dealer would purchase a Prius with a dead battery and engine to begin with. I would expect that he searched for the cheapest options available. Personally, I lean towards buying directly from the original owner so I can get the repair history and records. I used to look in Utah for this, so I know those are harder to find there.
I'd say that falls into the "unless you come across someone selling a very nice car way below market value." category.
I don't know if that's way below market value. It's a 2005, coming around 14 years old. I think $3000 for what I got was pretty good. But $5000 should be able to get something pretty respectable. There were many 2nd Gen Prius cars sold, my opinion one of the most reliable Prius generations. Is it easy to find something for under $5000? NO, but it's like buying any used car. You'll have to do some searching to find something good.
Sorry, what I’d an ICE? And yeah I believe part of the added cost is that it has Bluetooth and the back up camera in some package. The owner of the car look to have taken care of it for the most part. My biggest worry was, as you said, the battery and engine as I have had family members that had issues with new used engines. I may try to get $4800 if it works out but it seems to be too iffy. Thoughts?
ICE is either: Internal Combustion Engine or In-Car Entertainment. In this case, I'm going with the 1st choice
Also when buying something that is a fraction of the cost of new, you need to consider how you will deal with repairs as they are inevitable . I know you’ve got that covered and know when to mail it in, but most who post here find themselves up the creek and a shortage of paddles . I agree that There are deals to be had out there .
Please allow me to retract and refine what I said. If you have the time, workspace, money, knowledge, skills and tools, there are absolutely good Prii to be had at the sub-$5k price point. However, if you do not have all of that, and plan on paying the dealer (or even an independent Prius specialist garage) for repairs and maintenance, there are far fewer good deals to be had. Basically, any person that has to ask "should I buy this $5000 Prius?" probably shouldn't.
If a seller is telling you there's a completed major repair that cannot be verified, it's probably best not to buy the car. There's no way to prove a replacement engine has 80k miles and no guarantees the new motor is any better than the old. Buying cars from original owners will give you better odds at getting a car that's not full of problems. Only areas of concern on these cars are 1. Burning oil 2 Bad battery 3. Bad transaxle If cars don't have those 3 and works properly, any problems would be pretty easy to address.
Then don't buy a old Prius unless the battery has been replace with new Toyota pack. Otherwise, you'll need to factor in the budget for a replacement. BTDT
Sorry I learned some Prius jargon an thought it was cool. ICE was meant to refer to the internal combustion engine. I kind of fall into the buy a Corolla camp if you are spending $5k unless you can find a Prius for that money in great shape with a very well documented service history and no stories. With the Corolla what you see is what you get. With an old Prius there are some expensive issues that may not be apparent. I think a new or near new Prius is a great value. An old Prius can be a great value if you buy right and are willing to gamble. I really like the 05 I got for my son (and that I work on). It had 240k mi on it when I got it from my cousin for $1000. Body was in nice shape, "ICE" ran good and battery appeared to be in good shape. Brakes were, well, ruined. Needed rotors, pads, drums, discs, wheel cylinders and a brake flush. I did everything but the flush. Also needed a full set of tires and a couple of odds and ends. In the end for $2k a solid functional fuel efficient car which he has already driven for a year and 10k miles. If the engine or traction battery dies tomorrow I won't be happy but I can send it to the junkyard knowing I got decent value for the money.
