Shopping for Prius is Difficult - have any tips

Best advice is to take your time figuring out package options and test drive both high and low mileage, then buy. When you test drive one with 180,000 mi, get the feel couple of those. Then test drive lower mileage ones, if a good priced lower mileage drives similar to a higher mileage, run from that specific prius. Use their trim package mislabel to bend the total price down, they say it's a four but you can prove to them it's a three, then they'll admit their misadvertising then lower price down for you. Measure all 4 tire tread depths and they should be same, if one is way off then leave. If there is a VIN sticker missing from hatch, door jabs, hood and fenders in engine compartment then bail. I have a trim 4 with HUD so it took my 6 months to find the right one, those were some of my checklist items. Hope you do the same.

 

talk to todd at tampa hybrids. he carries great cars at good prices, and stands behind them. you won't find a better resource, especially for maintenance and repairs in the future.

if nothing else, he'll offer solid advice. all the best!

 

Agree with @bisco. Go see Todd. The price he asks is the price he wants. And he knows everything about the car. I've bought four from him. Always treated me with the utmost respect. AND, unlike the Toyota guys, he will spend time showing you the features of the car. Here's his present inventory.
Listings - Tampa Hybrids Inc.

 

you'll want to hop onto toyota.com/owners anyways to check out the service history of the car anyways so that'll tell you the model... 2, 3, 4 or 5.

service history to look for....

brake fluid change, if car is 3+ years old. recommended every 3 to 4 years

transaxle fluid change- Toyota will tell you its not necessary but if you are buying at A Toyota dealer, insist this service be done once you come to a final purchasing number. its a simple drain and fill process, they typically change about $150 to do this. Many of us recommend this service every 30k to 50k.

 

I recently bought a used 2015 and my searching was easier than yours for two reasons - I wanted a 2015, white, CPO car and I wanted leather. CPO meant dealer-only, and leather was easy to select in the search fields. They pretty much all drive the same, CPO meant Toyota would warranty it so I didn't have to worry about a lemon or a lying seller. Leather was my wife's choice so I didn't fight it.

In the end I found four 2015's that fit the bill. Two were under 22k miles and the other two under 30k. I picked the closest one, fly up to VA, bought it and drove it home. It's now been 6k miles of easy, enjoyable driving. The only bummer with internet dealer sales is that none of them will haggle on price in any way. I did get one concession, from the dealer I bought the car, to include all-weather floor mats. That was it, other than a full tank of gas. I found that no dealers would haggle electronically, as they don't really have to.

I do wish I had found a white CPO leather 2015 plug-in with solar, as that would be neat, but the lack of a spare tire turned me off completely. I've dealt with fix-a-flat and waiting hours for roadside assistance to show up. No thanks.

Good luck!

 

Don’t forget that actual leather only came on the early Gen3’s (2010-2011).

What you have is softex and is faux leather.

Sounds like you got what you were looking for though.

 

I just bought a 2011 on Monday. My old beater died so I was in a hurry to get a new commuter for my 500 miles a week, Not many Gen 3's under $11k in the Colorado Springs area, maybe 5. i wanted heated seats, homelink/auto dim mirror, and bluetooth. Sucks my BT doesn't play audio though (non NAV), gotta come up with a solution if I don't want to use AUX. I also wish it had auto headlights and better headlights. I plan to put in a $50 HID kit and LED lights in the license plate and interior, so $100 for better lighting. It's definitely confusing with the different models. I looked them up on toyota's website to verify package/options. It was also hard to find ones with both key fobs, that was a must too.

I'm hoping this lasts me 5 years and I'll upgrade to a Gen4. Try to get a 2012 if you can, seems like they did some good updates that year. But I got mine with 88k miles for $9,800 with new tires and a new 12v battery, so I'm happy!

 

Todd has a nice website. I found this very interesting/informative:

Preventative care for your battery pack would be parking in a garage or covered area if possible. When that is not possible, have the windows tinted, always close the cargo shade if the car has one, invest in a windshield shade and/ or window vent shades so you can crack the windows and not get rain inside. Always use the air conditioning when its hot outside. The hybrid cooling fan pulls in cabin air to cool the battery so if you are not using AC then you are cooling your battery with hot air which will shorten it's life. If you have a pet that rides with you and sheds or you drive on dirt roads, the pet hair and dust will find its way into the cooling fan and reduce its efficiency. The fan should be cleaned periodically to keep it running well. This is a service I offer also.

 

Unless you live in the UK. They still get real leather.

 

Fair enough - real or faux isn't not cloth and it pleases my wife. I am happy with my purchase.

 

Happy wife, happy life.

 

I don't know.
Despite lack of vehicle badging...which I kind of like. I think researching and buying a vehicle today is so much more consumer leveraged than it use to be, that I think it's a good thing.

Today, if you at all have access to a computer and the internet, then there is little excuse to now know nearly everything you want to know. From local availability to exactly what features and models are available.

When my parents bought cars, often they were armed with little more than knowledge and opinion from family and friends, and maybe a few articles they might of been able to find and read. You walked on to a dealership lot, almost entirely at the mercy of the dealership and salespeople.

My advice is know what you ideally want. And know what, or how much compromise you might be willing to make from that ideal. Know the going cost for similarly equipped and aged vehicles in your area. Then go see how close you can get to that ideal. Take the responsibility for knowing how the vehicle you are considering is equipped upon yourself, do not trust what a salesperson may "say"

My personal philosophy is also this:

In my opinion you never really want to shop for a vehicle with this attitude or at least you want to be able to pretend nearly the opposite. That is that you are perfectly willing to NOT pull the trigger, and that whatever deal is being presented....is a potential hardship and you do NOT have the cash in hand.

Walking onto the lot with cash in hand and looking to pull the trigger is IMO like cutting bleeding wounds in your legs and then jumping into shark infested waters.
At best it's and exciting swim, always it's a dangerous swim.

If exact features are important to you? And we are talking about a new or newer vehicle I might suggest a car buying service or private broker.
My father has bought his last 2-3 vehicles through a car buying service, and while I do not think his deals were absolutely the best deal he could make, they were fair and equitable, even with the fee for the service. The convenience of pretty much outlining what he wanted, and then letting someone else do the hunt, was well worth it for him.

I think the key as a consumer is knowing what you want, what is available and what a fair expected price actually is...
All those things are actually pretty easily researched with internet access.

.