Used 2011 Prius with 150K Mileage

Welcome to Prius Chat .

Some questions:

• Are you the diy type?
• How many miles would you put on the car in a year?
• Do you have a way to perform repairs if needed?
• Would you buy a new battery for the Prius, or would you have a way to maintain the hv battery?
• Do you have money set aside for repairs?

I’d say the price is high for Alabama .

Good dickering territory depending on the above answers.

Good luck and keep us posted .

 

Respects, but at age 22, stick with a Civic or Corolla that has less miles, cost less and has lower repair costs. At this time in your life...the less unexpected "surprises" the better. Prius is a great car, but unless you buy new or practically new, you won't see the any long term savings. Besides, at 150,000 miles, even a Prius starts having reliability issues and becomes a money pit...and is not worth much more than $3,000 in good condition by then anyway. Wish you the best.

 

pass

 

Pass on that one. This is a reasonable price for a 2011 Prius:

I agree with the corolla advice, but if you've got your heart set on a Prius, buy a 2011 for $4k - $5k, and put the rest of the money from that $7200 you were going to spend into the bank to use on repairs.

If you don't actually have the cash and need to make payments, though, the calculations change. You're most likely going to need to buy from a dealer instead of privately. To me, you're going to get the best long-term value out of buying the newest, lowest mileage car you can afford, even if you have to take out a very long time period loan to be able to afford it. Maintained properly, you should be able to get at least 10 years of use out of the car you buy. That makes even a 6 or 7-year loan acceptable, especially if you pay the loan off early.

Some people might disagree with me, but I think your best bet is to look at how much money you can afford each month in payments first, then see how much you can spend on a car if you get a 4, 5, 6, or 7-year loan. Then get the best car you can afford.

 

Look for deals they are out there...to put it in perspective I bought a 2010 with 118,000 for $5,900. I thought that was an OK deal.....but prob could have found even better if I waited few months.

 

Folks... learn about "Black Book" values. That's the wholesale auction value placed on specific vehicles, condition and mileage. Also, with few exceptions, all relative vehicles go straight to auction or are sold "as is" after 100,000 miles...even the Prius. This is important to remember considering the illusion people have that Prii are maintenance free and the higher cost of hybrid component replacement.

 

is that available online?

 

wow, all nay votes, that's unusual

 

You can always learn. Pretty much anyone can. Unless you have some physical limitation.
Many youtube videos out their.
Also, you might search for a Prius group in your area or at least 1 or 2 other owners that work on their
cars. They will probably be willing to help you out.

 

I bought my 2010 with 150,000 miles almost 3 years ago for $7200 (which was a good price for CA 3 years ago). I did the rough calculations before I did, and I assure you that the long term savings over buying a new Prius then was huge, in the range of three times cheaper.

Some quick calculations:
Original owner paid about $30-31K (plus CA tax), since it was a loaded with solar roof, etc and in high demand at the time in CA. He sold it to me for $7200.
Original owner paid at least $1K-$2K for out of warranty repairs (overpriced, at dealer) to get it to pass emissions before he could sell it to me.
Total that up and it comes to about $25,000 for the 5.5 years that he had the Prius. So that's about $4,550 per year of ownership for him, or $0.17 per mile, not counting gasoline or insurance.

I spent about $9-10K on the car to purchase and fix it up (it wasn't nice condition one), and have driven it about 30,000 miles since. At 180K miles, if it's worth about $5000 still, at least in CA, that's about $4500 spent on the car for 3 years use, not counting gasoline and insurance. So that's about $1,500 per year, or about three times less than the original owner, calculating by per year. If you argue that my car is only worth $3,000, it doesn't change the numbers that much. If I had to put in a new hybrid battery and a new engine next year (and I'd do it cheaply, like the guys putting Gen 4 engines in Gen 3s, or doing Toaster's kit for the battery), it still would be a gigantic savings over buying new (comparing to the original owner). The depreciation of the new car from $30-31K down to $7200 in 5.5 years really makes buying new an expensive proposition - enough that even grossly overpaying for repair of a used Prius will still probably make it less than 1/2 the cost to run.

Well, you might say, the original owner got a new car, I got a well used car, it's worth 3 times more. But, after I fixed and cleaned it up, the driving experience is pretty much the same. It looks pretty nice for a 2010. I'm quite sure that I can take it to 300K miles with only a new hybrid battery in maybe 5 years(?). With the EGR system clean and oil catch can installed, I'm not worried that my head gasket will go, but even the cost of a new/used Gen 4 engine to swap in (maybe $2K installed?) is peanuts compared to the depreciation every year ($4500!) for the original owner. My expenses are really in the form of DIY labor/spending a lot of time reading Priuschat vs. the original owner getting to drop it off at the dealer.

I didn't vote in the poll. A better deal could probably had, I'm not familiar with the market there. Depends on what you are looking for, but a used Corolla isn't the same for many people like me. I wanted a large hatchback or wagon big enough for car camping in the back, and Corolla hatchbacks were not a thing until recently (Scion...) and the new ones are still probably not big enough for car camping. Plus you got the full climate control for overnight use when car camping, or just to keep the dog cool with A/C on during the day without the engine running constantly.

 

I wouldn't buy any car that I needed to depend on every day with 150,000 miles.

 

I would and did . The original owner had more unexpected breakdowns than me. The IPM went out on him. The replacement will probably last for me.

My '96 Subaru with 210K+ miles is total reliable too. It even started right up after sitting for 10 months when I was away from home a couple years ago.

 

I depend on our 2010 with 193k miles everyday .

It works well .

 

Ray, do you have another car? I depend on my Prius but I have two garages full of other capable cars and I am retired. It depends on your situation is all I am saying.
If he buys it I really wish him well.

 

The wife has a 2017 RX450h and she drives 23 miles one way to work a day.

We are a 2 car family.

I keep an eye one the cars and keep them in tip top shape.

Before the RX450h we had a 1998 4runner that had 263 k miles on it.

Mileage is just a number. Condition is another thing.

Keep things in good condition and they last a long time.

 

@Lightning Racer

The OP is 22 YO and admittedly not mechanically inclined. You're creeping up on 50 YO, live Anchorage and unless I'm mistaken MUCH more self sufficient and mechanically inclined. My advice to new member SmushCucumber was directed to him specifically...not everyone. As a Mechanic I can maintain/repair/rebuild a Yugo, Pinto and/or even a Vega for my entire life, but that doesn't make sense does it. FWIW, my Son does his Hot Shot season up there and I have learned first hand "most" folks living there are much more resourceful than the "average youngster" living in the lower 48. Respects to you both, but my advice stands as it applies.

 

A high mileage Prius might not be the best choice for SmushCucumber, and I'm not arguing that it is. But I was responding to your assertion that a Prius is only good if bought new or practically new, or else they become money pits. I won't buy a new car, because depreciation is really the biggest cost hit in most cars.

People are talking about hybrid batteries as huge expense (or a replacement engine, whatever the case may be), usually relating it to what a car is worth on the market now. I don't like to compare the cost of repair to the worth of the vehicle. It makes more sense to me to see it as a foreseeable and reasonable expense to keep an otherwise reliable and efficient, clean car going. It's just a little bump in the otherwise dirt cheap, very, long tail end of the life of the car. This is coming from a person that really tries to minimize the cost of car ownership and keeps my cars a very long time.

If the OP really wants a Prius, maybe see the latest ChrisFix Prius video on youtube for an idea: Find one that someone is unloading because of a bad battery (or head gasket), but is otherwise in great shape. You should be able to fix it up or pay someone to fix it up reasonably cheaply, and come out ahead that way if you do your research.

 

I see a lot of people come on Prius Chat with an old Prius that is broke, they need the car every day and are living pay check to pay check.
They don't have the money or the know how to fix a Prius and they are in panic mode. I understand why they want a Prius but it isn't always the best choice. JMO