Hi guys, Have my eye on a gen 3 prius selling at auction. It's reported that it doesn't run or drive and the 12v battery is dead. I pulled a carfax and 300km before coming to auction the 12v battery was replaced by the toyota dealer. Before that all routine maintenace done on time, no major issues. There's a check hybrid system stop the vehicle in a safe place message. I'm hoping to go check the car out and put my bluetooth odb scan tool on it. What's the chance that a bad battery was put in? Could this be something bigger? My wife has a 2009 prius and it's been rock solid. The best car we've ever bought. All this head gasket talk on here has me worried about the gen 3 but if I can get this at the right price think its worth a shot? Would appreciate any thoughts you guys have. All the best!
Depends on the price and the mileage....it may ALREADY have a blown head gasket...or it may need both batteries. Agree with Bisco, if you can work on it yourself and get a really good price...........
I don't mind doing the work on it just not sure how much money I'll have to put into it. It's got about 75,000 miles on it now.
Most cars in auctions are big hits or big misses. Some are there because the cost of repair exceeds the value of the car once all repairs are done so it's not worth fixing it. The other side of the coin is if dealership has lost interest in the car and prefer to get rid of it to reduce inventory but never really looked into the car issues and the issues ended up being minor repairs for the next owner. And not just limited to those reasons why it's in auction. If your shoes, I wouldn't even touch a turd gen with a 10 ft pole anymore.
So you've never really had to deal with potentially expensive repairs or major work on a hybrid then? If so, then you may be looking at this with rose tinted glasses.
As stated, auctions are hit/miss, maybe..... MAYBE, whoever replaced the 12v battery, didn't clear the codes. If they aren't hybrid people, they don't know what to do. You didn't state which year it is? With only 75,000 miles, even a 2010 would be okay, Head gasket is more than likely okay, as is the EGR cooler/system. Maybe the people didn't drive it much. With bad 12v battery, it will pull more amps from the hybrid battery as it tries to charge it. you'll get error codes. If it's less than $3000 or so, it could be a good deal. Put a full charge on the 12v battery, reset all the error codes, AFTER you write them down. If it starts, you're in good shape! You may have bad gas though if it's been sitting, and the low mileage. If you can do the work yourself, even if it does need a hybrid battery, you can get the cells for $1600, NEW. And replace them. How much money are you willing to risk?
If the auction car was driven the same way as your wife did and maintenance was the same, good chance it’s similar condition. Until there’s actual evidence of that, I would have an extra $5,000 in my back pocket for repairs if the prius bug bit me and there’s no backing out.
Didn't end up bidding. I don't feel terrible though, it ended up selling way more than I was willing to pay. Thanks for your help here lads. This community is amazing!
