The car is a 04 prius, ratty all round, bangs bumps. Been sitting for 4 months 200k miles ex taxi, got an error for cat efficency so the cat may have been replaced but the seller is adamant the cat has not been stolen..( Is there anyway to find out?) Anyway how bad are these stats, is it worth buying this ratty 04 prius with 200k miles?
Just see if catalytic converter is there. You can see it by just looking under the car. Prius is high enough that you don't even need a jack. You can't really tell much from just static voltages. First two have lower voltage but after four months it might just need a balancing. Or maybe it needs new battery. It being worth or not depends on values of simular ones, condition, and your personal stuff. I'd probably buy one here for that price almost regardless of condition.
You will need to do a load test on the hybrid battery. But even even the results might not be that simple to read. But for that low of a price isn't it worth it even with a bad battery?
Well not always. There are many cars (cars in general) that you can buy fix and sell for a profit. And to me 600£ sounds low enough that you could just sell some parts and make a profit like that if it's not worth fixing. But anyway like I said:
Of course! I was speaking in general terms- hopefully there is mechanical arbitrage to be had in this case. I just wouldn't expect this to be a "jump in and drive" machine.
