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Buying secondhand Prius C

Discussion in 'Prius c Technical Discussion' started by ms820, Jul 28, 2020.

  1. ms820

    ms820 New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2020
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    Location:
    New Zealand
    Vehicle:
    2015 Aqua
    Model:
    N/A
    Hi all,
    new here - just looking forward to move to hybrids now.
    I'm in New Zealand so most of the used cars on the yards would be Japanese imports. Was looking at Aquas circa 2015, however my better part figured it'd be too small for us - ok, we switched our attention to Fielder Hybrid which is essentially JDM Corolla Wagon with the power train from Prius C, hence posting in this forum.

    Thing is that after looking at three fresh imports within few days, on two of them I found quite significant emulsion on the dipstick both before and after test drive. Yard guys told me the oil hasn't been changed so it was as it came from Japan. The oil colour was actually fresh, not abused at all I'd say within a 1000 km from replacing. The cars themselves were 2015 with odometers around 60kkm, quite clean and did not look abused.

    Question what'd that be? Blown head gasket? Car yard people washing the engine bay too hard? Condensation due the high humidity and short test-drives (we're mid-winter here, humidity is like 98 percent)?

    I guess the simple answer would be "run away and look for another car" and that's what I did but it also made me curious.

    Cheers
     
  2. egg_salad

    egg_salad Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 2015
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    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
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    Base
    it's also really humid on the boats that brought them there. because they travel on oceans, which are made of water.
     
  3. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Vehicle:
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    Model:
    Two
    ding ding ding

    Most likely candidate. Yes, a head gasket can do that too, but JDM recyclers can usually profit off of those other ways without shipping them intact.
     
  4. ms820

    ms820 New Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2015 Aqua
    Model:
    N/A
    Thanks for your replies folks, made me less anxious about that :)
    Will continue hunting around and guess joining the crowd fairy soon.
     
    bisco likes this.
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    all the best in your search!(y)