Potential New Prius Owner

Good morning,

I am looking into purchasing a Prius. I am wanting to spend 7-9K on a nice Prius. I have found one at a used car dealership that seems quite nice. I have already checked it out and it looks good no leaks, runs smooth and strong. It is a 2008 Prius Touring with package 6 so it has everything. It only has 50k miles on it which is crazy low for this year. Carfax shows 0 accidents and it shows the Prius was serviced at the Same Toyota dealership every 6 months and got the oil changed regardless of miles (which were usually only 1,500 between services) and has received all of the Toyota recommended services at 15k, 30k, etc. Other than normal oil changes and services, it has had a few repairs at the same Toyota dealership done which include 2 water pumps (do these go out a lot on this generation?), valve cove gasket, oil pan gasket, axle seals, and rear shock absorbers. Kind of a lot of repairs for such a low mileage vehicle, but the owner might have been one who just told the dealership to fix anything and everything even if it was just the first sign of weeping.

Now my question for you is, does this seem worth 9-10k? It is a bit higher in price by about a thousand dollars from the ones I am looking at, but the other Priuses have 80K+ miles. The batteries were not replaced so even though the car has low miles, the batteries are 14 years old. I am wanting a Prius because I am trying to save on gas. I drive a Tundra and as much as I like it, it is draining my wallet when it is my daily driver and children's taxicab. I don't want to get a vehicle that I will have to dump money into because then I might as well just keep driving my Tundra. I know buying a used older car has its risks, which I am willing to take, but I don't want to take foolish risks. I use to own a 2019 Toyota Rav4 Hybrid and absolutely loved it but due to major financial changes I had to get rid of it. Thanks in advance for all of your advice.

 

@SFO The mileage is approximately 3,500/year, and looking at the Carfax, it appears to be quite consistent. Usually every six months (when it went in the the dealer for service as shown on the Carfax) was between 1200-2000 miles or 2500-4000/year.

@PriusCamper I completely agree with used car dealers. I have always avoided them (I usually only buy brand new so I know exactly what I am getting and how it was maintained). The only reason I am even considering this one is yes it is a bit more expensive by about 1000-2000 more than similar year Priuses, but this one has far lower mileage (50k vs 80-90k) has the highest packages where the others are usually Prius 2 or 3, and this has the most detailed Carfax of dealer service I have ever seen (it's incredible-it doesn't just say went to dealer, it specifies exactly what was done at each service). If I were going with a private party, I cannot imagine finding service records as detailed or complete as these and I would be only going off of what they tell me.

Any advice on how the batteries might hold up? Is it likely that they would die under 100k? I don't expect them to last to 200k because they are already old in age but I figure if they make it to 100k then the car will be paid off well before then and it won't be as big of a deal replacing them.

Lastly, if I were to have to replace the batteries, it seems like most people on this forum don't like the reconditioned route and suggest going the OEM new route. Is that the majority consensus?

Thanks again as I am very new to knowing the ins and outs of Prius ownership.

 

@SFO No I will be driving it much more at least 10k/year more likely 15k/year.

@Skibob I have started negotiating and I've got it down a bit in price. for the price of 9-10k, I can get this one with super low miles or I could get one a few years newer around 2012-2013 and the batteries would not be as old but they would have 100-110K on them.

 

@Skibob what other high dollar problem points should I be aware of. From what I’ve read online the main one is batteries until it reaches miles of 250-300k. I like to be well informed before I purchase things.

 

Thanks @Skibob I'll look into the brake booster issue. @oldtechaa I agree the price is a bit too high, I will try to negotiate the price down or just skip it and find a different one.

 

How many of y'all still are running the original batteries? Does anyone have any experience with owning a low mileage Prius that still has the original batteries?

 

@fleafrier1 Thanks. That is direct experience I am looking for. Why is your battery not great? Is your MPG not as high as it should be since it doesn't hold a good charge?