Hi all! I've been lurking on this forum for a few weeks but I did join very recently and I apologize in advance if theres any forum rules I'm breaking by posting this. I'm looking for some advice/insight on a potential used car I might purchase from a friend of a family friend. He is selling his late grandmother's 2007 Prius with approximately 150K miles on it for $4500. Previously it was owned by a another family member for about 7 years with consistent Carfax service records. The Carfax comes out clean - no recalls, no accidents, although it does show slight damage to the front right frame of the car. My biggest concern is that the car sat unused in a garage in Southern California for the last 3 years or so and wouldn't start so as a result, the owner replaced the hybrid battery (with a generic one, not Toyota manufactured) and the 12V battery last month. Other than that, the owner says that his mechanic says its in good shape. I'll definitely be taking this car to my mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection but my question is, what mechanical issues I be looking out for? Is this a good deal? Will this car last me at least 100K miles with regular maintance? I drive about 8-10k a year, mostly surface streets and some highway. I do have a car fund of about 2000 or so in case of emergency repairs. Thanks in advance!
Great price... You're getting yourself a great deal... Let us know who built the re-manufactured battery? Hopefully you have paper work on it? Some of them have really nice warranties.
welcome! couple of concerns: 1) how can there be frame damage without accident? 2) unlikely that any battery other than toyota is going to last 10 years. 3) a few odd things can be expensive, like a/c compressor for $2,500., or brake actuator. but failure seems to be fairly rare
No accident and slight frame damage? Bent sheet metal is one thing a bent frame is quite another? What do the tires look like?
warranty is void on some reman batteries that sit over a month as well, gotta read the fine prints. IMHO avoid those reman batteries its just not worth the hassle of having something failing in a month-3 years and having to call someone back and going through loopholes to get it fixed. A toyota genuine one costs a couple hundred more and easily lasts 12-15 years. Is saving 2-300 really worth it to you in the long run? Side note its a great car once running.
my concern is oil burning and brake actuator. not to mention all the little things that add up like light bulbs, tires , o2 sensors and etc
...frame....? I wonder what exactly you mean by frame, can you upload a photo? IMHO, the wildcard risk, as @bisco suggests, is that the engine has been burning oil and accumulating soot in the catalytic converter. In California that is an expensive replacement. Your $2k repair budget will come in handy then, but there can be a waiting list for that part because in California, only the Toyota brand cat will qualify for the smog test Based on the date of your post, I'm going to assume that you passed smog, so you don't have to worry about that for 2 years. > Will this car last me at least 100K miles with regular maintance? oh, hell yes. Now, you may get an expensive replacement towards the end of that 100k window, like a cat converter, AC compressor or HV battery. Just about everything else is not unique to Prius and benefits from economies of scale.
