Hi all...my brother is about to purchase a 2012 Prius v with 26k original miles. The car was traded by an elderly couple for a new RAV4 hybrid ( the Toyota dealer that sold them the car is offering it for sale). It is claimed to be in flawless condition and the price is reasonable (considering the ridiculous pricing we're seeing anyway). I told him I might be concerned about a 10 year old Prius with so few miles. Any opinions/insights as to the advisability if this purchase?
Depends what "reasonable" means. $8k-10k is reasonable. $16k-$20k is not. 26k miles is good if they did 5k mile oil changes. The hybrid battery gets old by age, excessive heat or long periods of non use. But $2k for a battery is ok if the price is "reasonable". The brake booster is another weak spot. Again another $2.5k down the road is ok if the car is bought right.
@rjparker How many low mileage bad batteries have you encountered? Our '12 still seems healthy, with lowish miles... REVVL V+ 5G ?
it sounds like a peach. just beware of all the foibles of gen 3 prius, and the possibility of a replacement battery at some point, and your golden. i would buy it in a heartbeat. my 12 is mint at 80k.
Our 2012 v Five has 49,000 miles and runs like a top. A replacement 12V, annual inspections and oil changes have been the primary maintenance items.
I spoke to my brother this morning and he has changed his mind about the car. His concern is the age of the car and potential battery issues. His daughter has a 2012 Prius v 5 that she bought 2 years ago w/48k miles at the time. It now has 75k miles and has been flawless...she loves it (part of his reason for wanting one). I think he's looking for something newer. As for myself, I really miss my 2013 Prius that I sold a couple of years ago (big mistake in retrospect). I have a reliable enough car (which is now 12 years old and needs work to the tpms sensors but otherwise runs well) but would love to get another Prius. We are both retired so driving is very limited. I'm considering the vehicle myself (it's a model 2 and they're "asking" $16k...won't budge on that price because they don't have to). I'd have to make a decision soon as he's going to notify the dealer tomorrow. Soooo...what would you guys do if presented with this deal?
We were offered $17k for ours, sight unseen, but would have to throw in another $30k to get a new high end RAV4 Hybrid. The top in the car market won’t last forever.
It's been 3 days since my brother backed out of the deal. I also changed my mind about buying it. Despite the salesman's assurances that he had "other interested buyers" and the car wouldn't last, it's still listed on their website. Either the car has been sold and they neglected to remove the listing or the "other interested buyers" have had similar concerns. We've decided that we are not going to buy into these high prices (we're both retired and can continue to drive our present vehicles...I didn't drive far enough last year to need an oil change...gonna change it anyway). I plan to wait and see where this market goes over the next year.
Good call. The dealers are gouging. I understand market economics but in 2020 I looked at a three year old, low mile 2017 Prius v which was offered for a price close to the op's $16k 2012v. The 2017 still had a hybrid battery, brake booster and powertrain warranty. Plus updated pistons and rings. Really did not want another gen3 and went for a new Honda primarily because the lowered gen4s lost seating comfort.
Sounds good but you live in the rust belt so, definitely, want to get a mechanic to give it a look-over and up on a lift to see if there's any rust issues....could be great find!!! (Which is hard these days!)
Any car should be flawless at 70,000 miles......I wouldn't do it......unless it's cheap...but the dealer needs to make their $5000.... My previa is flawless at 430,000 miles....... camry 345,000 flawless...... bet you cant say that about a gen 3. To me anything under 100,000 miles shouldn't have a problem....and can't be judged as flawless...
i don't think it's a bad price at all if the battery charges the way it should. We bought a low mile 12 highlander hybrid last year and the battery works well enough, but rarely turns green or charges to the top bar. I expect to replace or replace bad cells in the next year or two, but it's worth it to have a car that feels so fresh inside and out. It was only a couple grand more than examples with 2-3x the miles
