So my daughter was able to get her 2006 Prius to 210k miles. She's in Denver area and just bought new to her Subaru Outback (that Prius just couldn't handle the steep mountain roads above 10k feet! and trips to the ski resorts were best done riding with friends). Anyway, we're looking to understand the value but it has lots of issues: Combo meter fails intermittently (dash goes dark) MFD touch screen doesn't recognize touches A/C doesn't work Brake warning lights are on (shop just checked and said brake controller is failing for left rear brake) Consumes oil (rate of 1qt per 1000-2000 miles) A few scratches/dings Seems like no problems with the batteries. The inverter cooling pump was replaced just a few months ago. There are "cash-for-clunkers" type website services that say they'll give ~$1300 for it. I'm guessing we should take that but if anybody thinks it's worth more I'd be happy to hear your thoughts.
Nope I'd be happy to get that without any problems even 900 just to get it out of my way because with everything that's wrong with it and out in ski country it's not something we want to try and bring back probably just a guess
If you got family on the west coast and drive it out here you could get at least 4X times what you're offered and if I fixed all these problems and upgraded the hybrid battery you could get near $8K for it in Portland or Seattle region.
FWIW Cat was stolen a year ago and replaced under comprehensive insurance claim (to the tune of $4000!). The insurance forced an OEM cat into it. We paid extra to have some sort of "guard" installed to prevent future thefts (for some reason insurance wouldn't cover that).
I don't buy new cars very often. I've bought two new cars and one new bike in my lifetime. When buying used i discover a host of problems and find out later that oil changes were rarely done by Jiffy lube w parafin wax, trans fluid was never changed, needs shocks, a jury rig, a cabin filter installed sideways, glove box shock ripped out, etc. I find it's better to keep fixing what I have rather than buy somebody else's unserviced wreck. If I need an engine, it's better to do it because my cars work absolutely perfectly. Better to deal with the demons you know than the ones you don't!
A few months ago, I looked into the value of my car, just for the sake of curiosity. Everything mechanically is fine, although there is a large dent/scrape on the passenger side door and some stains on the seats. It came back that my car was worth around $2300. So for your car with a number of things not working, and with the wholesale price of used cars going down, I would take the $1300 offer, because you’re probably not going to get much better. As a previous poster said, the cash for clunkers place is probably going to take out the catalytic converter for the valuable metals there, and trash everything else. But it sounds like that’s about all it’s worth right now.
Boulder Hybrids is a great shop. The owner used to be active here and in the podcast "What drives us". I have spoken with him about my (now departed) Prius. A good, honest and nice guy. He might be interested in it as a vehicle to fix and sell, definitely worth getting his opinion.
