I’m looking at Prius Primes. Here are the 4 Primes I’m considering. Unfortunately some have rebuilt/salvage titles. 2018 Prius Prime- lowest $15,000 46k miles Rebuilt title and passed state inspections- front bumper/grille damage (have copy of state inspection 6 hour drive Downfall is it’s white and I’d have to paint I like this one best but I don’t like white vehicles and not sure how well painting would go. Might be able to get him down a bit more since it’s been sitting for like month 2019 Prius Prime- $15000 73,672 miles Inspected by state officer and Toyota inspected it Leather seats Rebuilt- small accident on windshield and drive side, fenders, mirror and passenger side LED headlight was changed White so I’d also have to paint it. He said he had a friend who could do it for about $700 2 hour drive to see it 2017 Toyota Prius Prime $15,500 Rebuilt- rear bumper/trunk 75,081 miles Not inspected after accident Light blue- okay with color Several hours away I have the paperwork and VIN numbers as well for these vehicles. What are your thoughts on these 3 vehicles? I can post the links from online if that is helpful.
Generally, I'm not a fan of a rebuilt vehicle. Rebuilders can do the bare minimum to get the car back on the road. That part is up to you to figure out. I'm also not a fan of repainting a car either. The new paint tends to be softer, and since the base color is white, any little rock chips will stick out like they have their own lights. There's a $4,000 tax rebate if you find one that a dealer sells for less than $25,000 (going off of the 2023 tax year here, so it's up to you to figure out what the difference is. You still may be able to claim this on your rebuilt car purchase too, so check that part out). That makes a non-wrecked Prime closer to the rebuilt ones you're looking at. Especially when you're looking at repainting the car after you get it. In my search, the color of the car was the last thing on my mind. I looked at the Carfax to see when they changed the oil that first critical time, how many miles between oil changes after that, and what else had to be done... I'd tend to stay further away from the one that was hit in the rear. That generation has a special rear hatch (carbon fiber) and rear window. The traction battery also takes up most of the rear, unlike the regular Prius where the traction battery only takes up the first foot or so behind the rear seats. The old-timer in me would also stay away from the damage in the rear versus front-end damage. It's a unibody sort of thing (which may have changed for cars of this era) The front fenders and a lot of the other body components on a unibody car are bolt-on, whereas the rear body components are a different story. That's just my opinion though. You may have found a diamond in the rough. Good luck with your search.
I did find a silver one for $22,000. It's silver and I offered $18,500 but he's waiting on better deals. It's a 2017 with only 56,950 miles. Not rebuilt.
That's not a bad deal. Look through this, there may be some updated information for 2024. Used Clean Vehicle Credit | Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov)
Hard Pass. Here are all the used EVs that qualify for the new $4,000 tax credit Used vehicles have to meet certain criteria for the tax kickbacks, including but not limited to: Purchased from a certified dealer: For qualified used EVs, the dealer reports required information to you at the time of sale and to the IRS. I didn't see anything in the fine print about buying a previously totaled vehicle but you need to remember that salvage titled vehicles come with other pitfalls including being ineligible for any type of warranty work maybe including the CARB warranty. The rule of thumb for previously totaled cars is that you should pay about 60% of the value of a car with a clean title minus any unfinished work. Good Luck! (You might NEED it!)
Why are you even messing with a salvage car? Get yourself a cherry 2023, or at least a low rust 2020-2021.
Id rather invest my money or put it in real estate. Honestly don't need the fanciest car just something that lasts.
