2010 prius for sale for $400, but won't start. Do I want it???

I have opportunity to buy a very good condition 2010 prius with 100K miles and a new toyota battery installed 1 1/2 year ago by a toyota dealership for $400 from a friend I know and trust. The seller owns a small body shop and bought the car 1 1/2 years ago from one of his clients, the original owner for a good price as it stopped charging the new battery not long after the new battery was installed. My friend thought it would be an inverter issue and installed a junkyard inverter and also bought a fancy $400 battery charger to help keep the big battery charged while the car sat till he got time to do some work on it. The vehicle is in really good shape inside and out and the prior original owner was an OCD electrical engineer who kept all the maintenance records. But the new/used inverter did not work to fix the no start problem. And now after a year of sitting, my friend says the gas motor does not start either, guessing that might be the small battery is dead (?). My friend says he can get $400 from a local junkyard and if I want it, I can have it, he just has no time to mess with it. He just wants it gone.

I do own a 2008 prius with 184K miles and 5 years ago when I bought it with 143K miles, I was able to install a new toyota battery with help from the Boulder Hybrid youtube video. I also changed out all the fluids with fresh OEM fluids, replaced the potential faulty inverter cooling pump and had new struts installed and have nice tires and new 12 volt battery. My mileage seems to be going down in last year or so from 49 average to 43 and in hot weather I am hearing the battery cooling fan come on and see the battery temp on Dr Prius app getting warm at times and am concerned maybe it is time for a new prius?? I am going to guess it is not worth the time, hassle or risk to buy the $400 2010 prius???

I know there's a lot of collective knowledge here and wondering what might be happening with this no start prius? Could it be an easy fix? Maybe the Toyota mechanics were young and dumb on the new battery install and something easy like a bad connection that needs snugging down. Or they stripped out some of the many tiny connections?? Or inverter issue? Bad relay or fuse somewhere? I have done quite a bit of mechanical work in my life, couple engine overhauls, clutches, brakes, water pumps, EGR clean up, tune ups, etc,...normal stuff on older cars, but not the best with troubleshooting electrical stuff, although I can use a meter and solder and simple stuff. I doubt the local foreign car shops know too much on hybrids?

 

Yes, SW US 4 corners area. No flooding here, lol. But rodent damage is a real possibility I had not thought of??? The car would have been about 12 years old at the time and I will ask my friend if he knows why the prior owner had the hybrid battery replaced. I might have got some details mixed up on the story, maybe the vehicle was having some issues before the battery replacement and local dealership recommended a new battery and the owner forked out the money to have dealer do the work, but the problem kept happening and they could not figure it out??? I can ask my friend who has it now if he can remember the details. I have another friend I have not seen in a while who is a electrical genius and had an 08 prius for a while and I will see what he thinks. Unfortunately, he lives 2 hours away from the car, but he is pretty bright about anything electrical and mechanical. When he had his prius, he doubled the hybrid capacity by filling up the rear hatch with a dozen lithium batteries, I bet that was no simple task, hahaha

 

I am in SW Colorado. Thanks everyone! I was concerned the new hybrid battery might be bad from sitting??? I am thinking I could get the $400 charger my friend bought as part of the deal, maybe include an extra $100 for a $500 deal. I guess the worst case scenario is I part out the cat, battery and a few things and then tow it to the local junkyard. I wonder if my gen 2 12 volt battery would fit so I can work on trouble shooting it? Yeah, I agree a techstream scan is the way to go. I don't have that software, but could research here where to find it. I briefly looked up the D8 and maybe that is a good investment in the long term and easier to do then the techstream. If I got it to start then I could drive an easy slow flat drive to get to my friend that is the electrical whiz and could help me figure it out??