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2017 prime plus 127k

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by lonelyisthespider, Nov 10, 2024 at 10:00 PM.

  1. lonelyisthespider

    lonelyisthespider New Member

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    would you buy this car as a first hybrid? I've done my research and I know I want a prius prime. this one is the most affordable, with my car trade in I MAY even be able to get some money back, which I would save for the inevitable battery replacement.

    it may be worth noting, my car is a 2019 with 34k

    so even if this car only has 200k miles on it altogether, it'll take me awhile to get there, yeah? enough to justify it? are there any problems I should look out for or questions I should ask the salesperson? it had 1 owner
     
  2. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    Welcome;
    The 2016-2017 model years had an issue with the exhaust gas heat exchanger. You just need to make sure the car doesn't overheat due to lack of coolant. That problem is covered under the car's emissions system warranty. CARB states mandate extended protections on emissions systems, beyond the standard Federal mandates.
    Re: salesperson - their job title should tell you everything you need and should know. Their purpose is to SELL you a car, they are not there to NOT SELL you a car - even if they knew the answers to your question. Most of them will try to avoid lying to you by saying they don't know. Some will lie to you to close a sale - AGAIN they are salespersons and will get fired if they don't meet their quota.

    Just my 2-cents....
     
  3. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    No!
    If 'your car' is a 2019 with 34k miles....is really YOUR car (instead of the bank's car,) WHY trade it for a car that's 80% through it's lifespan???
    EVEN if it's an even trade it's a horrible decision.
    Battery replacements (there are MORE than ONE!) are indeed inevitable.
    So are all of the other things that happen to Corollas, Camrys. Accords, GMCs and Fords.
    Brakes.
    HVAC.
    Transmissions/CVTs/etc...
    Electronics.

    These things happen MORE FREQUENTLY in a car that's 80-years-old in human years!!!!!!!!
    IN ADDITION to all of that you're adding hybrid components for a car that can cosplay an EV for...what?
    20 miles????

    The 'one owner' argument doesn't work in this case.
    OJ Simpson only had 'one other wife' before he married Nicole Brown.

    How'd THAT work out?

    Bad move.
    Prove me wrong....
     
  4. lonelyisthespider

    lonelyisthespider New Member

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    it is mine, not the bank's. I am trading for a plug in hybrid bc that's what I want and I want to get it before our next president takes office . my research has showed me I want the prime.
    the reason to consider this 2017 is bc it's likely the only one I can trade in and maybe get some extra money leftover . everything else will require me to contact my bank again and get an auto loan again and I really don't want to do that if I can help it

    but that's why I'm asking advice of people who more likely know the longevity of the car. if I can't get another 5 years out of it at least, then there's no point
     
  5. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    As usual there are a few assumptions already made about what you are asking for feedback on. Some of them might be right on, others not so much.
    You didn't say what model your 2019 is. whether or not that makes a difference to you. I'm guessing you didn't mention your current model for some reason.
    You also didn't say why you're thinking about getting into your first hybrid and planning to possibly trade your newer vehicle with low miles for an older vehicle with 4x the miles. It is a rather curious tactic, said the spider to the fly, but there could be a reason you didn't mention why.
    Repair costs for hybrids and EV are historically higher than most non electrified cars in the same class, so that's something to keep in mind, especially if you are using the typical dealer / insurance channels for ever little thing that might happen during ownership.

    Sales critters typically know very little about most of the cars they sell, so take that with a grain oif salt when you ask one of them to a question about a car.
     
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i wouldn't let the new administration panic you, things won't change that fast.

    as mentioned above, there is some risk with the early primes, but we don't know how much.

    outside of that, 200k is no big deal.
     
    lonelyisthespider likes this.
  7. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    I didn't notice above is only you're second post and you probably wrote it long before i wote mine above.

    A lot depends on how the Prime was driven by the previous owner. And there's not real way to be sure about that. There are ways an owner can really messup a Prime in less that 50K miles. Not that a first time hybrid owner would probably notice, the short story is if the 130 k miles were mostly Hwy miles and the first owner didn't run the EV miles all the way out at the beginning of each trip and have the engine startup cold at 60mph, than you should be able to get at least 5 more years out of the Prime.

    There are a few things you can check real fast on the dash. There is a little button on the left hand side of the steering wheel ( just below and to the left of the round circle with the bigger button in the middle of that circle) which is the trip button. Tapping that button 5 of 6 times will scroll you through the trip; meters.
    One of those meters shows how many miles until the gas tank is empty. When the gas tank is full if that meter shows above 400 miles till empty, that's a good sign.

    Use the (round circle control with the button bigger button in the middle ) on the right hand side of the steering wheel to scroll through all the screens that show on the MID ( little screen above the bigger screen in the dash. There is a mind boggling number of screens to scroll through on that display so absorb what you can, and let us know if you need help understanding what they are for and how to read them.

    The other way an owner can mess up a Prime fast ( within a few years ) is by driving it like a regular gas car with hard acceleration and braking to keep up with aggressive traffic. That kills MPG and strains the battery pack. Two drivers in our Prime, don't ask me how I know.
     
    #7 vvillovv, Nov 11, 2024 at 3:02 PM
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2024 at 3:12 PM
  8. Danno5060

    Danno5060 Active Member

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    If you've only got 34K on your existing car, I don't think you'll do enough miles for upgrading to pay off - unless your existing car is a pickup or large SUV.

    A prime is great, but only if you do less than 25 miles during your normal day's drive. Then it's like having an EV. After that, it's only good.

    Do the math. Figure out how many miles you drive in a month and the difference in gas mileage - then how much you'll save in a month. Balance that with how long you'll have before that pays itself off.
     
  9. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    All the more reason to keep it!
    If your car is a 2019 with 34k miles on it AND it's paid for then that will insulate you much more effectively from whatever you're thinking is going to change during the next four years than trading down for a car that's 80-percent through its design life cycle.

    Your location is 'USA' which means that your state's governor is going to have more to do with your day-to-day life than the people in DC.
    ESPECIALLY if your zip code starts with a '9!'

    Good Luck!
     
  10. lonelyisthespider

    lonelyisthespider New Member

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    I'm more worried about my carbon footprint. he's a known climate denier so I feel like govt and corps are about to fvck us BIG TIME so I want to do as much of my part as possible

    but I am reading all of these posts and taking them under consideration, thank you! I'll reply to what's needed ASAP too

    but it seems the general consensus is, this is not the prime for me. not my prime time yet.
    so my question to everyone is: what year/miles/price of a Prius prime hybrid would you be looking out for and consider a good deal for a first time hybrid purchase?

    my current car is a Honda Civic, I didn't mean to Not give that info
     
  11. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    Here's an example of a Prime I would stay as far away from as I could get. The owner thinks he knows how the car should behave because of the way it usually behaved in the past.

    At 80 mph in EV mode the the driver gets only about 10 minutes before the battery runs out of juice. when starting with a full charge. Why anyone in there right mind would treat the car like that is beyond me.

    2017 Prime Engine didn’t start when EV depleated | PriusChat

    But this world is full of all kinds of people.
     
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  12. kiwiscoot

    kiwiscoot Junior Member

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    lol, I did notice you did not respond to that topic.
     
    vvillovv likes this.
  13. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    I hope you like the bright idea I came up with to add to that persons request for comments on running the pack all the way down to where the Gen 3 Plugin battery monitor screen turned from 2 green bars to 2 purple bars. I never got it to one bar before the engine started by tooling around the neighborhood below 10mph after 18 or 19 miles in hypermiler mode I also only ran EV mode at 64 mph once for about a mile. Gen 3 plugin max EV mode mph was / is 64 mph with a healthy pack.
     
  14. kiwiscoot

    kiwiscoot Junior Member

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    lol no I didn't see that topic.
     
  15. kiwiscoot

    kiwiscoot Junior Member

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    lonelyisthespider just my 2c....:)

    a climate conscious person like you will probably do the planet much more good to keep the Civic and drive it sensibly for some years more than it landing in the hands of a hoon/idiot burning rubber and lots of fuel and it ending up prematurely wrecked messing up the environment even more.
     
  16. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    Honda Civic are practicable, reliable, and fuel efficient car that's easily repairable. I don't understand why you would want to trade for a more complicated car, that's more than likely going to have higher repair cost and require more specialized mechanics to repair. This translates to higher overall cost of operations. If your paying more than $0.38 KwH for electricity - your operations cost will actually increase, assuming $4 gal for gas. Those cost will vary based on your location, driving habits, and weather conditions.
    I've owned Honda's in the past and easily surpass 200K miles on them with minimal repair cost. In fact I sold my last Honda to a cousin, she's about to break 400K miles. Other than standard maintenance and a couple of sensors, it's still running strong. The ride would probably benefit from strut replacements, but that's her call.
    If your dead set on getting a hybrid, look at an older Chevy Volt or Ford Fusion hybrid. They are fairly reliable and won't break the bank for less than $7K. That way you can experience the "full Monty" of frustrations of maintaining and repairing a used hybrid.
     
  17. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    If you knew anything about carbon throughput you would understand that 'perhaps' the US "carbon throughput" is lower than China and India's.
    By a lot.

    That's an aside.
    For YOU Personally?

    My original advice stands.
    The CVCC is a dang good car - well, except for crash ratings - but then safety doesn't seem to be your North Star.
    The early Primes are too - but trading a CVCC with less than 40K for a Prius with 200K?

    Um.....
    Ok.

    I only have experience with 2 'wireless' Priuses and for only 250K miles.
    Would I trade a paid-for 2019 CVCC for a clapped-out Prius?


    Nope.


    Good Luck to you.
    If we were closer?
    I'd buy the CVCC from you for $1000 more than the dealer is going to rip you off for - even if it was obviously negelcted.

    Like I said.
    They're DANG good cars - and I don't even LIKE Hondas.
     
    Danno5060 likes this.