Advice for a used Prius buyer

I'm sure the search will help you, but i found a great place to read is CarBuyingTips.com or something like that. I signed up for the Experian auto check and enjoyed seeing how long a particular car sat on the lot. The one I bought today had been sitting there since October. I knew no one wanted it... They kept trying to explain how much they paid for it, but it really wasn't my concern. Gas is down, economy is in the toilet, so that makes the car worth "x" to me. If gas was up, economy good, and hybrids in high demand, I'm sure they wouldn't have had a problem charging more for the car.

I probably ran 10 or 15 VIN checks on different cars I was looking at. It was well worth the $25 for unlimited checks for 90 days. I'll probably give the credentials to any one of my friends that are hunting for cars.

The one thing I liked about the carfax (which most dealers now offer a free report right on their website) is that if it was serviced by the dealers, is that it has the entire service history on it. In my case, the previous owner brought it in for service without missing a beat. The Experian looks more at the big picture with flood titles, salvaged titles, taxi service, title history, etc.

Good luck!

 

Check the front end and the engine area for signs of damage repairs (weld marks, missing VIN labels, etc). I bought a salvaged '04 Prius and had to do some troubleshooting and minor repairs myself (even fixed a problem with the coolant heat storage tank pump that the Toyota dealer could not figure out). Make sure there are no check engine lights and the red triangle light is not on. Make sure all the dash warning lights come on during power-on (to check that they aren't disabled masking a problem).

There are a LOT of rebuilt salvaged Priuses out there from front end damage. Some of the sellers on Craigslist around here specialize in rebuilding the Prius. The ones that admit they are rebuilt usually act like it was a "small" accident, but you find out later they replaced the entire front of the car!

 

Avoid a lemon, buy a Toyota.
Easy isn't it?

 

Pay a certified Prius technician (most of them are at dealers) to thoroughly check out a used car before you buy it. As you suspect there can be so many things wrong and unrepaired in these cars that it'll make you ill.

 

That's pretty sweet. The options are great on these cars...lots of goodies to play with. I was looking for something similar to that. 66k isn't bad and at $14k...you're right in that great price point (in my inexperienced opinion )

I just got my 06 pkg5 for 12.8...but it has 82k miles. How long has it been for sale? Does your carfax report indicate when it was placed out for sale? Mine was out there since October...so obviously no one else wanted it.

 

Well above all else, you definitely want to be in the right mindset buying a new (to you) car. If you still have money owed on your current vehicle, I recommend sticking with it until its paid off before looking at plunking down more money for another vehicle.

I have been out from under a car payment for about 3 or 4 years now and my old girl is still running fantastic. (98 Malibu with 174k miles and running like a champ) I was kind of questioning whether I wanted to really get a new car if one was 1) paid off and 2) working fine. But that being said, everything is in the toilet right now and before gas goes up, now is the time to haggle with dealers over the Prius.

Long story short, it has to work for your circumstances...not to worry, they'll be plenty to choose from whenever you're ready!