2nd gen Prius a safe reliable buy?

I agree. I hope the guy gets the dealer to take the car back and gets his money back. Go buy the Hyundai and ask their forum for help.

 

Yeah, that's why I would suggest topping off until the maintenance light comes on, then change the oil. There's no reason to pre-emptively change the oil.

 

I hope for the best outcome for the OP.
I personally think that returning the vehicle would be VERY difficult, near impossible. Unless you want to take it all to court? But I could be wrong. It's a dealer decision and occasionally you do hear of them taking a sold vehicle back. But...not too often.

Even though I think the OP was disappointed and evidently surprised by the amount of maintenance the vehicle evidently needs, suspension, brakes, fluids...etc, etc, ...it's not all out of the realm for a vehicle of it's age and mileage, and if repaired I think the vehicle could be viable for the future.

My concern would be the engine.
But if the engine checks out OK.....and/or you want to invest into that? Again it could be OK.

But that's where I'm at, and I'm out. That's my opinion and now I just wish the OP luck, whatever he decides to do moving forward.

 

Wow! This thread certainly got hot and heavy at times! Sorry, I was absent dealing with my kid's car issues (and still am).

Here are my thoughts.

#1 and the most important. If the car was delivered without oil in the engine, it is AUTOMATICALLY a lemon. Period. No discussion. The engine is not long for this world.

# all else. The estimate from your mechanic is overpriced rubbish. He sees you walk in the door with a hybrid you know nothing about and $$$ in his eyes begin to twinkle.

Front brakes. May not be necessary, but... Parts $150 (estimated), labor 2 hours (estimated)
Rear brakes. May not be necessary, but... Parts $(google it), labor 2 hours (estimated)
Oil change. Parts $35 (synthetic oil and Toyota filter), labor 15 minutes (hour minimum at the garage)
Spark plugs. Parts $30 (estimated), labor half an hour (1 hour minimum at the garage)
Oil leaks. Unknown issue, reason for Lemon Law invocation.
Front struts. Parts $300 (or less), labor 3 hours (estimated).
Shop supplies. What?!!!

Hope that helps.

 

Since the OP wants to be economical, I certainly wouldn't embrace that conclusion without a compression test. Even if the results support that conclusion.
I have read threads, situations where people have run their vehicles low, very low on Oil and survived to drive another day.

The other option is just to see.
If the engine damage is significant, it will continue to lose oil, and show other symptoms.
But it's worth "seeing".

I'm suspicious of his mechanic as well. If only because he's evaluating what needs to be done to the vehicle, and evidently discovers the engine has no Oil, but tells the OP all it needs is suspension, brakes, fluid, etc,...and doesn't mention that the engine could be a problem?
I think a really good, honest mechanic, raises potential engine condition as a "Let's check this first" scenario, BEFORE recommending a whole lot of other expensive repairs.

I disagree, that even with oil loss, the "Lemon Law" could be applied.
At the very least, it would be a legal battle, and time and money spent. For a $3,500 vehicle, with the age and mileage attached? I think it's an non-viable avenue for resolution.
I'd be happy to be wrong about that.

 

Did I miss something about engine noises or warning lights? Unless the oil pump sucks air and pressure drops, no damage will be done. Just because it wasn't on the dipstick doesn't mean anything was harmed.

 

Two quick comments because I don’t have a lot of time.

The symptom of a valve cover gasket failure is your car marking its territory. The engine has absolutely no idea whether or not the valve cover gaskets seals, but it will seep boil down your engine onto the ground. It doesn’t oil leak, nothing more. Possibly the easiest oil leak defects.

The maintenance required light is nothing but a maintenance timer, you can put your grain of salt back in the kitchen. 5000 miles like clockwork it will go, whether in that needs to be changed or not. The engine has absolutely no way of knowing the condition of the oil.

 

Well, I don’t know that got into this thread. No need for my battery price here.

 

If you plan to take this to court, you would have to PROVE you have damages. So far the car runs as it should with a diagnostic from a mechanic needing work. That's hardly proof of anything.

 

I wish I could stay away from those that come in dissing the product, while not actually doing their own research prior to an investment.

 

There is a block button. Click on the offending persons name and click the ignore button. Personally I have never blocked anyone in any forum, but if you feel it would enhance your experience go ahead.

 

Well, just be forewarned that if you decide to go the legal litigation route? It's going to take time, effort, and some degree of money, AND there is no guarantee you would win. Did you sign a selling contract that said anywhere "As Is"? If so? Just know you could go through all the effort and still lose.
But if you're motivated enough and want to try? Good Luck, let us know how it works out.

 

I haven’t read anything that suggests is just this is not going to be a fine car with a little bit of maintenance. Anything at that age is going to need stuff like this, it’s really not that big of a deal.

Find a mechanic is not going to overcharge you, or learn to do it yourself. Or take a loss and buy a newer car that isn’t going to need work. I think your mechanic is helping you make mountains out of mole hills.

 

The benefit of knowing how to fix things yourself is much greater than actually getting it done and saving money. More importantly, it extends to knowledge, which is power.

You don't need to have the tools and desire to actually change the struts, brakes, etc. on a Prius, but if you know how to do it, you will not be easily bamboozled by ridiculous estimates and it will be much more difficult to sell you a car that needs a lot of obvious work and has no oil in the engine.

Said knowledge and power will be help to find a mechanic that you can trust because you are well informed by your own experience and knowledge.

If your plan is to buy cheap used cars, I suggest you begin to learn car repair and maintenance. Your record so far is pure luck and luck runs out. Get to know cars if you want to continue to buy cheap used cars. That's my advice, I hope you don't take it as trolling or thread crapping.

 

If you want a really inexpensive and fuel efficient ride, consider a '00-'06 Honda Insight or '03-'05 Honda Civic Hybrid, preferably manual transmission. They both return excellent fuel economy and are generally bullet proof reliable outside of the hybrid battery, but the hybrid battery can be bypassed and run on gas only, so you save money there. As an example, my '06 Insight cost $1500 w/ 254k miles; it runs literally like new and returns 70+ MPG on bad days with cold weather, with highs close to 100 MPG. Fuel economy is the same with or without the hybrid battery.

The thing is that with a Prius, they're generally quite reliable, but when something does go bad, it's generally more expensive (hybrid battery, transaxle, engine, invertor, etc) which is why they're recommended more for people who drive a lot.

You also aren't limited to a Prius for good fuel economy. A used Corolla, Yaris, Fit, or Civic, if driven conservatively, is easily able to almost match the fuel economy of a Prius. I was regularly getting 45-50 MPG winter, 50-55 MPG summer out of an '04 Civic (non-hybrid, automatic) sedan I used to drive. Plus none of the hybrid battery concerns.

(Fun fact: I once pulled 60.01 MPG over an almost 400 mile road trip in the Civic--remember, not a hybrid--verified at the pump and confirmed in subsequent tanks that it wasn't a filling error)

A little bit of an afterthought, but I know Ecomodder.com has a page detailing what to look for when buying a used Prius; I haven't looked but I'm sure there's the equivalent of that here on PriusChat.

Most used cars will need some sort of minor repairs when you buy them in this price range, as I'm sure you're aware of. But yeah, that $2700 repair does look fishy.. only real concern I see would be any possible damage to the engine from the oil being low, but that would partially depend on how long the car was run with low oil.

I'm sure there will be people who disagree with me on this, but I would change the transmission fluid every 30k miles if your Prius has over 100k miles, just to be on the safe side. I'd rather spend a few extra bucks on preventative maintenance than have to drop $2k-$4k on a transaxle replacement. Can't speak on the effects of a lead foot, other than reduced fuel economy.