$875 Auction Prius - Drove it home!!

Hey all. Just picked up a Gen 2 from copart. Clean title, one owner, 224k miles. It was my first copart purchase.

When I was a kid, my Dad bought his own Gen 2 new in 2004, and I thought it was awesome. He drove it for 120,000 miles and traded it on a 2007 Camry Hybrid XLE that we got used, and now he has a 2015 Avalon Hybrid XLE. That original 2004 Prius hooked my whole family on Toyota and hybrids.

I’ve been looking for a good daily commuter for cheap, and have always wanted to see what it’s like to buy from copart. I looked at priuses and found this one.

I literally drove it home from the lot 25 miles and enjoyed it. It’s rough, but the battery is holding a great charge, and the car has no lights on the dash. I’ll be cleaning it up and assessing it more tomorrow. Below I’ve attached my first gas stop after picking it up. This car is filthy!

I look forward to modding the hell out of this thing

 

Thanks for the support guys. I will update this forum regularly. Hopefully it gives light to people curious about buying an auction prius and what it’s like to own one. Had no time to mess with it today unfortunately. Here’s some more pics for you all to see it’s current condition.

Needs:
New brakes
New tires
Inspection (check that dated tag)
A good cleaning (in/out)





iPhone ?

 

Hey there, appreciate the heads up. I noticed after drive probably 15 minutes and braking semi hard to clear them off helped smooth the ride quite a bit. I have a feeling this car sat for a very very long time. One tire was dead flat when they drove it out to me, and another was nearly flat. I was making a ton of noises and vibrations when I first started driving, and I could hear what sounded like a brake clipping a rotor (maybe the e brake sticking after being on for a long time). Over time it smoothened out a bit; I still need to really air the tires up to about 40psi, right now they're all barely 30psi.

I want to do the brakes because it's super cheap (35$ on rockauto for a rotors/pads kit) and these ones are extremely rusty. I know the engine does most of the braking, but I would like the car to pass inspection as well. I know you mention a prius can do a quarter million miles on original brakes and this car is pretty much there at 224k. I may hold off for now though and just look for tires. Unfortunately the wheels all have lock nuts, and the key is nowhere in the car.

All and any advice welcome, and I appreciate the input/insight!

 

Totally agree with getting it inspected depending on how long it sat (see my above reply for info on it's condition when I got it). I definitely want to make sure it is safe before I start driving it frequently or for lengthy distances. It stops very well/quickly now though, the rotors are just completely rust and have insane grooving in them at this point. For the cheap price of brakes, I'm considering just buying some myself and doing it.

 

Update: finally vacuumed and wiped down some of the interior. This thing is perhaps the grossest vehicle I have ever been in. Check out the cabin filter....

1st Pic - From a fully empty shop vac, to what you see

2nd Pic - Cabin filter. Immense amounts of rat nesting/crap and acorns

3rd Pic - Trans tunnel carpeting in the rear before vacuuming...this is a hairy car

Should I get her detailed?




iPhone ?

 

Just drove about 60 miles varying from highways to town driving. Very easy to get good mpgs.

My average over the last 95 miles (since I bought it) is only 33.7 since this includes the first time it ever started in probably a long time when they brought it to me. The car idled for probably 20-30 minutes while we prepped it for the road at the auction.


iPhone ?

 

Thanks to you both for the information about the brakes, I will definitely disconnect the 12v. Had no idea about that! I appreciate the documentation/how-tos. I have a video I’ll be posting shortly on my youtube channel if anyone is interested in watching.




iPhone ?

 

Gave it a bath today too, much needed!

 

Hmm yeah thats weird someone else had commented but seems it’s gone now. I’ll be sure to pump the brakes too. There’s a few youtube tutorials and it seems fairly simple for a weekend job amongst other maint items like oil change etc. I’m fairly handy with simple car stuff which is great for a project like this car.


iPhone ?