Buying a "mechanics special" prius, what to check

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Matt98svt, Oct 8, 2023.

  1. Matt98svt

    Matt98svt Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 27, 2021
    71
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    Location:
    South Carolina
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Four
    I have seen 3 seperate local 3rd gen prius come up on marketplace in the last couple of months that all had blown head gaskets for really cheap. Cars looked to be in excellent condition otherwise. Two of them would start and 3rd had sat for a few weeks and had a dead 12v. When buying a car like this what is the best methods to determine things such as 1. has the car had any head gasket repair like blue devil added to the coolant? 2. the condition of the hybrid battery as I doubt i could do a full dr prius test on any of these cars, especially the one with the dead battery. 3. if the car is a heavy oil burner 4. If the car might have already bent a rod. Any tips you have greatly appreicated
     
    #1 Matt98svt, Oct 8, 2023
  2. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2012
    11,686
    4,731
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    Location:
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Just pick the nicest one with the lowest mileage and find a used Gen4 engine to put in it. Toyota failed horrifically with "improvements" to Gen3 engine design that causes them to fail in multiple ways and everything went back to normal reliable Toyota engine design in the Gen4. Also there's a mobile mechanic on here who's based in Oklahoma who will do the engine swap in your driveway in one day for $1500, though you might be out of range of him.
     
    #2 PriusCamper, Oct 8, 2023
    Matt98svt likes this.
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