Is it wise to buy a 2005 Prius in 2017?

Age effects the battery along with miles driven. Over all I suspect this car is not a good buy given your lack of funds for repairs.

 

A hybrid may not be right for you. An older hybrid with an aging battery does not like to sit unused.
It will get out of balance the longer you let it sit.
The hybrid battery is 12 years old, and if you keep it a few years it is likely to need a replacement. (Several thousand dollars to replace.)

If you plan on buying it you would want to invest in some diagnostic tools right away so that you can diagnose problems that come up.

You might be better putting that same money ito a non-hybrid like a Toyota Corolla or Camry. Or a Honda Fit.

 

A Prius does not necessarily save someone money. It is for someone to save fuel. The distinction is important. You may save money on fuel but it may not offset the cost or maintenance of the vehicle. In this case, a 12 year old vehicle may be in serious need of maintenance. It may make more sense to buy a newer more reliable vehicle with the same money.

In other words, if all I had was 2000 pounds, I'd try to buy the newest vehicle I can afford. It will likely not be a Prius or a BMW.

 

On average, Prius are very reliable and need few repairs. But if it does they are very expensive ($3000 to $5000, 1600 to 4000 pounds)

So while they are frugal with petrol, I do not recommend them to those with no buffer of cash in case something goes amiss.

Should you decide to go forward, changing the ATF WS periodically, and never using jumper cables are your best shots at avoiding big repairs.

 

Ask for specifics about the hybrid battery.
Was it from Toyota? If so then ask to see the receipt or get 1st hand confirmation from the dealer when it was done.

If it was a rebuild then find out exactly who rebuilt it. Name, address, phone of the company and find out if there is any warranty. Ask to see a printed copy of the warranty.

If you have an Android device...
Download the Torque app.
Buy a Bluetooth OBDII reader. I the US they are less than $20.

 

12 pounds amazon.co.uk/d/ijq/Torque-Pro-Elm-327-Android-OBD-Bluetooth/B01AC7I7BO

 

My 2005 Prius, which I bought in '05 with 5000 miles, lasted me right at 11 years and well over 300k miles. I bought a 2007 last year with ~124k miles, and I'm in the process of replacing the HV battery with just over 145k miles on the odometer. In my experience, the more miles per year the better. The Prius seems to do better at over 10k per year.

 

That's 100% consistent with EricBecky's statement, which I agree with, that "An older hybrid with an aging battery does not like to sit unused". I would go even further and say that *any hybrid does not like to sit unused*

 

Last ,onth I came across a 40,000 mile Honda Insight, model year 2001.
As you can imagine, the hybrid battery was trashed

 

And I think the battery from the '05, with a guesstimated 360k miles, might still be good. It's showing a P0A80 code, but no others for the battery, and the fan was so clogged with dust, there was little to no airflow. The code might just have been from the temp going too high, which could have shut down the system before the battery was damaged.

 

I hope that's 82k miles, not km, and ~10k miles/year it still a bit low to me. You might consider getting the HV battery balanced, and possibly reconditioned, to avoid problems with it. This is just my opinion based upon the research I've done due to my failed battery experience.

 

Search this site for Hybrid Automotive Prolong Grid Charger.

 

Are you agreeing with my assessment that a reconditioning is probably in order? I don't want to give bad advice, and you know far more than I do about hybrids.

 

Conditioning may help but I couldn't really say, I was just answering his questions: