Hi! There is a prius I found in my area I am looking into getting. It is a 2005 package #3 at 117,000 miles for $3500 after some bargaining. I would be purchasing it from a small dealer. However, there are two big issues. 1- The battery was recently replaced with a newer (not sure how new or used other than that it was a 2015) dorman battery. I realize these aren't the best but if it could last me 2 years or so that's all I need. Thoughts? 2- The clear coat on the roof is peeling. Supposed, the car has a clean title and has not been painted over. As it is maroon, it seems less likely to have the clear coat strip away as much. How much on average does it cost to fix that for this year prius? Overall, for $3500, do you pros believe it'd be worth it? I will be taking it into a toyota dealer for a pre-purchase inspection and I have a list of parts to check. My main issue would be those two factors. Thanks for any help in this tough decision!
1. Have you seen it in person? 2. What is the book value of this Prius, based on your perceived condition? 3. What is the remaining warranty on the Dorman? Also do a search on them. IIRC their reputation dropped lately. 4. How many miles do you anticipate driving per year?
1- No I have not. It's about 45 minutes away and I have not had the time. I've had them send me pictures though those don't always mean much. 2- I believe it is about $4200-4700 if on the low end. 3- As it is a 2015 Dorman, I believe the warranty is expired. I have researched Dorman batteries and they seem to be a hit or miss, sometimes good or sometimes failing quickly. But it may be better than what I've heard. Hopefully it'd last a year or so. 4- I will drive about 10,000 miles or so per year. Definitely no more than 13,000.
If it's a rebuilt battery (and afaik, all Dorman batteries are rebuilt) and that was three years ago, it will almost certainly fail again soon. Still, at $3,500, if the rest of the car is OK, that doesn't seem all that bad to me. If you're just going to keep it a couple years, it might be OK to play whack-a-mole with battery modules. Assuming you can live without the car for a few days when it happens. Concerning the paint, that's pretty much a given with the burgundy clear coat on the gen 2. My '05 was that color and was peeling all over. I said phooey on spending anything on paint. It just looks its age and it isn't rusting. The only other expensive part that could give out on you is the brake accumulator pump. Toyota is really proud of those things. Water pump is the other possibility, but they aren't as dear as long as you catch them before it's too late.
Can you get the VIN number and enter it at the Toyota website? Or get a Carfax report? I'd be curious if there is any logged recent maintenance reports concerning the vehicle, especially anything about Hybrid Battery Failure. How much can you find out about it's history? Something brought it to be at a "small dealership" being sold.
Usually, dealers will provide the carfax free of charge. There is a lot of info on that, including if the car has been in an accident, which states it spent its life and how many owners. Going back to the Electric Me's comment, there's a reason why this was put up for sale. And then combine that with jerrymildred's hunch that the battery could be near the end of its useful life. Also, there was good advice on plugging the VIN into the Toyota website to see what kind of work has been done and if any large repairs were recently diagnosed. This only works if the owner brings the car to the dealer to be maintained. I don't think you drive enough to make the risk worthwhile for an older Prius, but that's just me.
