Low miles '03 vs high miles '06

A question like this probably hasn't been asked in a long time.

1. Draw - both are very reliable, proven cars.
2. You dont know, but there's a good chance nothing will happen. There's a 200,000+ mile club here, and taxis go the distance all the time.
3. Styling and technology are the main differences. Plus more cargo room.
4. I'd pick the Gen II, but even $8k still sounds like a lot for one with 162k miles. I'm guessing your budget isn't big, otherwise you wouldn't be in this quandary. Just a couple more thousand dollars and you could easily get a Gen II under 100k miles.

 

I agree that if possible, you should increase your vehicle purchasing budget so that you can buy a 2G with a <100K mile odometer reading. If this is not possible maybe you should buy a used Corolla or similar vehicle.

Any significant Prius failure out of warranty will end costing you four-digits. Although the failure % is not high, that is not comforting if the failure happens to you.

 

Consider how many miles will you will be adding. If low I'd go for the '06 but have it checked out by a Hybrid Mechanic. And look for a ticking sound coming from the gas engine. A lifter adjustment will fix it but will be costly. If they fix it than it would be worth it. It could also be a sign of running low on motor oil to often or not changing enough or both. These cars can take mileage but not if they are abused.

The 06 is more advanced than the 1st generation('01-'03). I am a courier and bought a II Gen '04 w/120,000 miles in Aug. for $8000 and it now has 145,000 and it had the ticking lifters but I knew it was ok cause its not really harmful. But I have to say it's annoying.
Other than that it has been a great car and getting 44 mpg is not bad either.

 

Not that this will help much with your decision but I recently purchased a 05 with 106k that was a package with nav, bt, etc for 9000. Depending on the package the Gen 2 may not be a good deal.

From what I have read here, you're more likely to run into battery and transaxle failures in the Gen 1 vs the Gen 2.

SCH-I800 ?

 

$8k is too much, we just bought an 06' for a little more than that with half the miles from a Toyota dealer. Buy a new yaris or something else.

 

Or look around a bit more and hopefully find a Gen2 with a lot less miles for not very much more money.

 

162K is a LOT of miles, and the Prius is a complicated car. I'd keep shopping or consider the purchase of a non-hybrid.