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Need Help - Buying used 2011 Prius 165k Miles

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by SunnyPriusGA, Nov 2, 2020.

  1. SunnyPriusGA

    SunnyPriusGA Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2019
    6
    3
    0
    Location:
    GA
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    Hi Prius Folks!

    I'm helping to look at a 2011 Prius 165k miles Vehicle for about $5800

    I've looked all around the car from underneath, inside trunk looking for rust spots, looking at engine for any leaks or if the car was "repainted" from damage and such but everything looks fine and great condition.

    Seller is private and i was able to look at the Toyota maintenance records on their website and it generally has consistent records of work being done from brakes, oil changes every 10k Miles, and 120k Scheduled Maintenace.

    Seller has been pretty honest so it seems and mentioned he's been getting about 40mpg local driving so i'm not sure if thats an indication something doom looming.

    Risks i'm aware of for this gen and year:
    - EGR Valve cleaning should be done
    - I'm not sure how to check the Hybrid Battery Pack
    - Seller has records on Toyota site with 12v battery change in 2017 so that should be good for a couple more years
    - Is there anything else i should be looking at that are quick wins or suggestions?

    Thanks for your time and help!
     
    #1 SunnyPriusGA, Nov 2, 2020
  2. Rocky Mountain Priusman

    Rocky Mountain Priusman Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2021
    212
    109
    0
    Location:
    Canmore, Alberta, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    I am not enough of an expert to lend an opinion on this other than what I would do. I just bought one with 100,000 miles and avoided any older ones because of all the EGR clogging problems I've read about. I'd say that buying one at 165K and then promptly cleaning the entire EGR system not just the valve (intake manifold, EGR pipe, EGR cooler, EGR valve) might save the car, or it also might be too late and you could be running into looming head gasget issues. I guess I'd say if I were buying it I'd feel like it was fairly risky and only do it if the price was low enough that if the head gasget failed I'd be okay to pay for that costly repair and not loose sleep over it. If on the other hand you were buying a gen2 Prius with 165K I'd say "no problem, go for it!".

    40 mpg seems a bit low but it could be a variety of things causing that.

    Curious to hear what others may have to say.
     
    #2 Rocky Mountain Priusman, Mar 16, 2021
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