Should I buy? 2006 Prius needs some work

No pushing people into things from me... But you and others sure do a lot of pushing people away from learning new skills, which is not healthy, or even friendly... There's plenty of people with minimal repair skills who thanks to PriusChat became very advanced at repairs.

I clearly stated in my first comment: "If you have experience doing DIY repairs and are willing to both learn and invest in the tools all of the above can easily be done with the help of this website, which will explain everything in great detail."

 

I see a lot of conflicting opinions here and honestly, I'm not sure some of them are warranted. I guess it all depends on how thorough the dealer inspection really was. Even a lackluster dealership would have checked the HV battery, so I'm not convinced that it would need to be replaced anytime in the near future since that wasn't an item listed in the repair quote. I think buying the Dr. Prius app for self testing would be a good idea before purchase though. I also am not convinced the HID replacement needs to be at that level of expense. Does it really need a ballast, or does it just need a bulb and the dealership just always installs them together? It would pay to get a separate quote from an independent repair shop. Just getting a quote on the dealer suggested items without taking the Prius in should give a good supporting opinion as to the dealerships estimate. I think the dealership telegraphed their true nature with a quote of $79 for a cabin air filter, which is absolutely outrageous, and I would discount anything they have quoted as needing repair until verified by another source. Preferably that would be an independent shop that specializes in hybrids. That dealership is not to be trusted I think.

The other thing is that with new regulations and restrictions on all forms of oil manufacture in the US I expect to see very sharp increases in gas prices in the near future. Probably at least a dollar/gal increase and potentially a lot more. This makes even an old Prius more attractive and cost effective going forward.

I would like to see the actual inspection report to see if there is any hard data to accompany the expensive repairs quoted. For example, did they do a compression test, inverter inspection and test, hybrid drive diagnostics, etc? I just think there is not enough information to even speculate on without more information. This could potentially be a very good deal, or a bottomless money pit. Need more data.

When I purchased my 07 a couple of months ago I added $2500 to my budget for the car in the event it needed an HV battery. The vehicle has 124,000 miles and it's doing great so far. I still have the major repair budget funds ready and will keep it available, but I've been quite pleased with the condition of the HV battery and all major repair items so far. So I wouldn't discount the deal out of hand if I were Ana, but I would get another informed opinion for sure.

 

Using your VIN, registered at toyota. com/owners/ I'll remove it from my name.

Welcome to Toyota Owners

 

Shady carfax notwithstanding, $3200 for low-mile 2006 is generally a very good price. The recommended work like tires and fluid changes would apply to any used car under $10k. I don't see why replacing a headlight requires replacing the whole headlight assembly.