The Year is 2019– Should I Buy a Used 2005 Prius from a Toyota Dealership?

According to Fuelly the average 2005 Prius gets 43.1 MPG.

An older Prius has the potential to have several expensive repairs:
- Hybrid battery: $2000-$3000
- Transaxle, if not properly taken care of: $1500-$4000
- MFD (weak spot on '04-'05 if I remember correctly): <$300 DIY, $700-$1000 dealership

If you are looking for a cheap car to get better MPGs, try something like a Honda Civic, Toyota Echo/Yaris, or the Honda Fit. Any one of those will easily match the Prius' highway economy and get around 30 MPG in town. Older Prii have a lot of potential repairs that may be required, and it isn't a good idea to buy one unless you have reserve cash just in case. They are quite reliable cars, but when stuff does break, it's pretty expensive.

Based on numbers that myself and others have posted, the fuel savings of a Prius will not make up for the extra cost in repairs unless you either 1) buy a new Prius that won't need repairs for a long time or 2) drive over 20,000 miles per year where the fuel savings will be evident. If you drive over 20k miles per year, then a Prius is a great car whose fuel savings will reward you. If you don't drive that many miles a year, the fuel savings will likely not recover the additional expense to maintain.

I may sound pessimistic, and if I am overly so I am sure I will be corrected by more knowledgeable Prius owners. I just know that as a "broke millennial" once, there are many cars that will get almost the same fuel economy without the additional expenses of a hybrid powertrain.

Good luck on your search.

 

In 5 -10 years, if not sooner you will be replacing the hybrid battery. That is a $2500-$3000 expense for a New one. And you want to buy a New one for sure.

There are other things like very expensive headlights ($90+. Closer to $150 if you get them from a dealer)


A low mileage Corrolla other non-hybrid may be a better option.

I'm.sayimg this as a hybrid mechanic.

 

Honestly, I would stick with your Accord. 175k is not that much for that car, keep it until it dies. Do the regular maintenance.

Ian


iPhone ?

 

It doesn't sound like you drive enough miles to justify the purchase.

If you drive 10k miles a year the prius will save you 500 in gas. You'll outspend that on repairs. 20k miles saves you 1k a year, it would still take several years to save your money back.

Only If you drive 30k-40k miles a year, then you're saving 1500-2000+ a year on gas. Then its worth it.

The accord will probably not give you a major problem or even very many minor problems.

The prius has a good engine and transmission but everything else is known for failure. Electronics and batteries on older models. The electronics can be expensive and used parts are getting harder to find.

 

It's the possible need to replace the Hybrid Battery at some upcoming point that makes the purchase very questionable for anyone on a tight budget. I ALWAYS tell anyone buying a Prius a decade or more old, that they should have the budget set aside for that possible outcome.
There are cheaper ways to replace the battery if it goes, but I also recommend replacing with a OEM Toyota battery. Although this route is debatable.

If I'm closing my post with the sign off..."Broke Millenial who can't afford...."
Then really my advice is just keep driving the vehicle you have, that currently has nothing wrong with it.
A 2002 Honda Accord doesn't have a lot of trade in value, so it's not like continuing to drive it, is subtracting from it's overall value on the market.
If the Accord starts to be problematic, or "dies"? You can always start car shopping then, or make decisions about investment into repair, one step at a time.

The Prius? Might not be a bad investment, but NOT if you can't afford a replacement Hybrid Battery if that becomes needed. Also? IMO the Prius, being a Hybrid is a synergy of two different driving systems, an internal combustion engine, and electric motors/battery. It's an amazing system and historically very durable, but I think the undeniable truth is that as the vehicle ages there is a risk for more components failing if only because a Hybrid has more components that can possibly fail.

I'm not sure this is the case, but I've been budgeted in the past. And when I use to get the "bug" to buy a new vehicle or new used vehicle? What I would do, would be buy a whole lot of automotive cleaning products, Waxes, interior cleaning supplies, etc, etc.
Then I would spend a weekend really detailing the whole vehicle inside and out.
It was a lot of work ( But Fun to me ) and most of the time when I was finished and my vehicle was looking shiny and clean? I usually felt like keeping the vehicle wasn't such a bad idea.

 

Agreed. When money is tight, an old Prius is a poor choice. Age hurts the battery more than miles. This one has moneypit written all over it.

 

^ This.

The better fuel economy of the Prius would take many, many years to overcome the purchase price and that's not figuring in any repair costs. Unless it's been replaced, it WILL need a HV battery sooner rather than later; just a matter of time.

OP never has mentioned the asking price. If it's at a dealer......

 

Easy then: Don't buy anything till you can afford it.

 

Howdy

That's the waaaaaay down deep part of your lizard-brain trying to keep you from making a mistake.

See also:
instinct
gut-check
'funny feeling'

I'm not a sexist, but I'm presuming that you're not really into swinging wrenches on 14-year-old cars.
It's not all that tough, really and it's kinda fun but you need a place to do it.
Garages work best, because getting rained on while you're tinkering on a car takes a lot of the fun out it.
You don't need all that many tools, and the interwebs are full of helpful YouTube videos that will give you enough information to make a 2005 Prius one of the CHEAPEST and MOST reliable cars on the road.

Unfortunately.....
All of this takes more time than money, and millennials are always running around in a huge hurry to do stuff like jobs, school, etc and they often do not have a spare car to drive while their primary mount is in the barn getting reshod.

So....
While it's a REALLY REALLY good idea to learn how to properly maintain a car rather than paying it done, I'm going to vote for the party ticket on this thread and say that you can't really afford this car......yet.


Good Luck!

 

keep the honda. prius will not be an upgrade as repairs become necessary

 

I think the part you are missing is people who are telling you not to buy it figure you don’t have any repair skills. Do you know how to repair cars? My guess is no. As stated there are several high dollar repairs that are generally not related to mileage. The traction battery and the brake accumulator come to mind.

 

^ nice breakdown... and I generally agree. If you're into heavy DIY, know electrical safety and car maintenance, an old Prius isn't bad. You can use time & skill to save a lot of money.

If not? Get a younger Prius or a simpler car.

 

Based on mileage guessing dealership wants 4k or 3.5k.

Hopefully not much more than that.

They are great cars, rarely breakdown. You'll love it and immediately see savings when you go to fill up and it only takes 7 gallons.

 

you're getting conflicting opinions because we get conflicting reports. toyota considers the life of the car to be 150,000 miles. but they use an average of 12 miles per year, so that would be 12 1/2 years.

unfortunately, the battery is only warranted for 8 years in oregon, so toyota doesn't have to pay for any that fail in the following 4 1/2 years, you do.

you may get many more trouble free miles, or you have face expensive repairs. it happens both ways, do you feel lucky?