What to sell 2013 Prius w/head gasket issues?

So other than the engine crapping out everything else is in good shape the door panels are nice the armrests aren't starting to cave in when you put your arm on them on the two front doors usually the back is not a problem The interior is relatively clean everything works is expected there's not a bunch of wear marks on the gray trim on the dash or on the shifter surround the buttons on the stereo aren't all worn down black showing through the gray etc etc etc generally people aren't going to want to do the work to fix a car with a lot of the stuff I'm describing but then again they might I mean I see these things going for like four or $5,000 I don't know what they finally sell for after they sit on the marketplace for 3-4 weeks and people him and Haw over what they're going to do. That's the thing that should be in the marketplace is what things finally sell for when they do sell but then again I see why it isn't but you see these things going for those kind of money but I bet when they finally get sold they're going to towing lots and they're going to people who think they might be able to whatever and then they become yard paperweights and then next they're trying to sell every part and most of those parts are all plastic and crappy like when you go out to find generation 3 door panels or anything they're all destroyed You won't find any in the United States anywhere except in somebody's garage on a perfect condition car that they take care of and won't be for sale because of the head gasket issue hell you could take a head gasket issue Prius into a Toyota dealer and get $5,000 for it probably of course you're going to get put in another payment which is why they're happy to help you out this is just kind of a poor design something that ran up on Toyota that they weren't thinking about when this Atkinson cycle business came along kind of like the Miller cycle engine for the Mazda you know that sort of thing Good idea for a second but then whoops there've been a few things like this to happen to car manufacturers oh well funny thing I bought into this 10 years after the car was made and usually these problems have reared their ugly head and have been beaten to the ground or whatever. But apparently not so much. Like I say this is not the Toyota of yore.

 

Sorry to hear that. I'd say in your area $5,000.

 

With white smoke it is actually at the end stage hg failure.

A dealer will send a tradein like this to auction and expect to get $500 after fees. They might give you a trade in value of $2500 on a marked up new car fully realizing what their net will be on your old trade in.

I would price it at $3k and take $1500 after waiting a few weeks. The buyer has to take a huge chance that a replacement engine fixes it.

For my money, if the car is otherwise clean, I would have a small shop swap in a used engine for $2500 and then quickly sell it for $6k.

If I wanted to keep it I would get a rebuilt engine (pistons and rings, gasket set, rebuilt head and cleaned out carbon) for maybe $4k and drive it another 100k.

 

take the kbb value and subtract what the prius mechanic wants to repair it.

 

It would have to be in very good shape for me to consider any of that to get the 6K for it a lot of people know of these problems now and are asking the right questions many not this model is kind of losing that Prius superiority complex kind of thing people know like I said it's funny that it doesn't happen much to the Corolla or other models that have used the same engine without the Atkinson valve train. Right now I wouldn't bother risking it at all I would just be rid of it because I keep my other generation twos around as I try and fool with other things and other failures and nonsense just to see what's going on I can do a lot of this stuff for near nothing so it's not really on my dime but on my time. What I have learned through this with the Gen 3 is not to waste time taking chances with any kind of oddball stuff Atkinson cycles Miller cycle engines so on and whatever because usually those things don't work out so well they're high hope type things that well never get very high We saw a lot of this in the '80s Toyota generally has steered clear of the nonsense but here with the three they kind of dove in even when backwards kind of on the brakes they went back to what BMW was doing and '83 just a little bit less costly

 

Looks like you're very close to 2 Banting, Irvine, Toyota USA Sales' corporate headquarters. Consider parking it there for a while, with a windshield screen sign, disclosing the miles and blown head gasket?

Might even make the news...