about to purchase a new prius. advice?

A car that had that many tire replacements can only mean there's a tire wear problem. Unless you know how to work on cars, I would suggest you don't buy this one. With your long commute, this car will be over 200k miles in 1 year

 

Q: Is the Prius from a dealer or private seller?
Q: Which battery are you talking about?
Q: Model # ( 2 or 3 )
Q: Have you test drove it, yet?
Q:What is the carfax value ?

Not enough info!!

If the Prius has a new hybrid battery ( the big battery ); the price is OK.
KBB; fair condition from private party is $ 5796.

If the Prius wears tires.... you need all 4 tire alinement ( might have to put spacers in) and balanced.
That along should bring down the price.

???

 

Too many miles for a car that will need to be driven 2 hours each day. I would look for a car with lower miles, even if its a small non-hybrid car.

 

you'll save more money by buying a used corrola than you will in gas savings with a prius.

 

Have you made your decision!!

 

I would pass on it. The car is worn out. You will have a lot of expensive repairs.

 

You'd better have someone who can pick you up because it's very likely you won't make it all the way home with a bad hybrid battery. Here's hoping anyway.

 

Sorry to here that!!
On high mileage Prius's, the hybrid battery is what you have to be concerned about.
Let that seller know about it!!
Might have warranty on it???

 

bummer. you can't drive it at all with a dead hybrid battery, it turns over the ice to start it.

 

That is really strange. If you actually had a bad hybrid battery it's very unlikely the warning lights would have disappeared.

Maybe the stealership was attempting a walletdectomy. Hate those b*******, I do.

You should invest in a cheap DTC code scanner. Another option is the Torque app for Android. It is less than $5 at Google Play if you have a smartphone and if you buy an $8 ELM327 bluetooth microcontroller/translator from Ebay. You can then use Torque to read the codes when the triangle of death reappears - and Torque allows you to see engine RPM, coolant temp, and lots of other outputs from OBDII.

 

We had experience of hybrid battery warning light coming on, then shutting off, on a Civic Hybrid.

There's likely stored codes, you should try to get them read.

I don't want to paint the darkest scenario..., maybe I do:

It doesn't smell good that you just bought this car and then the warning lights come on. I'm not that knowledgeable, but my speculation turns to a seller doing some sort of bandage treatment to mask symptoms. Maybe a simple 12 volt battery disconnect, maybe an in-car hybrid reconditioning. Just enough to make it behave through the sales process. Just trying to cheer you up.

Maybe someone can weigh in? For example, some battery conditioners require an extra wiring harness leading away from the battery, say into the hatch area. Something to look for under the sub-floor?

 

You might try unplug 12 volt battery for several minutes;
then hook it up again.
It might reset somethings???

 

What "cluster board" ?

I'll guess that you were not speeding on the way home, so the 40 MPG is way below expected. That is another hint that a major component is failing. About that traction battery repair -- was it a new battery, refurb, or module replacement ?

You really need to pull error codes. I have my fingers crossed for you, but there are so many ways this story can turn out sad. For the future please realize that driving with alarms is a recipe for expensive repairs, particularly if you do not know the reason for the alarm.