Looking at a 2006 Prius tomorrow, help!

I recently got an '06 with only 44k miles and the battery has already failed but I repaired it.

On the middle touch screen, switch it over from the Consumption to the Energy selection which has a power flow for the battery, engine, and wheels. It has a colored bar display for the battery's state of charge (SOC). Rapid buildup or decline of bars going from purple (low) to green (high) is one sign of a weak battery. If it stays in the middle (blue) most of the time, it's relatively healthy.

Ask the owner if it's still the original hybrid battery or if it's been repaired and also how old the smaller 12 volt battery is.




You can also put the VIN into this site: Log into Your Toyota Owners Account | Toyota Owners and get more information about any servicing performed by Toyota dealers.

 

welcome! good advice.^^^ i would reset the mpg's and take it for a god long drive under varied conditions, to see how the current mpg's are. check car fax for accidents, ask about maintenance, consider paying toyota $100. or so to evaluate it. keep in mind, time is harder on the battery than miles, especially in warmer climates. so i would keep $2,500. or so on the back burner, and if you never need one, all the better!

 

Give it a normal test drive. Listen and look for any problems. Bring up the main display w/power flow battery display. The charge should gradually go up and down but mostly stay upper blue. Quick change while driving, from green full to purple low, is not normal. When in park w/air on it will drop to purple then the engine will run for a short time, bringing it up one or two bars then off, that is normal. Then put it in drive(D) w/foot firmly on the brake, floor the gas without moving, engine should go to a high idle gaining charge a bar at a time till full green then drop to low idle. Foot off the gas back in park(P) engine should shut down and remain off for like 10 minuets (+ or - depending on air temp setting) slowly returning to purple.

 

Open the hood and to the right is a shiny aluminum cover over the ac/dc inverter. Just to the left is a small coolant reservoir for that inverter. That pump is known to fail. With the car on and in Park, feel the hose on that reservoir. You should feel it pumping fluid. You an also open the coolant cap and see the flow moving. There is a recall on that pump and that Toyota site listed above should tell you if that work has been done.

When first opening the drivers door, you should hear a whirring, pumping sound. That is the electric brake system pumping up pressure. You should hear that periodically but if it is very frequent then it might be going out. After a long drive and turning the car off, you should hear another, different pumping sound. That is the sound of pumping hot coolant (that sounds funny) into a thermos system.

Ask to see the title. Check for any rebuilt or salvage branding.

 

Park the car overnight and see if the battery discharges to 1 bar like mine did before there was a problem. It will be hard to say if the battery is bad during a test drive and a failed battery is not the end of the world. The most important thing is to get it at a good price.

 

High likelihood that the battery is bad.
Depends on how much and how long it sat.

Purchasing and installing a preventative maintenance high voltage charger would be a good idea.

 

You probably driven the car by now, but when you take a test drive, take a test of how powerful the battery is getting up to 20 mph. I have a weak battery in mine, and the EV mode isn't as powerful as when it was new.