Prius: The Crystal Blue Meth of car ownership....

Bought a Gen 1 Prius last month as a daily commuter, and my GF fell in love with it:



So now I ended up selling my <I assume> last pure gas powered vehicle. I sold my 2004 Vibe for $9500:



And buying this for $10,500:






2007 , Package #5 , 75k miles, dark tint all around, perfect condition. Best $1000 upgrade I ever put into my transportation needs.

Took it to Broadway Toyota Dealership for a 126pt inspection. All 'green checks', except one "yellow".... cabin airfilter needed replacing soon.

Congrats on your purchase & for joining the ranks of the multi-Prius owners.

WoW, That's Great!

Looks like a beauty as well Enjoy, H

That looks like a great deal. I cut my teeth on a Gen I and have upgraded to Gen II. I still have the Gen I but now my 17 yr old son drives it. Funny thing is, I have surpassed the mileage on the Gen I w/ my Gen II. Both are doing well.

I fell in love w/ the Gen I also. It is a great "city" car.

let me guess, The girl friend got the 2007...

LOL......... Nope. She likes the 07 just fine, but she prefers the size of the Gen I better

Walter White would be so proud of you!

Time to start cooking again Jessie

Did they give you a copy of the inspection results? Many times, the majority of these points are quite useless in terms of assessing the long-term health of the drivetrain... it's a quick 30-60 minute run through the car, looking at superficial points such as:

[] Hazard lights blink
[] Windshield wipers wipe
[] A/C blows cold
[] Horn honks
[] Doors lock
[] Engine starts

...they aren't tearing the engine down and checking the cylinders & valves for wear, etc.

Such an inspection only tells you what's wrong with the car right now. The mechanics don't have a crystal ball that'll tell you what will happen to the car in the future.

My two cents: unless you have the service records from the previous owner, treat the car as if it were not maintained properly. Change out the important fluids (oil, tranny fluid, inverter coolant) and filters (oil, cabin and engine air). Rotate the tires. Anything that should've been done by 75k, assume it wasn't done.

Don't want to rain on your parade... just want to make sure you enjoy your purchase for the long term! Congrats!

Man I love that show.

Yup got a copy of results. Your above inspection looks like the free 29pt job Toyota does during an oil change.
I had the full "Toyota Certified" inspection done. More comprehensive (though I'm sure they didn't tear the engine apart), I actually got to stand next to the technician under the car during this inspection,

Brakes,fluids, body hardware, integrity,suspension,charging system all checked even with me asking (perhaps) stupid questions.
But I left satisfied that I got an incredible deal on this Prius.

Just for kicks, I showed the service manager the report and asked if this car was on your lot, would it qualify as "Certified" and his response was a simple nod.

Upon buying this car from the guy selling it, it was hard to point out any flaws inside or out. Not one door ding, just a few tiny rock chips on nose. I did point out that the tires would need replacing in about a year. He said he could put brand new ones on for $200 extra, and when I picked up this car 2 days later... New tires on Prius.

I have had this car for over a week put over 300 miles, no odd noises, no issues. Will keep posted

In total agreement.

Cool trivia related to Breaking Bad:

The only recorded airline mid-air collision in the US to be directly blamed on an air traffic controller error happened to Aeromexico Flight 498 on August 31st 1986 with the Air Controller saying "I Lost an Airplane"

Air traffic controllers name?





Walter R White

how often should the transmission fluid be changed? I bought a 2010 prius with 49k miles that had 18 service records (all oil changes and routine maintenance at the same stealership) but I didn't see anything about the transmission fluid being changed

90k miles is what I heard

xmission fluid replacement is not required on a Prius but most recommend it at 100k miles. Others say 60k. I do mine @ 100k (but, I have a Gen I and Gen II).

Maybe that's the way the show will end, with WW being in a mid-air collision after he has escaped free and clear!

Let's just do a quick cost / benefit analysis here.

What's the price of transmission fluid, versus the price of a new transmission?

Just sayin'... there's no need to stretch your fluid to it's limit...

$10,500?? wow. wish Priuses were that cheap around here

Or, we could run around like chicken little screaming "The sky is falling"