What to look out for when buying a higher mileage used prius?

Howdy!

Greetings and welcome!
I wouldn't think that there is too much different about buying a G2 with 180K on the clock than there is about buying a Corolla with similar miles with the exception of battery and perhaps brakes. Don't let the regen brakes scare you. There are many "how-to" posts for dealing with them here and elsewhere.

The G2 experts can answer specific questions (I have a G3) but the "dash wasn't working" raises my eyebrows a bit.
On my car you can't 'manually' turn on the ICE, but you also can't KEEP it from starting when the engine is not warmed up, so looking for leaks, creaks, cracks, and squeaks is fairly straightforward.
As far as the clutch, the transmission is a CVT, and I've never heard of one failing in service but there are many in this board who advocate fluid changes more often than the maintenance schedule calls for. This isn't emerging technology, and the one in the Prius seems fairly robust. I don't know if Nissan can make that same claim from what I'm hearing.

My advice:
Keep doing what you're doing.
Flip the guy or gal with the G2 that you're interested in a $10 bill for gas and take it for a loooooong test flight. Since you're already sniffing at the car with an OBD2 I'd probably not recommend having another wrench look at the car. If it doesn't toss a code during a 50-mile test flight, then you're probably as OK as you can expect to be for a car of this vintage.
The traction battery will deadline this car, but you can get a remanned unit for something like 1500 bucks and you'll certainly be able to install it yourself. Traction batteries are warrantied for over 100K and they seem to be lasting for at least 10 years in these cars from my very unscientific observations.....but your prospective car is.........10 years old.
I'd research prices and add the cost of a new traction battery to your budget for an 04.

Stay away from the Rotella for the Prius, or at least don't admit to using it on this car on this forum.
I don't think that it will hurt this motor, but it will probably leave a few Prius Chatters with flattened finger tips from typing out messages telling you that you're going to wreck your ICE.
FWIW I think that the T6 will work just fine. It's great oil, but for the same $$ you can get the designer blend that's recommended for the car.
I use the thicker stuff (T 15x40) on my motorcycles as well.
Good stuff!

Good Luck with the G2!
It will be a great tinker project.

 

Hi welcome to PC.
The Prius is a very reliable car, but there are a few areas that are different to other vehicles. One of the items on your list is the speedo part of the dash not working. This has definitely nothing to do with the smart key system , but is a problem with the display it's self.The problem usually comes and goes and is made worse in cold weather. There is an extended guarantee for later vehicles but this has expired for the 2004's. The display can be repaired following instructions here on PC or replaced with a used display.
Brake work "hydraulics" requires the use of Toyota Techstream software and the the equipment, but a Mini VCI with Techstream can be bought on Ebay for around $25. This will allow you to have dealer level access to all the Prius trouble codes and service features including the checking of the HV battery. The car has no clutches , brake bands, or even gear changes, no reverse gear. All is accomplished by changing the speed and direction of two electric motors "buried in the transmission" that can also act as generators, know as MG1 and MG2. The Prius has no normal starter motor "started by MG1", no alternator and is not started by the 12 volt battery. It only has one belt driving the engine coolant pump. The brake pads have been known to last 250,000 miles since most of the braking is done by producing electricity to charge the HV battery "regen braking".
The engine is an altered version of the standard Toyota 1500 cc engine, converted to an Atkinson cycle engine. High millage engine sometimes use some oil but low millage engines can be bought cheaply from breakers as they otherwise are very reliable. Some going to over 500,000 miles.
I suggest you have a look at the link bellow to get an idea of how the transmission works. Play with the sliders and you will see how things affect both road and engine speed, with under certain conditions the engine not needing to run at all including reverse. Sometimes the engine may be spinning but not actually running and using no fuel, being turned by one of the electric motors "MG1".
The AC is electrically driven so the engine does not have to be running for this to work. The car just has to be in "ready" mode. This is because the engine may shut down while you are driving at lower speeds round town but you may still need AC.
I hope this has answered some of your questions. Please put your location in your avatar as this can affect the information on your vehicle as the specifications vary dependent on country. This will also enable us to tell you of local suppliers for parts and repairs.

Toyota Prius - Power Split Device

John (Britprius)

 

1. Do a search for "inspection mode" to determine how to keep the gasoline engine running continuously. Do not drive the car while it is in that mode.
2. The correct engine oil viscosity is 5W-30. 5W-40 is too heavy and will impair fuel economy.
3. The amount of engine noise will help you to decide whether the timing chain needs to be replaced.
4. If the dash is not working then the combination meter may have an intermittent fault. Do not minimize the difficulty of resolving electrical issues. Stay away from a Prius that does not have all electrical systems working upon purchase - who knows if it suffered flooding or some other mishap.
5. Subscribe to techinfo.toyota.com to obtain factory repair manual info and purchase Mini VCI as previously suggested.
6. 200K mile maintenance: Make sure the 100K and 120K services were performed, if unsure about those, perform now. Perform the 60K service at minimum. Check all rubber hoses, serpentine belt, PCV valve and replace if needed. Replace the transaxle ATF.

 

The MFD is the center display on the dash not the speedo display so do not get these confused when looking up information. This is called the combination meter.

John (Britprius)

 

Here's one I noticed that isn't too bad of a deal, and isn't too far from you. The bonus on this one is the HV battery has already been replaced by Toyota. Asking price is $6400.

2005 Toyota Prius (Pruis) Hybrid 43 MPG

 

The whole pack is replaced with a new one, but only 1 year guarantee.

John(Britprius)

 

Wow, that car is already gone. Good deals do go fast huh?

 

There is another one in Los Angeles, has a salvage title from a tree hitting it. There is full dealer maintenance records from day one and the inverter just failed. Asking $3900. 2004 Has 140k. You can get an inverter for $250 on Ebay and installation is a 1 hr job.

 

The tree hit the car???? lol

 

I didn't write the description. sounds more like they hit a tree....edit: tree fell on it

04 Toyota Prius 140k mi NEED inverter Hybrid HOV CARPOOL

 

The MFD display can display warning messages and icons about the car's condition.

The traction battery state of charge gauge can move up and down from eight green bars to one red bar depending upon mountainous terrain that you are climbing and descending. On flat terrain you would normally expect the gauge to show 3-6 blue bars unless the air conditioner compressor is running a lot in summer weather while the car is crawling along, in which case you will see 1-2 red bars.

Yes, you absolutely should fully-chaege the 12V battery at least 2x per month to maximize its service life.

 

You can go to this website (www.toyota.com/owners), create an account and add the car to your account using the VIN and find out anything any Toyota dealer ever did to the car.