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2004 Purchase Advice Needed

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by TFT, Jul 7, 2010.

  1. TFT

    TFT Junior Member

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    2004 Prius, Driftwood Pearl, 103000 miles. Autocheck score of 93. The report lists the car as a fleet vehicle for its first year of use 18000 miles. The next record says "REPORTED AT AUTO AUCTION AS MANUFACTURER VEHICLE" ?? 2 owners and no accidents later a friend of mine who is a dealer has it for sale. $6500, is it a no-brainer purchase or am I missing something?

    Not real excited about the color, but I drive about 30k mile a year and would like the efficiency. I drive a 97 neon with 150K now and I get about 33MPG average 70% highway 30% city. Should I expect around 45MPG with this car?

    I had a deal going for a 2003 but it fell through, now I found this.

    Ed
     
    #1 TFT, Jul 7, 2010
  2. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Sounds like a good deal if it's in good shape and has been properly maintained. Do you know what package it was? Does it have NAV/BT?
     
    #2 efusco, Jul 7, 2010
  3. Optimus

    Optimus Member

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    Here, something like that would be listed for between 9-10k at a dealer, and in some cases even more. Sounds like a good deal to me (assuming everything checks out). I just bought an '04 with 99k and paid more than you did.
     
    #3 Optimus, Jul 8, 2010
  4. Ryanpl

    Ryanpl Active Member

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    Hi TFT, Here in NYC I recently bought a 2004 Prius package 7 with 101k miles on it for $6,500. AS long as the autocheck checks out I'd say go for it. Let me you hanging around here will make you want to add all sorts of addons. I'm thinking about B/U camera, Silicon wipers, new rear wiper arm (increasing to 20") and, and, and... We're loving our Wilemenia
     
    #4 Ryanpl, Jul 8, 2010
  5. TFT

    TFT Junior Member

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    Bought the car. Got 55mpg on my way back from the dealer 20 miles.

    It has a couple small door dings and a long scratch on the passenger side of the rear bumper. Also, some small scratches on top of the rear bumper. Interior looks and smells new. Just some minor ware on the painted plastic of the steering wheel and the glove box buttons. Cloth seats look great and the floor mats looks almost new.

    How do I evaluate the battery condition? With almost a full charge I drove EV through a parking lot and sat with the a/c on high for 5-10 minutes. It brought the battery down to two bars and the ICE started. Is that normal?
     
    #5 TFT, Jul 8, 2010
  6. Politburo

    Politburo Active Member

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    Yes, high a/c use will quickly drain the battery.

    ETA: There isn't an easy way to evaluate the condition of the main battery.
     
    #6 Politburo, Jul 8, 2010
  7. TFT

    TFT Junior Member

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    Battery seems to stay right at 6 blue bars. Once in a while I see 7 green but it doesn't stay that way for long. Only saw 2 red bars twice so far, once running a/c while stopped for 10 minutes in 96deg heat and once after the tire shop gave me my car back.

    It needed new tires. The existing tires had flat spots and were making a lot of noise at freeway speeds. Got Ecopia's.

    First tank and I'm getting 49.5mpg with bad tires and bad alignment. I very pleased to say the least.

    No NAV or BT, must be the base model.
     
    #7 TFT, Jul 10, 2010
  8. jstraw20

    jstraw20 Member

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    Sounds like you're off to an excellent start, the battery behavior is completely normal. Congrats on your purchase!
     
    #8 jstraw20, Jul 10, 2010
  9. TFT

    TFT Junior Member

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    First tank refill right after gauge started flashing - 51.9mpg, 528 miles, 10.7 gallons. This car is fantastic.

    Ed
     
    #9 TFT, Jul 11, 2010
  10. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    From john1701a's site:

    [​IMG]

    The color isn't too distant to the 2010's sandy beach metalic ... which we like - in big part due to it not being very common. We got our 2004 used - but we got it in '04 ... for $18K + tax/lic. That was a big chunk less than brand new. Price seems pretty good to me. Just for grins, find out if FL is one of the states (there are a handfull) that follow CA emissions laws. Those states warrant the HSD out to 150,000 so that would REALLY be a plus.

    .
     
    #10 hill, Jul 11, 2010
  11. desertrider2215

    desertrider2215 Member

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    I attached a picture of what I did to my glovebox buttons. the gray started wearing off so i just scraped off the rest of the gray and now have 2 black buttons with a gray dash. blends perfectly no one notices. the way they were before was much more noticeable than the way they are now.
     

    Attached Files:

    #11 desertrider2215, Jul 11, 2010
  12. TFT

    TFT Junior Member

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    I was thinking to do the same thing. Now I know how it will look, thanks.

    Looks like a fingernail will remove the rest of the material.

    Ed
     
    #12 TFT, Jul 12, 2010
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