Should I buy this Prius?

The Carfax information you gave indicates the current owner only put 2700 miles on it since buying it. What is the date that the current owner took possession of the car? If he hasn't had it very long there's a chance there's some intermittent issue with it that's making him eager to unload it. Or it could just be that the Prius is not his type of car.

It's a little strange that the front brake pads need to be replaced already. This suggests the Prius probably was driven aggresively to wear out the brakes so quickly. My 2005 Prius has 146000 miles and has the original brakes with lots of pad life left. But, I don't drive aggressively and the previous owner of my Prius apparently didn't either.

$8500 is a little high considering you would be buying it from a private party.

If the seller is firm on the price, I would move on to a better deal.

 

Unless you plan to do these repairs yourself......move on.

 

Really, what I would recommend is getting a total value of the repairs needed, and subtract that from the asking price, and offer that to the owner. If he/she takes it, you could have yourself a nice car with all the repairs done and be in the car right.

Face it, all used cars are going to need a little something. Plus, mine is in tip top shape and if I took it into a dealer to have them look at it, I would bet you money that they would give me a list a mile long of things it needs. Remember, they are trying to get your business for the repairs.

 

It may be a good deal, but if all those *little* things need attention, athough an air filter and wiper blades aren't a big deal by themselves, for example, it could indicate that the previous owner didn't care too much about upkeep.

On the upside, Kelley Blue Blook gives a private party price of $9,175 for that car in only fair condition, so $8,500 could potentially be a nice price, especially minus some other small repair upkeep matters like UGC said.

 

That's difficult for me to answer since I haven't seen or driven the car you're looking at. But from what you've told us so far, I wouldn't offer much more the $6000 for it.

 

What's the date of the last Carfax entry? If the car is a daily driver the miles are going to increase every day. You can get dealer service records at www.toyota.com/owners/. I don't have a clean air filter in my car now. If I'm planning on selling why should I drop $16 on a new one? I suspect at least some of the dealer's recommendations are BS as this is a good opportunity to upsell or move your own inventory.

The nav system on a brand new car is out of date (features & data) so that is a non-issue.

 

It's worth buting but not at $8500. To much work to do if the inspection is correct. Look at it this way, it's 6yrs old???????

 

If you rely on the seller to do the repairs....chances are he will used the lease expensive parts......may not be something that you would choose yourself....Bad idea.

The pads & Adj won't affect the ABS sensors.....the ABS sensors only stop the wheel from spinning on ice or locking up during hard braking.

If he decides to use the cheapest way to repair the car to satisfy you, then YES...you should be worried.

Remember buyer beware !!!!

 

Based on what the inspection revealed, I don't see any issues unique nor detrimental to Prius. What the mechanic found is typical of any car; i.e. brakes, plugs, filters, etc. My initial reaction is that you're not comfortable with the car.