Purchasing used Prius from non-toyota dealership!! warranty question

It should make no difference. You could just as readily be purchasing from a private party.

One thought though, and it's an old adage which might have some validity: the odds will be higher that the car's a lemon, and the previous owner was so disillusioned about Toyota he switched to another maker.

Get a thorough test drive, try to have a competent mechanic look it over? Maybe it's been wrecked?

 

i think the warranty is transferable. i would read it, it should be with the car, and ask the dealership as well. get a carfax report and make sure the mom and pop are in good standing with the bbb and ag's consumer division in case you try to get your money back. also, i would ask them if you could take it for the dealer inspection before you buy it. all the best!

 

If you have the VIN, you can also register on the "My Toyota" site and input the VIN into your user profile. This will allow you to access any dealer service records that are associated with the car.

 

Consider buying a carfax report and a title search report. It's a very low mile car for 3-4 years old, so I'd want to try an validate title and miles especially if the dealer is an independent.

Good luck!

 

The fact that a Toyota dealer wants $5,000 more for similar may be worrisome or nothing more than supply and demand at the dealer. But such a large difference in price could indicate the car was in an accident or some other incident where a Toyota dealer would not want it on it's lot. A thorough inspection is warranted. Ask your Toyota dealer if it would qualify for a Toyota extended warranty program if you decided you wanted to purchase one. If it all checks out, you've got a great car on your hands!

 

Hey, JackMan017,

You won't be able to get the official Toyota Financial Services extended warranty from a Toyota dealer [that's only available if the car is less than 3 years old (from its in-service date) or under 36,000 miles, or if it is sold by a Toyota dealer as a "certified" used car]. Your options for an extended warranty are a 3rd party/aftermarket one that probably won't be worth the paper it's printed on or to find out from the Toyota dealer if the official Toyota one was ever purchased by the original owner for that VIN number (& if it was, could it still be transferred to you without your knowing who the original owner was?).

As far as the price disparity, the mom & pop dealer could have just gotten a great deal on it by buying it at an auction & be passing on some of the savings to you. If the mom & pop dealer has low overhead costs & gets good deals at auctions (& picks out good quality cars), they can undercut the competition & be fairly confident that they will be in business for a while. My son bought 2 such cars from a mom & pop type place & when he totaled the first one a year later, he got from the insurance company more than he originally paid for the car (even after a year's worth of depreciation & the $500 deductible were subtracted). So when he went back to the same place to get a replacement car, they sold it to him for about $1,000 less than the book value (he showed us the retail price from the current NADA book at the time). He was still making a profit & yes, he had gotten both the cars (my son bought from him) at auction & they never gave my son any trouble for as long as he owned them.

But yes, I would still say to get a Carfax report & do a title check & get the car inspected just to be safe, since there is still a lot of fraud to be found in the used car industry.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

Paying a dealer $120 for a complete inspection and diagnosis is the best possible investment. If it passes that you can buy with confidence.