Considering 2005 Prius, have some concerns

I'm in the market for my first Prius, I'm currently looking at a 2005 with 95,000 miles. The vehicle date of first use is 11/04.

I currently have the vehicle for the day and have been looking it over as thoroughly as possible, i have a few questions/concerns:

-From what I've generally heard and read, the steering is supposed to be quite light compared to the average car, the steering on this car doesn't feel that light to me. I've driven cars with electric power steering and in parking lot maneuvers I expected this car's steering to feel much lighter; also when traveling at higher speeds, 35+, or highway speeds the steering feels stuck straight, almost notchy, like I kind of have to move the car off of a tracked path...
I drove an '09 with similar mileage (also 2nd gen) briefly yesterday and I don't recall the steering feeling quite as 'notched' or 'notchy', it's like the steering stays in the same groove ... if that makes any sense. Also the steering wheel is not straight when driving straight down the road (it probably needs an alignment - toe adjustment). I looked underneath the vehicle and shook all 4 wheels, no movement, nothing appeared impacted or bent. Update: the Bridgestone Insignia tires are in great shape, plenty of tread, hardly any edge chop.
-Do the electric steering racks have issues such as I have described above, on the 2nd gens?

-There are no faults or problems indicated on the speedo display nor on the multi-function display, but I had a friend with a professional universal scan tool check the codes.

It had a few codes storesd, it showed:
-C1241: "Low Battery Positive Voltage or Abnormally High Battery Positive voltage, DTC Status: Current" - I had him test the aux battery and it passed using two different handheld testers, and showed 11.8V with Ign ON (a/c blower was also running) during the special menu test accessible via the multi-function display; it stayed pretty steady around that voltage. It was at 12.2V with ign on with no accessories nor HVAC running. And then with the engine running it was at 14.2V. All 3 numbers plus the two handheld tester results from directly testing the aux batt at the batt's terminals in the rear right lead me to think that the fault may simply have been thrown from sitting on the lot for 2-2.5 weeks.

-The second code gives me some concern: P3000, Battery Control System Malfunction. The car drives fine and the battery level on the MFD doesn't seem to fluctuate wildly, but it may be an early sign of the battery starting to go out. I have to see if I can get to a dealer to have them check out the cell modules' voltages, could a generic scanner check this? And would that be the appropriate next step regarding this code, or should I not really worry about it?

- The shifter doesn't return to the central position after moving it to R or D, it just stays stuck in R or D and I have to manually shift it back.

-When I received the car for the overnight test the fuel gauge said 2 'squares' of fuel remaining. I drove it until only 1 square was left and it was flashing. I put in 2 gallons and then 2 gallons later on but it still has a flashing single square..? I figured that 4 gallons would be enough to take the meter to atleast 1/4 tank...?

Update: (wanted to add one more bullet point):
-Unfortunately I don't think this car has VSC (I really would have liked stability control) - I checked Toyotareference for the 2005 Brochure and it appears this car has package #2. When I turn my key on the VSC light does not illuminate and plus it doesn't have Xenon's (part of package #5).

-The carfax is clean, 1 owner, and overall the car and paint look good, so the above issues are my main questions, concerns, sticking points. Any insight you could provide would be great

 

Thanks for the input, keep it coming!

edthefox, thanks for the insight, but to clarify something: I said I don't have wild fluctuations on the MFD, all I have is a P3000, is it possible that this could have been a 1 time throw, stored sometime in the past, and not necessarily be a concern, or am I just burying my head in the sand here?

I'm not in a CARB state, so according to my DOFU (date of first use) I'm out of the hybrid batt warranty by 11mos. Maybe Toyota would take care of me anyhow, if that it what's needed (but I'm sure they would need some sort of gross failure including check engine light, etc) and I don't have such a failure yet.

If I do buy the car and need to buy an aux batt, where do you all recommend I buy it from, dealer? I'm handy and can install it myself.

 

The price is $7500 which is KBB 'Good' for private party sales for this year, mileage, and option package. Most Prius' that I've seen are priced above KBB because the car is in demand right now. (also btw, I understand that KBB is only a reference), do you have any suggestions regarding what I should look at to determine if pricing is competitive, i.e. a killer deal? I might be wrong but I think finding a killer deal right now isn't going to be easy on a vehicle like this, maybe on a Ford F250 gas guzzler...

 

What do you all think of the price?