Rodent in roof - purchasing a used 2011 Prius 2

Hello Priuschat members. I have $100 down to hold a Prius which we plan to pick up and pay for tomorrow. (As this is my first post links are not allowed.) On the test drive we noticed little bits of something in the light wells in the ceiling above the sunshade mirrors. When a tech came out at our request to check, he discovered to all of our surprise a gnawed almond in the passenger side light well and some similar bits in the drivers side well. We insisted that the dealer investigate and we are returning tomorrow (1 hr drive) to do a visual inspection with the soft ceiling free. Can this be chalked up to the "mice are able to get in through various openings" reports I have seen in other forum posts or does the presence of mice or some other creature in the roof suggest an unusual damage situation? Any suggestions on additional things to check tomorrow when we go back? All controls we tested appear to be working, but we did not test everything. No nasty smells or indications of rodents elsewhere so far (We did not check the rear storage area yet.) The car is certified, one owner. Thank you for any advice.

 

Law, I am taking your comment to mean you suggest we forget about purchasing this car, is that correct? Thank you for your advice.

 

Thank you bisco. I did call off the deal this morning. We were extremely lucky to notice the bits in the light wells as the rest of the car looked absolutely pristine. I did not know to look at the lights - I found the issue by noticing a rattling sound that was made when I flipped the sunshade back into the up position which led me to look more closely. It did have leather seats on a Prius II leased vehicle which struck us as odd, couldn't help wondering if it was related to animal damage once we found the evidence. It may be the case that the dealer had no knowledge of this. This experience leads to the general concern that when purchasing a used or even new car there may be no evidence or very hidden evidence of previous animal invasion. My thought is the best you can do is check everywhere you can, test all vehicle functions and hope for the best.

 

Thanks law. It was what seemed to be a good deal. $16k before taxes and fees for a 2011 Prius 2 with 22k miles, appeared to be in mint condition and leather seats but we bailed out early this morning. Moving on. Thanks for your advice.

 

Yes, Mendel. The dealer indicated the deposit would not be processed. As far as I can tell, that means we will not be out the $100. We are back to keeping an eye on the inventory at Kool Toyota in Grand Rapids, MI. Nothing available similar to the above deal but they are in town and reviews are good.

 

Thank you for your thoughts ETC(SS). Good to get an experienced perspective on prices. Yesterday, we drove 1 hour to Battle Creek to see the car because I thought it was a good deal - at least the best I could find in the region at this time. After the critter issue surfaced, we arranged to return at 1PM today to see the car with the soft ceiling dropped so we could verify lack of damage. In order to hold the vehicle until then, the dealer asked for a 100.00 deposit which I paid with credit card. Overnight, my wife and I decided to pass on buying the car and I emailed the dealer early this morning to let him know we were not coming down. He responded that the deposit would not go through. I take that to mean they will not process it so the money will never actually leave my account. I will need to keep an eye on my card transactions to confirm this.

 

Same here Mendel. My wife and I discussed this. No way to know if the dealer knew of infestation or not. Will they still bother to drop the soft ceiling and fully investigate or simply empty the light housings and put the car back out there? We were also wondering how a critter would access the roof area.

 

Thanks for the info, law. We are scoping a 2013 with 23k miles at the local dealer listed for 19.4k. I emailed the salesperson asking what he could do as this wasn't far off from new. Cheapest new vehicle at this dealer is 23.9k. I've been searching within 100 miles. No experience trying to find something outside of that. I'm wavering off topic here but floundering a bit in my search.

 

Great advice. Thank you.