Considering buying a gen 2 Prius. Need advice.

Went to look at the 2005 with bad battery yesterday. What a waste of time! I drove 80 miles in a rain storm to find out that the car also needs springs and/or shocks on the back (the car's rear sat real low), has a small dent under the rear right door with a small rust spot under the paint (I live in New England. Rust spot = bad and will spread no matter what you do in two winters) and the rear tires are bald as bowling balls. The seller said he'd give me two tires for the rear as part of the sale, but I like to run 4 tires of the same kind, so that's no good for me. That car is no longer a candidate. It is also off the road and I can not take it to a mechanic for a check up. Also, since the battery is bad, all the codes are lit up, so I really don't know what else is wrong with the car. It was a learning experience for sure.

Thank you all for the info and help. It looks like replacing a battery, although very much doable for me, is not as inexpensive as folks on here are thinking. at least in my neck of the woods. Most places do not ship batteries, so I am stuck with local dealers for new. Dorman sells through auto parts stores like AutoZone, which is convenient, but it's also $1500 (with taxes) and includes a 3 year warranty. I imagine I would forfeit Toyota warranty if I bought a new Toyota battery and installed myself, so that's really not a good option (spending $2000 and having no warranty). I am now thinking of shifting my search towards a gen 3 car, which should still carry a warranty on the battery for at least 3 more years (for a 2010). I am seeing such cars for around $7K in really good shape and with less than 150K miles. Now it's just the financial problem...

Are there any cons to a gen 3 Prius? Or is it just better in all respects? I know they improved many things on gen 3, especially the driveline (additional planetary gear set for even better economy). Is there a reason to focus on gen 2 other than price?

 

I am a long way from Texas and for $5100 I can buy a decent car here.

 

Looked at two more cars today and realized that it is very common to have a dent under a rear door. As in scraping the curb while parking. It's like an epidemic.

Saw a 2008 with 143K miles and 2005 with 202K miles. The '05 seemed peppier and more responsive, but had that under the rear door dent. Not sure I have found mine yet....

 

I understand. I myself prefer the looks of Gen 2. I feel the trend of styling is going way outside my tastes in later generations of Prius and other Japanese cars. Gen 4 looks horrible to me. Those lights! Maybe for younger folk brought up on Manga... I like simple functionality. Gen 2 is appealing to me in styling. I don't find it ugly or strange looking. The shape actually makes sense to me. Gen 3 is pretty similar in general and I find it totally acceptable, but the extra folds on sheet metal, more complex light fixtures, etc. are kind of a turn off. Still, I like the extra economy, and I am sure there are other improvements as there always are. I think Gen 2 Prius was Toyota's bid to become "Microsoft" of hybrids. That meant making a car that would get owners absolutely hooked. So I think gen 2 was designed especially well with more resources spent on it than a model in that class normally would. This is why these things go 300K miles and further.

Since I am in a market for a relatively inexpensive transportation and am able to work on my cars, I am concentrating on gen 2, but keeping an eye out for gen 3. I see plenty of gen 2 cars being offered at a higher price than gen 3. I think those sellers are crazy, but still, they exist and who knows, maybe they'll succeed.

My search is continuing. It's not so easy to find a good specimen here. People seem to hold on to their Prii until the bitter end.

 

I have been a Volvo owner for the past 20 years. I have driven Volvos with 250K miles on them and I know people go much longer. In this day and age it is becoming more common to put this kind of mileage on vehicles, but for a 1993 model it was certainly impressive. So I am really impressed with the Prius being able to stand up to that kind of use and am further attracted to it because of it. I like keeping my cars till they die. I am not a person who wants the latest model every three years. I really believe in products lasting a long time and being serviceable by owner (or third party). I may be old fashioned that way, but I am really sick of a throw away culture we are living in.

Lol, those 1.1% must all be here in New England. I see a lot of them.