Which 09 would you choose?

Well rather than having to choose between two 09's I will be going tomorrow and choosing between a 09 and a 11.

The 11 has 118k miles is trim 3 which seems fairly basic but the JBL stereo upgrade which I think has bluetooth. It's $7700

The 09 has 109k is touring with nav, bluetooth, JBL stereo, the suspension and wheel upgrades for touring. It's $7100

I'm going to get one on these this weekend. They both have decent maintenance history, garage kept and super clean inside and out. I'm somewhat worried about a consuming oil issue with the 2011 but hoping that it's nothing to worry about.

Anyone have any opinions on those two choices? Price difference doesn't matter. My daughter likes them both and will be happy with either, but prefers the 3rd gen, which they do have somewhat better crash test results. But I want whichever one will 'most likely' be most reliable and trouble free and last the longest. We will be changing oil every 5k

Thanks!

 

Yea the options on the 09 really won't be of much use except the backup camera...well and I suppose the wheels are marginally nicer. They both have the better stereo and I think both have Bluetooth...however if the 11 has bluetooth it streams music where the 09 doesn't.

But honestly I'm more concerned with which is more likely to make it to a trouble free 200k miles.

 

Oh, I would certainly do any/all repairs and if I needed help with something like swapping engine my brother is a mechanic. The reason reliability is important to me is this will be my daughters first car and I don't want it to leave her stranded and if possible I'd like it to last her through college with minimal problems. For mileage I think another 100 miles will get her through college. I mean, I understand nothing is a guarantee when buying a car with 100k miles, but I'd like to pick the one most likely. She is going to drive very easy, she doesn't beat up a car when she drives. We will be changing the oil by at least 5k. But if the car has major down time it could be a issue, especially once she leaves for college.

 

The 09 was going to Toyota about ever 12-18 months to have multipoint inspections done (20k, 32k, 61k, 77k, 92k, 101k). They were doing their oil changes somewhere else and only did a few with Toyota when they were there for a multipoint inspection. Most of the inspections show that everything was fine and didn't need anything. They did some recall work on a couple and small things like bulbs and the coolant control valve.

Main info on 60k inspection is....
60K SERVICE-0 OIL CHANGE/TIRE RO TATION/INSPECTION OF FUEL SYSTEM ,VALVE CLEARANCE, DRIVE BELTS,AN D RADIATOR/REPLACE ENGINE AND CA BIN AIR FILTER/UPGRADE TO SYNTHE TIC OIL/BALANCE TIRES/BRAKE FLUI D EXCHANGE/FUEL INDUCTION SERVIC E/ALIGNMENT/A/C REFRESHER SERVIC E/BATTERY SERVICE/FUEL INJECTOR SERVICE/REPLACE WIPER BLADES ~|~ ~|~

Main info on the 77k inspection is....
CUSTOMER HAS REQUESTED A MULTI-P OINT INSPECTION AT THIS TIME ~|~ ~|~
SERVICE - 75,000 MILES OR 90 MO NTHS( USE SYNTHETIC PENZOIL PLAT INUM) ~|~
They replaced the air filter and cabin air filter
And they did a few recall items


Main info on the 92k visit is.....
CUSTOMER REQUESTED TO HAVE MULTI POINT INSPECTION PERFORMED THIS VISIT ~|~ ~|~
And they replaced a headlight bulb and a tail light bulb

Main info on the 101k visit is....
CUSTOMER STATES CHECK ENGINE LIG HT IS ON ~|~ ~|~101293 P1121 (COOLANT FLOW CO NTROL VALVEINOPERATIVE.) REPLA CED COOLANT FLOW CONTROLVALVE AS SEMBLY.

CUSTOMER HAS REQUESTED A MULTI-P OINT INSPECTION AT THIS TIME ~|~ ~|~ all points checked out okay

In addition to replacing coolant control valve they had a basic tune up done.

..................

That last one was at 101k miles on 11/2014 and is the last one. The car only has 108k miles currently, so for almost 3 years had only gone 7k miles. They apparently bought another car and retired this one to being a spare.

The main thing I see here is that they cared about the car. They did oil changes somewhere else but when they needed it looked over they went to Toyota so if they would have had any major issues it would most likely be here. It looks like it was a problem free car for someone for 100k miles. My only concern is that if the past 34 months has had any impact on the battery. It appears they were only driving it just enough to keep the hv battery going.

The dealer who has it says it's garage kept, immaculate inside and out, and runs great. It was traded in for a new car and the dealership wholesale sold it to a used car lot that has a lot of real nice cars. It's 1 owner and 0 wrecks.

 

For the 2011 it's also a 1 owner with no wrecks. They didn't use the dealership as often as the 09 but I don't see where they were strolling in there with any issues so that's good....

They did their first 4 oil changes at the dealership using synthetic at 5k, 10k, 15k, 20k then never another one at the dealer. It's good to me that they were using synthetic but still changing it every 5k.

After that they showed up in 1/2014 at 40k for a multipoint inspection that everything was OK.

Then had another oil change done there at 42k with synthetic.

On 2/16 at 77k they showed up for another multipoint inspection and battery test (not sure which battery). Everything was okay and they replaced a bulb.

On 6/17 at 118k two recall items were done by a dealership it was traded in to.
E0E-REFLASH MOTOR GENERATOR & PO WERMANAGEMENT ECU-PRIUS ~|~E0E ~|~118075 COMPLETED E0E-REFLA SH MOTORGENERATOR & POWER MANAGE MENT ECU- PRIUS
G0U-INSTALL AIRBAG BRACKETS ~|~G0U ~|~118075 COMPLETED G0U-INSTA LL AIRBAGBRACKETS

..........................

Not the most comprehensive ever for sure. But like the 09, since they were showing up for no purpose but a inspection I think if they had problems they would have brought it to the dealership so it looks like they weren't having problems.

They appear to have been running great with no issues.

 

Moving Right Along - thanks so much for that info! Big help! If the car hasn't been driven for a week or two would that cause a healthy battery to be sitting at 2 bars? Or only a very weak one? For a healthy battery how long should it be able to sit before hitting 2 bars?

 

If a battery is at full charge then parked (like if someone test drove it) how long does it take the battery to depleat? If I get in it and it's been parked for say 2 weeks should I expect it to be kind of low or still charged?

 

I got the 09 Touring! My daughter liked the 2011 but it ended up that it was a smokers car and 6 years of smoking had nicotine stained headliner, etc and it smelled strong. Plus the oil was fairly new and about 1/3 qt low which really bothered me that maybe it has consumption issues. We walked away from the 11and got the super clean 09. It looks brand new inside and very very clean outside. Seems to be running good. On the trip back home I averaged 40mpg going 80mph with the ac blowing. Not bad!

 

Thanks! Yeah the smoke would give us headaches. It has a real nice exterior but the inside was dirty and had very bad nicotine staining (probably worst I've seen on any car). The headliner all around the driver was dark brown and should have been creamy colored...it was baddd.

So my daughter decided she'd prefer the 09 once she sat in it and saw how super clean it is.

Thanks!